CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MAY 9, 2008
Baseball Wins MIAA Title, Headed to NCAA Tournament
INTERVIEWS WITH COACH JOHN SPARKS AND SENIOR CATCHER KYLE FLETCHER WILL BE
AVAILABLE AT CALVIN.EDU/SPORTS LATER TONIGHT
BASEBALL
(written by Bruce Van Baren '09)
KALAMAZOO- Freshmen pitchers Peter Steiner (Chicago, IL/Glenbrook South) and
Keith Spoelstra (Oakland, NJ/Eastern Christian) delivered in two pressure
packed games at Woodworth Field to give Calvin its first MIAA Championship
since 2002.
The Knights earned a share of the league title with Adrian (22-6 MIAA, 30-10)
winning game one 9-2 and took the title outright with a 2-0 win in game two.
Calvin also receives the MIAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament which will
begin on Wednesday. The tournament matchups will be announced late Sunday
night.
“We would have taken [the league title] anyway we could have, but this is
certainly a lot sweeter,” said first year coach John Sparks, drenched by his
team after the final out. “I could be knee deep in water and still be feeling
good right now.” (For the full interview check out calvin.edu/sports).
“This is kind of one of those things that is going to sink in in a couple days,
couple weeks from now,” said senior catcher Kyle Fletcher (Fort Wayne, IN/
Concordia Lutheran) who went 3 for 8 with three RBIs. “This is just unreal to
actually come out and with [the league championship] when years past we
obviously haven’t had much success.”
The league title is Calvin’s eighth and comes on the heels of a fourth place
finish a year ago and a 13-22 overall record. Calvin also added to its
single-season record in wins and finishes the regular season with a 32-8
record. Adrian lost its final regular season and league game to last place Alma
(8-20 MIAA, 12-28) to open the door for the Knights to take the league title
outright.
“We were pretty stunned they lost the last game,” said Fletcher. “But boy it
definitely opened the door for us and we took advantage winning the last nine
games of the year.” The winning streak dates back to April 30.
“It’s a tribute to these guys,” said Sparks. “They’re the ones who have done it
all year and bought in to what we’re trying to do here and it’s just a tribute
to them. For me it still has to take kind of a week to sink in a little bit,
but these guys have been great and I’m really proud of them.”
Steiner (8-0) matched senior Nate Pocock (Wayland, MA/Wayland) for the team
lead in wins and moves to second in the record books for wins in a single
season. Steiner struck out three and scattered six hits, allowing only one
earned run to go the distance in game one.
Spoelstra (5-1) was electric in game two, striking out eight, including two in
the seventh inning and went the distance for his fourth complete game and
second shutout. Spoelstra pitched most of the game with only a one run lead.
“I couldn’t be more proud of those two guys, they both threw great,” said
Sparks. “I thought Keith especially in the second game got out of some tough
situations, we didn’t support him very well offensively, but he hung in there
and threw very well.”
“Keith came out and pitched one of the best games of the year, just
unbelievable,” said Fletcher who caught the second game. “He had his curve ball
and fastball going, it was just great.”
The Hornets jumped ahead in game one, scoring a run in the first inning. But
Calvin batted around in the second inning, scoring five runs as Kalamazoo
committed three of their five errors in the game. Sophomore second baseman Kyle
Gurzyinski (Ludington/Ludington) and junior center fielder Drew Johnson (Boise,
ID/Mountain View) had RBI singles and Johnson scored as Junior left fielder
Jacob Vriesman (Denver, CO/Denver Christian) reached on an error. Fletcher had
a two-out, two run double after back to back errors should have ended the
inning. The Knights added a run in the fourth inning and then three more in the
fifth.
In the second game, senior Alex Marcus (Willmar, MN/Willmar) doubled home
junior third baseman Jason May who walked to give the Knights the only run they
need in the second inning. Fletcher singled home Vriesman in the seventh to
tack on the insurance run.
“It was big to pick up that second run in the top of the seventh,” said Sparks.
“That gave us at least a little bit of a cushion and in the first game I
thought we hit the ball very well. Clutch hitting has been the key for us and
that continued today.”
Calvin’s destination and opponent will be released Sunday night, but the
first-round game will be Wednesday. Calvin has made three trips to the NCAA
tournament, advancing in 1984, 2000 and 2002. Calvin is 0-6 in NCAA tournament
play.
FINAL MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS
Calvin 23-5
Adrian 22-6
Olivet 15-13
Hope 13-15
Tri-State 12-16
Albion 11-17
Kalamazoo 8-20
Alma 8-20
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri May 9 21:51:47 2008
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