TIME:              For Immediate Release

DATE:             May 25, 2008

CONTACT:     Kim Strube, Communications Coordinator,
                       (281) 756-3551 office, (713) 858-4118 cell

SUBJECT:       ACC Dolphins Win Opening Game of JUCO World Series

PHOTOS:        ACC Dolphins Colorado Challenger Game 1
                        ACC JUCO World Series Game 1

Cutline ACC Dolphins Colorado Challenger Game 1: Alvin Community College Dolphins baseball player Nick Hammons, of Pearland, is a blur while pushing a player of the Challenger Baseball program to home plate during a “Buddy Game” in Grand Junction, Colo. on May 22. The Dolphins arrived a few days early in Colorado to prepare for their first time in the JUCO World Series on May 24. The Dolphins took the opportunity to play with the Challenger team, which is composed of kids with special needs.

Cutline ACC JUCO World Series Game 1: Alvin Community College Dolphins baseball player Kenny Jackson (left), of Corpus Christi, autographs a fan’s T-shirt after the team won the opening game of the JUCO World Series, in Grand Junction, Colo., on May 24.

ACC Dolphins win opening game of JUCO World Series

The Alvin Community College Dolphins advanced to the next level of the Alpine Bank JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. by winning against Walters State Community College 13-7 in the opening game on May 24.

The Walters State Senators, of Morristown, Tenn., had lost only seven games during the season and counted on their bats, led by the nation’s No. 1 home run hitter Kyle Koeneman, to earn them their second World Series win in three years.

Strategic and sound pitching by the Dolphins’ Taylor Wulf, of Santa Fe, however, only allowed one empty bases home run, by Senators’ player Adam Stooksberry, in the third inning.

“He does a good job of mixing it up; he uses every part of the strike zone available to him,” ACC Baseball Head Coach Bryan Alexander said of Wulf after the game. Wulf’s performance earned him the Big O Tires Big Player of the Game honor.

ACC’s “fundamentally solid” and error-free defense kept what hits the Senators could get mostly at bay and an aggressive offense kept the runs accruing in the second through seventh innings. After the second inning, the Dolphins never gave up their lead.

“They (Walters State) were going to get their runs,” Alexander stated. “We knew we just had to limit the damage and that’s what we did.”

The Dolphins’ scoring streak started with Chris Herrmann, of Tomball, who was up to bat for the first time at the top of the second inning, making it to first when the Senators’ catcher dropped the ball on the third strike. A sacrifice bunt by Ryan Priest, of Houston, pushed Herrmann to second and eventually led to a run with a single by Clay Puckett, of Texas City.

Two runs by ACC outfielders Blake Lynd, of Deer Park, and Jesse Husband, of Baytown, put ACC at a 3-2 lead in the third inning. Lynd assisted in the fourth inning, as well, hitting an RBI to bring Adelaido Anaya, of Deer Park, in for the team’s fifth run. The Dolphins’ defense kept the Senators scoreless in the fourth.

ACC catapulted to an 8-3 lead in the fifth inning when Herrmann hit a home run and Puckett earned a double RBI, to bring in Priest and Richard Porfirio, of Houston.

Although ACC allowed the Senators a run in the sixth inning, the Dolphins earned three of their own with a home run by second baseman Pablo Salinas, of League City, that brought in Lynd, after stealing two bases, and an RBI by Porfirio that brought in Herrmann.

Despite losing the opportunity for a potential run when Husband was called out due to batter interference after stepping in front of the catcher accidentally, the Dolphins pulled away with two more runs in the seventh inning. After giving up two runs that inning to the Senators, Dolphins’ relief pitcher Brett Kinsel, of Baytown, took over at the mound and kept the remainder of the seventh and eighth innings hitless. The last run of the game came with a homer by Senators’ Cody Hawn at the bottom of the ninth.

“We’ve got a group of mentally tough guys,” Lynd told reporters when asked why the team didn’t appear concerned about playing Walters State, which had a 54-7 record and the No. 1 home run hitter going into the World Series. “We just get after it, play the game and have fun.”

The Dolphins earned a trip to the JUCO World Series after making a clean sweep in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XIV Baseball Tournament and clenching the championship for the first time in the college’s history.

ACC will go on to play the returning 2007 JUCO World Series champions, the Chipola College Indians, of Marianna, Fla., on Monday, May 26 at 3 p.m. Ten teams, representing divisions throughout the U. S., are competing in the double elimination tournament for the highest honor in community college baseball.

The game will be broadcast live on KACC 89.7 FM. For team and game details, visit www.jucogj.org.

 

 

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Photo: The 2008 ACC Dolphins Baseball Team consists of: (front row, seated, left to right) Chris Herrmann, Jesse Husband, Drew Hudson, Travis Magliolo, Jerry Raines, Giovanni Angel, Ryan Gilbert, Blake Lynd, Ryan Priest, (middle row, kneeling) Mark Hudson, Chris Pena, Richard Porfirio, Brett Kinsel, Adelaido Anaya, Taylor Wulf, James Land (rs), Michael Martin, Jeremy Toole, Clay Puckett, (back row, standing) ACC Student Assistant Zack Ellis, Matt Flores, ACC Assistant Coach Jason Schreiber, Kyle Little, Kyle Keena, John Gilligan, Josh Darnell, Nick Hammons, Guillermo Cienfuegos, Jason Fuqua, Kenny Jackson, Pablo Salinas, and ACC Head Coach Bryan Alexander.

• Congratulations to Alvin Community College Baseball Team!
• ACC Dolphins First Game