May 5, 2008

By Ken McDowell Sports Editor

The Trinidad State College Trojans were winners of the opening series of the Region IX Tournament Sunday at Plainsmen Park.

The Northeastern Junior College (NJC) Plainsmen hosted the first round of the tournament as the number 1 seed by claiming the Empire Conference championship during the regular season. Out of the four teams in the tournament (NJC, Lamar, Otero and Trinidad), the Trojans entered the best-out-of-three series as the fourth seed.

The tournament was slated to be held Friday and Saturday, but was moved to Saturday and Sunday due to inclement weather. In the opener on Saturday Trinidad scored three runs in the first inning and went on to defeat NJC 4-2.

That meant if the Plainsmen were going to advance to the championship series, they would need to sweep Trinidad on Sunday or their season would be over.

Sophomore Arvin Perez gave NJC that opportunity on Sunday as he held Trinidad scoreless through 7-2/3 innings and the Plainsmen evened the series by a 1-0 score. (All Region IX Tournament games are nine innings instead of seven).

Perez gave up just 5 hits while striking out 6 and walking 4. He exited the game in the top of the eighth when Trinidad had runners at second and third with 2 outs.

Sophomore Colton Williams entered the game in relief and threw only one pitch which induced a ground ball to sophomore third baseman Sam Feiner to end the threat. But in the decided contest Sunday Trinidad scored 4 runs in the top of the first and held off NJC for a 7-5 win, advancing to the championship series this weekend at Otero Junior College in La Junta.

Otero, the number 3 seed in the tournament, won it's opening series last weekend at Lamar over the second seeded Runnin' Lopes.

In the rubber game on Sunday, the Plainsmen found themselves trailing by a 7-1 score going into the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore lead-off hitter Josh Warren and freshman LaDarian Poole both reached base to start the inning, setting the stage for Feiner.

The slugging sophomore smacked a fastball from Trinidad's Chris Wilson over the center-field fence for a 3-run homer, and NJC was back in the game, trailing only by a 7-4 margin.

NJC put two more runners aboard in the sixth, but Wilson was able to work out of the jam, limiting the damage to only 3 runs. Trinidad threatened in the top of the seventh with runners at second and third with 2 outs, but Warren made a spectacular diving catch in short center-field to end the inning.

NJC didn't make any noise until the bottom of the ninth when sophomore catcher Rhett Welsh drew a 1-out walk. Freshman Andrew Belew reached first base on a fielder's choice and later advanced to second on a wild pitch.

Freshman Billy McHenry followed with an infield single, putting runners at first and third and bringing Warren to the dish. Warren floated a soft liner on the infield, and beat out the throw at first as Belew scored NJC's fifth run.

That brought Poole to the plate, who in his previous at-bat sent the Trinidad left-fielder up against the fence for a long out. Poole fouled off a couple of pitches before popping out to the catcher to end the game.

Shepherd did add that Trinidad played well in the series. The Trojans are 5-2 at Plainsmen Park this season.

"I give Trinidad all of the credit in the world for beating us," he said. "We were the regular season champions, and they dethroned us and I have a lot of respect for them playing hard and beating us.

After the Plainsmen dropped the first game on Saturday, NJC needed to win both games Sunday to stay alive. "We played a little tight on Saturday - like the pressure was on us," Shepherd observed. "I told the guys just to go out on Sunday and have fun and play loose. We really played well in the first game, and Perez and Williams pitched very well."

NJC scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the first when Warren was hit by a pitch and later scored on an RBI double by Feiner. Trinidad threatened a few times during the game, but Perez made big pitches when he needed. With the win, Perez finishes the season with a 9-0 record. Trinidad jumped out to the big early lead in the finale and held off NJC to escape with the win.

The NJC players can look back on putting together the best season ever in the history of the Plainsmen baseball program. NJC finished with a record of 38-13 and entered the tournament ranked 14th in the nation.

NJC had winning streaks of 11 and 14 games during the regular season, and won the Empire Conference title with a 24-6 mark. The Plainsmen were outstanding on the road, posting a 22-4 slate.

NJC will graduate a sophomore class that led their success as they bid good-bye to Warren, Feiner, leading hitter Danny Brock, Curtis Burback, Welsh, Perez, Williams, Mike McClaren, James Quisenberry, Zak Enriquez and Darren Chavez.

"This is definitely a very special group of sophomores, for not just the things they did on the field, but off the field as well," Shepherd said. "It was a tough day for them Sunday, as well as the coaches and the rest of the team.

"There were parents in the dugout after the game and everyone was hugging each other. Our batboy (Ryan Mack) was still upset two hours after the game. He was talking about never seeing these sophomores again, so that shows what these kids meant to the school, program and community.

"Seeing these guys leave will be difficult for me, but I know they will go on and represent our program at the next level."