What’s been taking up our days as of late?  Recruit signings and preparing for the end of the school year.

Track runs at the GPAC Championship on Saturday, May 2 starting at noon.  Will wrap up late–probably around 8:30 or so.

Softball hopes to play Thursday in day one of the GPAC Tournament.  We’ll see if the weather cooperates. Wait and see.

Men’s tennis made the post-season tournament and will play on Friday against Concordia.  Winner gets Nebraska Wesleyan in the semifinals on Saturday.

Travis Feekes became the 13th player in Dordt baseball history to reach the 100 career hit mark.  Got 53 of those hits this year.

#######################

I had thought the winds of change had calmed.  They didn’t.  News that was rumored for several weeks was made official yesterday when the University of Sioux Falls issued a statement regarding their future plans.  The AP story read like this:

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - The University of Sioux Falls said it
will file an application to move its athletic program from the NAIA
to the NCAA Division II level.

USF said the application must be filed by June 1 and it will
hear back from the NCAA Membership Committee in mid-July.

The transition to NCAA is a three-year process, the final year
of which the school will be ineligible to complete in postseason
play in either the NAIA or NCAA.

The University of Sioux Falls is now a member of the Great
Plains Athletic Conference.

Developing…………….

################################

Score another one for Sioux City.  The city an hour to our south continues to flag down another NAIA National Tournament bid, this one in baseball.  Here’s the release I received earlier this week.

The Sioux City Sports Authority is proud to announce that Sioux City, Iowa, has been selected by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in Kansas City, Missouri, as a host site for one of nine NAIA Opening Rounds for the 2009 AVISTA-NAIA World Series. The opening round will take place at Lewis and Clark Park on May 12-15.

The 2009 NAIA Baseball Opening Rounds will feature 45 teams placed in nine five-team sites. Each opening round site winner will advance to the AVISTA-NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, and join Lewis-Clark State for the 10-team World Series May 22-29.

The Great Plains Athletic Conference is serving as the host conference for the Sioux City Opening Round. One GPAC representative will participate in the opening round at Lewis and Clark Park. The GPAC receives two automatic bids into the NAIA tournament field of 45. One bid is the conference regular season champion, with the second bid being the conference tournament champion. Should the regular season champion win the postseason, the postseason runner-up will receive the second automatic bid. Preference will be given to a Sioux City institution (Briar Cliff or Morningside) should they qualify via the conference. In the event that both Sioux City schools could receive a GPAC bid, the first one that qualified will play in Sioux City. There is no automatic host bid. If neither GPAC institution in Sioux City qualifies, the closest GPAC institution that qualifies will be selected.

Each opening site will feature of five-team, double elimination bracket. Selection of teams, seeding and bracketing is determined by the NAIA. The tournament brackets will be announced on May 8.

Tentative Schedule of Events:

May 11 – Welcoming Team Barbeque at the Lewis Bowl South Annex, 6PM

May 12 Games – 10AM, 1PM, and 4PM

May 13 Games – 10 AM, 1PM, and 4PM

May 14 Games – NOON and 3PM

May 15 Game – NOON (Championship)

*All times subject to change

“This is another tremendous opportunity for Sioux City to host a NAIA Championship Event,” said Corey Westra, GPAC Commissioner and President of the Sioux City Sports Authority. “The Sioux City Sports Authority wishes to thank the Missouri River Historical Development (MHRD) Board for their generous grant to help support attracting this event”.

“Four of the five teams that will be coming to Sioux City will be from around the country, so this is an opportunity to showcase our community once again,” commented Westra. “Those four with a local team makes for a great event and great baseball at Lewis and Clark Park.” “It’s fitting the ‘Road to Lewiston’ come through Sioux City which is right on the Lewis and Clark Trail,” added Westra.

Here are the nine NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round tournament sites (as listed by their current group designation):

Group A - Lubbock Christian University (Texas)
Group B - Oklahoma City University
Group C - Southern States Athletic Conference
Group D - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.)
Group E - Lee University (Tenn.)
Group F - Azusa Pacific University (Calif.)
Group G - William Carey University (Miss.)
Group H - Lindenwood University (Mo.)
Group I - Sioux City, Iowa/Great Plains Athletic Conference (Lewis and Clark Park)

Sioux City is becoming a regular on the post-season NAIA circuit with the national tournament in volleyball, women’s basketball and now a couple rounds in baseball.

################################

Looking for my umbrella……..

“I think we got  a good one,” is what Dordt baseball coach Jeff Schouten sat in my office and told me about an incoming recruit.  “Dillon Peters.  Throws right bats left.  Pretty good hitter.”

Well, four years later Dillon leaves the Dordt baseball program as the all-time hits leader.  How does one accumulate 155 career base hits at Dordt College?  Here’s how.  You show up every day.  You play hurt.  You figure out a way to help your team.  You don’t strike out much.  You pick your spots.  When you’re down in the count you go the opposite way.  When you’re ahead in the count you look for a pitch to drive.  During the off-season when you’ve got to come back from injury you do what the trainers say, plus some.  As near as I can tell that’s what Peters did for four years.

Freshman year–34 games played, 31-104 at the plate with a .298 batting average, three doubles, 12 runs batted in.

Sophomore season–34 games played, 34-112 at the plate with a .304 batting average with six doubles and 15 runs batted in.

Junior year–39-114 at the plate in 35 games played.  .342 batting average with six doubles and 16 runs batted in.

Senior year–42 games played.  50-143 with batting average of .350.  Nine doubles and 29 runs batted in.

Did I mention the torn labrum as a junior or the bad leg as a senior that prevented him from going all out?  Oh, and he struck out a grand total of 36 times in four years.  Over 500 plate appearances, not at-bats, but plate appearances, and he strikes out 36 times.  Come on.  And he’s a two time NAIA scholar-athlete with a double major.

You’re right coach.  I think we got a good one…….

Two notable individual performances on Tuesday for Dordt athletics.

Senior Jared Rempel went low at the Landsmeer Golf Club with a 67 to claim medalist honors in a meet hosted by Northwestern.  Keep in mind they play from the back tees in college events.  Rempel had a birdie putt for a 65 at 18 but skittered the ball by the hole ten feet and had to settle for a three-putt and the four under par score.  That’s some shooting my friend.  Rempel will leave Dordt College with the best golf average in school history and a pocket full of hockey honors as well from the ACHA.

Here’s Rempel’s scorecard   4-3-4-3-3-4-3-4-4-32 (front)   4-3-6-2-4-4-4-3-5  35=67

Here’s par for the course            5-3-4-3-4-4-3-4-5-35 (front)  5-3-5-3-4-5-4-3-4   37= 71

################################

Amber Soodsma kept the Mount Marty Lancers off balance for a one-hitter in an 8-0 win in Yankton, South Dakota last night.  Walked a couple and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before giving up a single.  Not a bad night’s work for the right hander.  Her record is now 9-5 and she has a 3.20 earned run average.  This is a busy stretch for the Defenders with three doubleheaders in three days, all on the road.

Right now the Defenders have the inside track for making the GPAC playoffs which begin a week from today.  After  two year absence the Defenders are poised to return to the eight-team field.  Lots of softball yet to be played but right now it looks hopeful for a team that has won 11 of their last 13 games and are two games under .500 overall.

#############################

If I have time tomorrow we’ll take a look at some all-time individual standings in baseball and softball heading into the final weekend of the season for both teams.

#############################

70 and sunny.  Almost makes your forget about the snow and cold this winter…..almost……………………………….

Softball team won a pair tonight over Sioux Falls.  Dangerous team, this Sioux Falls squad.  Split with Briar Cliff last night and played Dana to a pair of one run games not that long ago.  Defenders spotted the Cougars one unearned run in the first inning of the first game and then played shut out softball the rest of that game and the next.

Sarah Visser flirted with a no-hitter before giving up a single with one out in the sixth frame of game two before winning 1-0.  For Visser it’s her fifth win of the season and her third in a row.

Here are some numbers for you with the winning streak now at nine games for the Defender women.

Team batting average is .294.  That’s about sixty points higher than the Defender season batting average.  As important as the runs, though, is the fact that the Defenders have cut down on the free chances they are giving teams at the plate.  Early in the year Dordt was allowing about as many unearned runs as earned runs.  During the streak the breakdown is 19 earned runs allowed and eight unearned runs.  Now, every coach will say any unearned runs is too many, but we are seeing progress.  That has to continue.

On the flip side the Defenders are creating chances right now….they have scored 36 earned runs and have scored 21 unearned runs.  The Dordt pitchers have allowed 22 walks in 66 innings and they are limiting opponents to a .242 batting average.

Sarah Seymour, who received a well-deserved GPAC Player of the Week award for her play last week is batting .567 over the last nine games while going 17-30 at the plate.  She has four doubles, three triples and 11 runs batted in with a .900 slugging percentage.  Jaci Ver Mulm is 10-25 at the plate for .400 with seven runs batted in and Kristin Santana is batting .370 while going 10-27 at the dish.  Becca Hengeveld is batting .303 since April 1 and is 10-33 while Amber Soodsma has 12 runs scored.

Soodsma is 5-0 on the mound with a 2.39 earned run average in 38 innings pitched and has 30 strikeouts.  Sarah Visser is 3-0 with a 1.18 earned run average and has 28 strikeouts in 23 and 2/3 innings of work.

Baseball and softball are games of numbers and you can analyze them all you want, and sometimes we do it a little too much, but at the end of it all the Defendes are getting on base for a higher percentage then their opponents and they have cut down on their errors.

And with all that said Hastings will come in on Friday night and won’t care one bit about this nine game winning wave the Defenders are riding.

##########################

Off the diamonds for a minute.  Have a few recruits in the hopper for football and basketball.  Hope to have some releases ready in the next couple days.  I think Dordt fans will like them….

#########################

Finally, a reminder you can get updates of Dordt scores along with notices of news items and Dordt College blog postings by joining Twitter.com    Just one more way to keep up with Dordt athletics.

That’s Sarah Seymour at the plate right now.  Had a pair of doubleheaders that softball and baseball players dream about.  A perfect 7-7 at the plate against Northwestern and then 4-8 against Dakota State.  That’s a combined .733 batting average for those of you who didn’t major in math, like me.  Lets see, four runs scored, 11 hits, two doubles, three triples and eight runs batted in with 19 total bases and a 1.267 slugging percentage.  Also, upped her batting average of .279 to .361 in the four game span. Not bad, not bad at all.  Team has a rare week long break now before resuming play on Wednesday of next week against Sioux Falls.  The season is coming around the corner and heading for the stretch run.

##############

Dillon Peters’ career numbers continue to climb.  The senior leftfielder has 141 career base hits and is tied for third all-time with Craig Broek (1997-2000), Tim De Jong (1996-1999) has 143 and Beau Bosma (1999-2002) has 152.  No knock against the players at the top of the list but the best hitter I’ve seen in a Dordt uniform, in my opinioin was Stacey Kooiman (1989-1992) 113 hits and a career batting average of .401.  Keep in mind that is in my humble opinioin.  Let the debate begin……..