cumberland baseball champs 2014

8/12/2019 Cumberland Baseball Champs 2014

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A S P E C I A L S E C T I O N B Y T H E L E B A N O N D E M O C R A T F R I D A Y , J U N E 2 7 , 2 0 1 4

A SEASON

TO REMEMBERA look back at Cumberland Universitys road to a national championship

Photo courtesy of Steve Hanks

Cumberland Universitybaseball team membersand head coach WoodyHunt celebrate an NAIA

national championshipaer defeating Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston,Idaho.


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_ _ _ _ _ . :


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Cumberland University Bulldogs 3 2014 NAIA Baseball Champions

Congratulates

Cumberland University

Coach Woody Hunt

and Baseball Team

2014 NAIA

National Champions!

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By Andy [email protected]

Cumberland entered the 2014 seasoncoming off a 41-19-1 campaign in 13.That was on the heels of a 32-26 markin 12, one of the worst marks of Hall ofFame coach Woody Hunts career.

Last year we had injuries to Sam[Lind] and Ricky Coleman was ruled noteligible, Hunt said. [Catcher] BryanHaney was out most of the year too.

Them coming back in 14 and therecruiting we had, I thought we had achance to get back to Lewiston [WorldSeries]. But to win it is another question.

Then we had injuries throughout theyear.

Cumberland was also counting on ju-nior-college pitcher Jhon Peralta, who washere in the fall. But visa issues kept himfrom returning to campus from his nativeDominican Republic following Christmasbreak until well after classes started, keep-ing him from playing in 2014.

Left-hander Marc Monroe went downfollowing a 3-0 start. Kevin T. Greenebroke his hand and right-hander StevieSmith lost three to four weeks with a badshoulder.

That one time in March, I thought itwould be a stretch for us to get back toLewiston, said Hunt, whose team had lastgot to Idaho in 2010. We started to put ittogether in April. And then we thought wehad a pretty good team and I remembertelling the players in the conference tour-nament Fellas, we have ended up into apretty good ballclub and we might be ableto do some things if we keep this up.

But to win a national championship

Showing the tenacity of a bulldog

Andy Reed The Lebanon Democrat

Stevie Smith raises his fist in triumph over Chris Halls only home run of the season, in the homefinale against Bryan.


Leo Sierra (le) signals Cumberland is No. 1 as he, Jackson White, Jarrett Plunkett and Kevin P. Greene tour Lebanon on the victory parade.

was a far-fetched thought at that time. Wewere just hoping to get back to Lewiston.

The 2010 team was probably the mostdominant in Cumberland history with

just one two-game losing streak. The 14team only had a pair of two-game slides.But these Bulldogs couldnt put together a

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Date Opponent Location ResultFeb. 7 Auburn Montgomery Montgomery, Ala. W, 7-1; L, 2-1Feb. 8 Missouri Baptist Montgomery, Ala. W, 5-4Feb. 8 Faulkner Montgomery, Ala. L, 7-4

Feb. 14 Taylor Lebanon W, 15-5 [7 innings]Feb. 15 Taylor Lebanon W, 6-1; W, 8-2Feb. 18 Georgia Gwinnett Lawrenceville, Ga. L, 8-5Feb. 21 West Virginia Tech Lebanon W, 15-7Feb. 22 West Virginia Tech Lebanon W, 6-5; W, 15-1Feb. 25 Freed-Hardeman Lebanon W, 14-9; L, 5-1Feb. 28 *Georgetown Georgetown, Ky. W, 6-5March 1 *Georgetown Georgetown, Ky. L, 5-4; W, 7-1March 5 Mid-Continent Lebanon W, 10-0; W, 4-0March 7 *Shawnee State Lebanon L, 2-1March 8 *Shawnee State Lebanon W, 5-4 [12 in.]; L, 9-5

March 10 Ava Maria Daytona Beach, Fla. W, 6-2March 11 Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach, Fla. L, 6-3 [9 in.]; L, 5-4March 12 Clarke Daytona Beach, Fla. W, 9-4March 14 *St. Catharine St. Catharine, Ky. L, 7-6March 15 *St. Catharine St. Catharine, Ky. W, 11-7; L, 7-4March 17 Embry-Riddle Lebanon W, 4-0March 18 Embry-Riddle Lebanon L, 2-0March 19 Oklahoma Wesleyan Lebanon W, 10-5March 21 *Campbellsville Lebanon W, 15-5March 22 *Campbellsville Lebanon L, 10-3; W, 9-0March 25 Tennessee Wesleyan Athens W, 14-8 [14 in.]

March 30 *Lindsey Wilson Columbia, Ky. W, 5-3 [10 in.]; L, 8-4April 1 Bethel Lebanon W, 17-5 [8 innings]April 4 *Cumberlands Lebanon W, 11-7April 5 *Cumberlands Lebanon W, 3-0; L, 4-2April 8 Georgia Gwinnett Lebanon L, 5-3April 11 *Pikeville Lebanon W, 5-2April 12 *Pikeville Lebanon W, 6-1; W, 18-3April 16 Tennessee Wesleyan Lebanon W, 7-6April 18 *Bluefield Bluefield, Va. L, 6-5 [12 innings]April 19 *Bluefield Bluefield, Va. W, 12-1 [8 in.], W, 4-2April 25 *Rio Grande Lebanon W, 11-3

April 26 *Rio Grande Lebanon W, 7-6; W, 8-7April 30 Bryan Lebanon W, 12-7

Mid-South Conference tournamentMay 4 Lindsey Wilson Columbia, Ky. W, 10-7May 5 St. Catharine Columbia, Ky. W, 12-0May 6 Georgetown Columbia, Ky. W, 3-2 [10 in.]May 7 Georgetown Columbia, Ky. L, 5-3; W, 10-8 [10 in.]

NAIA Championship Opening RoundMay 12 Brewton-Parker Kingsport W, 8-3May 12 Missouri Baptist Kingsport L, 5-2May 14 Bryan Kingsport W, 8-1

May 14 Missouri Baptist Kingsport W, 6-4May 15 Missouri Baptist Kingsport W, 6-3

NAIA World SeriesMay 23 San Diego Christian Lewiston, Idaho W, 10-1May 24 Lewis-Clark State Lewiston, Idaho W, 6-1May 26 Oklahoma Wesleyan Lewiston, Idaho W, 8-7May 27 Oklahoma Baptist Lewiston, Idaho W, 13-5May 28 Lewis-Clark State Lewiston, Idaho L, 6-5May 30 Lewis-Clark State Lewiston, Idaho W, 3-0

*Mid-South Conference game

2014 Cumberland Results

Andy Reed The Lebanon Demiocrat

A smiling Woody Hunt and his Bulldogs listen to local dignitaries sing their praises during the

ceremony at Ernest L. Stockton Field following the championship parade.


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IMAGES FROM CUMBERLAND UNIVERSITYS


Justin Byrd [24] is congratulated by Tyler Anderson [5] and Ricky Coleman aer hitting a grandslam in the home finale against Bryan. At le is Josciel Veras [4].


Pitcher Jake Collier peers in toward the catcher for the sign.


Third baseman Tyler Anderson tries to beat a Shawnee State runner back to the bag.


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2014 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON

Ned Jilton II Kingsport Times News

Brady North records a putout at first base during the NAIA Championships Opening round against Brewton-Parker in Kingsport.


Catcher Bryan Haney looks to throw to third base.

Kyle Mills Lewisotn Tribune

Shortstop Tyler Anderson turns a double play during the NAIAWorld Series.

Kyle Mills Lewiston Tribune

Catcher Bryan Haney fields a Lewis-Clark State bunt in front of the plate on a play which resulted in the host Warriors edgingthe Bulldogs 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning in the NAIA World Series.


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Record: 49-20 Home: 26-7 Away: 9-11 Neutral: 14-2 Mid-South Conference: 17-9HITTING

Player Avg. GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB-ATTSam Lind .404 69-69 270 64 109 17 3 16 91 11-15

Chris Hall .392 68-67 240 75 94 11 3 1 38 12-16Ricky Coleman .381 69-69 260 76 99 24 0 4 58 11-11

Justin Byrd .328 69-69 250 64 82 10 5 6 35 18-25Tyler Anderson .304 65-64 237 31 72 14 1 1 44 2-2

Josciel Veras .299 58-57 197 37 59 13 0 4 39 5-8Brady North .283 69-69 244 40 69 14 0 12 59 0-0Richie Seaton .272 66-63 213 40 58 7 0 0 34 7-9Will Henderson .211 35-21 90 10 19 2 1 1 6 3-4Bryan Haney .211 42-36 109 4 23 6 0 1 16 0-0Tyler Alford .164 42-33 110 1 18 5 0 1 16 0-0TEAM .315 69-69 2,258 495 711 125 13 48 442 70-91

PITCHINGPlayer ERA W-L APP GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP BB SO

Jake Collier 1.62 9-3 19 13 9 3/0 1 111.1 36 72Anthony Gomez 2.28 7-4 19 17 6 2/0 0 118.1 30 113Marc Monroe 2.35 3-0 4 3 0 0/1 0 23.0 2 17Clint Meadows 4.14 8-4 16 13 3 0/0 0 78.1 33 30Kevin T. Greene 4.25 5-4 14 6 0 0/0 0 53.0 17 29Kevin P. Greene 4.29 9-2 20 12 3 0/0 0 84.0 37 43Stevie Smith 4.39 6-1 16 3 1 1/0 1 41.0 13 32TEAM 3.25 49-20 69 69 22 7/1 3 569.2 198 367

2014 Cumberland StatisticsJared Felkins Lebanon Democrat

Cumberland players, head coach Woody Hunt (right) and university president Harvill Eaton ride atop a fire engine during a parade in honor of the Bulldogs 2014 national championship.


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long winning streak together as they builta 23-14 mark through the end of March.

Thats not bad for most teams. But theNAIA raters, who had Cumberland ranked10th in the preseason, had dropped theBulldogs completely out of the top-25 pollwhen regular-season rankings began inlate March.

We always responded after a loss,Hunt said. But we could never put to-gether a big streak like the 10 team did.We were always looking for that eight-to-10-game win streak, then make it a 14-15-game win streak, which we usually got.We never did have that. We kept slippingup.

But if injuries kept the Bulldogs fromblasting off, another proved to be themother of invention as Hunt found the

right combination.Josciel Veras had a good year at second

base in 2013 while Lind missed the sea-son with an injury. But with Lind back in13, Hunt moved Veras to shortstop. Hestruggled at the position, hurting the pitch-to-contact staff.

But when Veras went down with ashoulder injury in mid-March, Hunt slidTyler Anderson, a Gold Glove performerat third base in 13, over to short andmoved former Lipscomb player Coleman

from center field to third base, the infielddefense solidified.

With better defense, the pitching im-proved. With improved pitching, thechemistry turned into a winning formula.Veras returned following a three-weekabsence and put his bat to use as the desig-nated hitter.

We were not a good defensive teamearly in the year, Hunt said.

In the outfield, Justin Byrd took over incenter field. Chris Hall, a former Friend-

ship Christian star who was named Mid-South Conference Freshman of the Yearin 13 playing center, moved to left. Huntwanted Richie Seaton to play left, but thesenior from Ontario was more comfort-able in right.

We moved them quite a bit in the firstpart of the year, Hunt said. We hadthree [center fielders] when Richie wasplaying out there.

Hunt and longtime pitching coachKevin Hite also spent the first eight weeksof the season trying to settle on the three-man pitching rotation for the weekendconference series.

It ended up being left-hander AnthonyGomez and right-handers Jake Collier andSmith. Clint Meadows struggled in the ro-tation early in March. Kevin P. Greene gotseveral key starts as well.

We mixed it up the whole year, Huntsaid.

Cumberland won the first three gamesin April, took 2 of 3 from the Cumber-lands the first weekend. A week later, theBulldogs swept Pikeville in a three-gameset at Woody Hunt Stadium/Ernest L.Stockton Field, a stretch Hunt said was

probably the start of the run which sawCU win 11 of its last 12 to close the regu-lar season.

When we got to tournament play, weknew what we had to do, said Hunt, whofigured the Bulldogs needed to win twogames in the Mid-South Conference tour-nament at Lindsey Wilson just to draw anat-large berth to the NAIA Championship

Opening Round. It was about survival.Our guys just buckled down and playedhard and refused to lose.

After winning the first three games toextend their winning streak to a season-high nine games, the Bulldogs bouncedback from a loss to Georgetown to beatthe Tigers in 10 innings to capture thechampionship and an automatic berth tothe Opening Round.

Missouri Baptist was the top seed in theKingsport pod of the Opening Round. The

Bulldogs overcame a second-round lossto the Spartans to beat them twice in thefinals and punch their 12th ticket to theNAIA World Series.

Very good team, one of the best teamsin the country, Hunt said of the Spartans.They could have done some damage inthe World Series.

No other pod had an upset. The 10-teamWorld Series featured eight No. 1 seeds,host Lewis-Clark State and Cumberland,which returned to the final NAIA poll of

the season at No. 23. Putting the Bulldogsas the No. 10 seed was an easy call fortournament officials.

We liked that, Hunt said. We likedthe challenge of showing people we werebetter than that and we did. People knewafter the first game [a 10-1 trouncing ofSan Diego Christian] we were not a trueNo. 10 seed because we were playinggood at that time.

Playing without the favorites pressure,the Bulldogs spent the next week flippingthe seedings,

Gomez beat Lewis-Clark 6-1 in Cum-berlands second game. The Bulldogsedged Oklahoma Wesleyan 8-7 in a wildgame which featured a big base-runningblunder by the Eagles.

The next night, extra innings in anearlier game and two lightning delays inexcess of two hours kept the Bulldogsplaying into the wee hours in the Pa-cific Time Zone. A game which mighthave normally ended around midnight inLebanon didnt conclude until after 3 a.m.In Lewiston, a few fans hung around Har-ris Field to see the Dawgs congratulate

themselves for a 13-5 win over OklahomaBaptist after 1 a.m.

We were relaxed and our guys did notwant to lose, Hunt said. We had somegood breaks. That base-running play fromOklahoma Wesleyan was one of them.

One win from the championship,Cumberland led host Lewis-Clark Stateuntil the Warriors scored late and walkedoff with a 6-5 win in front of a packedhouse of mostly home folks, many ofwhom were probably also on hand for

L-Cs dramatic extra-inning win over CUin the 2006 championship game.

Thus, the two teams hooked up again ina one-game-take-all final on Friday, May30.

Hunt didnt really want to do it, but hesent Gomez back to the mound, givingthe Warriors a second look at the lefty. Itdidnt help the home team as Gomez didthe same thing as fellow Norwalk, Calif.,native Eddie Ortega did 10 years ago gothe distance in pitching Cumberland to a

national championship.The 04 championship began a run ofsix World Series appearances, four finalsberths and three championships in the last11 seasons.

The last decade, not to be boastful,nobody has come close to us, Hunt said.Its been an unbelievable run.

If the 2010 team was loaded and the 04team was a mixture of grit and talent, the14 squad may best exemplify the attri-butes of the schools sports mascot.

We always got off the mat after aloss, Hunt said. We had a desire to win.We had strong unity. We were a grinding,never-give-up team. We never gave up.

Somebody got a lead, we would comeback. Everything was hard for us.

TENACITYFROMPAGE3

Jared Felkins Lebanon Democrat

A Cumberland player signs an autograph for afan during a celebration in the teams honor.


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C

umberland began the 2014 base-ball season without its most loyalfan.

And when the Bulldogs re-turned home following their third na-tional championship, Louis Paytonsabsence was notable.

Hed have been at the airport wait-ing for us, and waiting for his t-shirt,Cumberland coach said of Louie, acampus institution for years who died inJanuary at age 62. He would have gottenthe attention, too.

We were flying into Nashville. Ithought about Louie and said, Well, hewont be there this trip. So we still miss

him.He was always at the airport, wanting

his t-shirt. Hed want to be right in therewith us. He was a special guy for our pro-gram. We still miss him.

This team didnt know him as muchas last years team. We still had someholdovers from last years team whoknew him. All the other teams knewhim.

Big Lou, as he was affectionatelyknown, was as familiar a sight on theCumberland campus as the Memorial

Hall clock tower. He was at practically

every sporting eventon campus. If hecould get a ride, he

would be at LebanonHigh games as well.A onetime carrier forThe Lebanon Demo-crat, he would goanywhere there was agame if he could geta ride.

Hunt took him onsome road trips, too,

including one to Auburn in 1986 wherehe met Bo Jackson. When the coachneeded someone to throw the ceremonial

first pitch [opening day, Senior Day], Louwas always willing and able. He evenowned an honorary degree from CU.

When Lou passed away, Hunt, whoeulogized Mr. Payton at his funeral, hadhim memorialized on patches on some ofthe uniforms.

That didnt go unnoticed in Lewiston,Idaho, where the Lewiston Tribune did astory.

Perhaps it was fitting the home of theNAIA World Series is called [Lewis]ton.

Louie was missed in Lewiston

Sports EditorSaturday Morning QB

Andy Reed

Democrat File Photo

Lewis Peyton will be forever remembered for his love of Cumberland athletics.SEEREEDONPAGE11


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And the school Cumberland had to beatin the final game is Lewis-Clark State.The Bulldogs were decked out in the

Louie jerseys for that game.

I wanted to wear that uniform, Huntsaid. Part of the reason is Louie is on thesleeve. Maybe there was something to thestory about Louie, maybe he was guidingus through the night [a 3-0 victory].

It seemed like it was for Louis, even

though we didnt say that.Since Louie wouldnt have been in

Lewiston, he would have been glued tothe radio.

He would have been listening as much

as he could, Hunt said.

Hes a special guy and his spirit is stillwith us.

Andy Reed is The Democrats sportseditor. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter

@wilsoncosports.

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With Cumberland president Harvill Eaton (le) riding shotgun, coach Woody Hunt gives the thumbs-up sign to well-wishers behind the le-field fence of Ernest L. Stockton Field as the champion-ship parade returns to campus along South Tarver Avenue.

MtJulietNews.com

Lebanon Publishing Company

Congratulations Cumberland University Baseball


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cumberland baseball champs 2014

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