Bear Talk The newsletter for athletics at Southwest State University

Volume 16, Number 6 April/May 1998 Softball Bears take MVC crown

ould they advance to the NCAA and a sparkling 1.19 , playoffs? The answer was "yes" for was named the league's top pitcher, gain­ Cthe Softball Bears, who ensured an ing 25 of her team's 30 victories. Last automatic NCAA bid after securing their season she was a first-team all-MVC third consecutive victory in the Missouri selection when she won 19 games and Valley Conference tournament. was ranked among the NCAA Division I This year's road to the NCAA playoffs leaders in saves and . led through Evansville, Ind. The softball Cagwin has been supported by what team defeated Northern Iowa, 2-1, in the Holly Hesse calls "a good, balanced tournament championship to clinch a spot. lineup." Top hitters after the stretch run The Bears wound up their stretch run were Diedre Shores, batting .354; Sarah with a 30-20 record, winning their last 10 Madden, .322; Jarni Canada, .297; and in a row. They finished second to Heather Anderson, .279. Creighton in the conference during the The team's first NCAA game was regular season, posting a 13-5 league played May 15 against No. !-seeded mark. In the tournament they defeated Stanford in Stillwater, Okla. SMS was Evansville, Southern Illinois, and issued the No.4 seed. Oklahoma State and Northern Iowa (twice), all on the strength Florida State also were in the bracket. The Sophomore outfielde r Sarah Madden has been among the of junior Nora Cagwin's pitching. advancing team will play in the College team's offense leaders down the stretch. Cagwin, with a 25-4 won-loss record World Series in Oklahoma City. BT Bears enter tournament within striking distance of title

oach Keith Guttin's Baseball Bears "We need more innings from our starting ished the regular season by winning three are in quest of their third straight pitchers," says Guttin. "We're about where out of four against Southern Illinois. CMissouri Valley Conference title and we thought we'd be with them." Six Bears have been hitting above .300: their fourth straight NCAA bid, the confer­ Guttin's hopeful the pitching will round Matt Cepicky, .392; Jason Hart, .386; ence tournament having been slated for into shape in the tournament. Giving a hint Brandon Jackson, .385; Micah Holst, .356; May 13-16 in Evansville, Ind. of what could be "things to come," were Nick Kays, .347; and Chris Curry, .308. The Although it's been an up and down year back-to-back jewels thrown by starters team was hitting a solid .331, compared to for the Bears, coach Guttin points out the Scott Geitz and Jason Crist against an opponent batting average of .292. Hart baseball season "is a marathon, not a Creighton. Geitz had a two-hitter in a 1-0 was leading in home runs with 22. Kays and sprint." win, and Crist and Brandon West combined Cepicky had 13 home runs apiece. "Considering there are 32 league games, for a three-hitter as the Bears won 3-1. In Guttin's view, the MVC tournament and a 50-game season, there are always Then during the last weekend of April, "is as wide open as it's ever been. peaks and valleys," says Guttin. SMS swept four games from lllinois State to "I feel good about what's ahead of us," The Bears have bad both this year in move ahead of the Redbirds into third place he concluded. "We can score with anyone. mounting a 30-19 regular season record. in the conference standings. The Bears fin- We just need more consistent pitching." Former SMS standout gives Major Leagues another whirl here aren't a lot of people who reach to establish business inter­ the top of the ladder in their chosen ests and continue raising his T profession, elect to retire at age 30, family. and then come out of retirement to go back Somewhere along the to work in the same job. way, the baseball bug began But working as a gnawing again and Bailes pitcher is not your ordinary job. started contemplating a "When I was pitching in the majors the comeback. He began with first time," says former SMS Bears' hurler winter baseball in Puerto Scott Bailes, "I never had the appreciation Rico in 1996-97, spent most Texas Ranger reliever Scott Bailes (left) pitched with the Cleveland of what it was all about. Phil Niekro once of 1997 pitching at the Indians ( /986-89) and the California Angels ( 1990-92) during his first stint in the majors. told me, 'You need to appreciate this. A lot Triple-A level, and was of young players don 't. ' Now I know what called up by the in August. I hope to keep pitching. I'm reminded of a he was trying to tell me. It means a lot more He got his first major league win in more comment Bert Blyleven made when he said to me now than it ever did the first time I than five years and had a 2.86 earned run he wanted to keep pitching until no one came up to pitch." average over 24 appearances with the 1997 would give him a uniform." Bailes, who pitched for the Bears as a Rangers. Bailes signed a new contract with Texas freshman in 1981 , was drafted by the Bailes, who has added about 30 pounds for the 1998 season and finds himself work­ in 1982. He reached the of muscle to his 6-foot-2 frame and now ing primarily in late-inning relief roles for majors with the in 1986 weighs 200 pounds, relishes his situation. the potent Rangers' ball club. The oldest and won 37 ball games for the Indians and "There are eight billion guys out there who man on the Texas roster at age 35, he is California Angels over the next seven sea­ would like to put on a uniform and stand out hopeful that his return to the majors can sons, working as both a starter and reliever. in the sunshine shagging flies," he says. produce the one thing which has eluded him He retired from baseball in the spring of "My goals at this point are day-to-day but I in his career - the chance to pitch in the 1993 and returned to his native Springfield appreciate everything that's happening and playoffs and World Series. BT