The ESU baseball coach added Barton County pitcher Matt Robertson — younger brother of Detroit Tigers pitcher Nate Robertson — to his recruiting class and … what a class. Robertson, who has been drafted twice by the Tigers (42nd round 2007, 49th round 2008), is the sixth Barton player to sign with the Hornets and one of 10 Jayhawk Conference players headed to ESU. Along with three Division I transfers. There is only one high school player in the class — Jordan Welch out of Central Heights.
It’s almost like … Fornelli’s trying to win a national championship or something.
Take a look at the entire class (below), compliments of ESU’s Donald Weast:
Emporia State distance runner Katie Mona made everybody else’s summer seem pretty ordinary at the USA Junior Outdoor track and field championships this weekend in Eugene, Ore. (where yours truly was born), finishing sixth in the 3000 meters with a time of 10:28:21. The rising sophomore from Lenexa was one of four Hornets in Eugene, along with Vincent Howze (400m hurdles), Darwin Hall (100m dash) and Asher Delmott (3000m steeplechase). Mona was the MIAA champ in the 3000 this season and finished second in the 1500.
My Uncle Kevin took me to see this flick when I was a little kid. I’m pretty sure we went to go see it again the next weekend.
Compliments of ESU’s Josh Slaughter, here’s an update on some Hornets and their minor-league travels, the lot of them in short-season A ball. Ryan Anthony, a big lefty from Overland Park, was the latest to sign, and he’ll be with either one of two Cleveland farm teams — Lake County or Mahoning. Looks like Conner Crumbliss is spending his days in Vancouver.
Emporia State senior outfielder Conner Crumbliss, an Ark City product and the 2009 MIAA player of the year — was selected by the Oakland Athletics today in the 28th round, who picked him as a second baseman, which is where he began his career with the Hornets. Gotta think his big year this season contributed to this — leading ESU to the national championship game and a regular-season MIAA title. Read the vitals below, compliments of ESU:
Emporia State will play Lynn (Fla.) for the NCAA Division II national title in a winner-take-all game Saturday. This one’s going to be on TV, CBS College Sports, Cox Channel 260 at 11 a.m. The two teams have never played each other before and its the first national championship appearance on the DII level for either school. Here’s where you can listen online.
Now here’s the skinny on where the watch parties are going to be, the one in Emporia might not be a bad place to be if the Hornets win, and Player’s is never a bad place to be on a Saturday afternoon. Josh Wood wants to go to the Ark City Pizza Hut :
Sunflower Slate hustled and got ESU hero Kellen Lane on the phone Thursday night (thanks to a little help from Josh Slaughter) after his dramatic, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth sent the Hornets to Saturday’s NCAA Division II College World Series title game in Cary, N.C. Lane, a senior from Borger, Texas, played junior-college ball at Odessa (Texas) College before coming to Emporia.
FINAL UPDATE: ESU SENIOR KELLEN LANE HITS TWO-RUN HR IN BOTTOM OF THE NINTH TO SEND HORNETS INTO NATIONAL TITLE GAME….THUS ENDING SUNFLOWER SLATE’S FIRST-EVEN RUNNING GAME BLOG. READ FRIDAY’S EAGLE FOR ALL THE JUICY DETAILS.
Thought I’d update as the game goes along — check out my feature on Kapaun Mount Carmel product and ESU freshman pitcher Dominic King here. And here’s the link to the ESU blog from Cary.
ESU ace Colby Killian gets the nod today for the Hornets. Opportunity knocks. The Hornets win this one and they’re in the NCAA DII CWS championship game for the first time, ever. A la, the deepest postseason run in school history.
Cowley’s season came to an end today at the NJCAA College World Series via a 10-7 loss to Spartanburg (S.C.) Methodist in Grand Junction, Colo., on Tuesday. Great season for the Tigers. Our story on the game is below. Gotta love Coach Burroughs — class act.
In other news …. Emporia State senior outfielder Conner Crumbliss was named a second-team NCAA Division II All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association and the Daktronics Division II Sports Information Directors.The Ark City product and MIAA player of the year batted .403 with 54 RBIs and led the league with 89 runs. Good for CC. Could a guy like this play for the Wingnuts, or even have a shot at affiliated ball? I’ll have to consult with Jeff Lutz on that one. Think they’ll have him cover the Raven Symone concert this summer? Man I hope so.
Here’s the story that I put together (box scores compliments of Gary Karr) for Tuesday’s Eagle on ESU advancing to the NCAA D2 College World Series semifinals and Cowley losing at the NJCAA World Series. ESU coach Bob Fornelli is in the Final 4 with his second team after leading Fort Hays to a runner-up finish in 2000. Caleb Williamson delivered the game-winning hit in this one and man … I love it when my Red Ravens deliver in the clutch. Look for the Tigers to bounce back Tuesday against Spartburg (S.C.) Community College.
