1 1 South Atlantic Conference Ncaa South
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I I 1---------------------- .~. SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE 1 .~. I NCAA SOUTH ATLANTIC REGION I I I I I I I I .~. 1 FINAL NATIONAL POLL .~. 1 NCAA WORLD SERIES 1-----------------------~~~ I BASEBALL I ~ 3a' - ~ 13 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • - I BLAZER NICKNAMES Nicknames are a "special" ingredient in baseball. They add interest and luster to both players and fans alike. Below is a I list of "nicknames" that BLAZER horsehiders have earned from their exploits. I DARRELL BRANAM •••••••••••••••••••• Little D BILL PARSONS •••••••••••••••••••••• Wilbur VINCE HUSASHE ••••••••••••••••••••• Hooter; Vinnie I JEROME REGISTER ••••••••••••••••••• J; Romeo JEFF GREENHALGH (before tourneys) • ML-Skyball JEFF GREENHALGH (after tourneys) •• Moose DAN DARDEN •••••••••••••••••••••••• Deacon I STEVE McDIFFITT ••••••••••••••••••• The Giant Killer JIM ROQUEMORE ••••••••••••••••••••• Rock FOSTER FORAN •••••••••••••••••••••• Rooster I DANNY CHADWICK •••••••••••••••••••• Toad MARTY LeFILES ••••••••••••••••••••• Hat I ------------------------------------------------------------------------~-----------~------~---------------------------~~~--~--------------- I Eight men from this year's squad will not be with the BLAZERS I next season. All of them have been with the team the past two years, when Valdosta State did what no other baseball team in history has ever done-- earn its way into the NAIA World Series I one year, and into the NCAA World Series the next. Each man, in his own way, contributed greatly to the team's success. Listed on the following pages is each man's statistical record at Valdosta I State. SAM BmvEN •• centerfield-pitch •• Brunswick, Gao I' Possibly the greatest baseball player in college during the past season •••• Transfer from Brunswick JO •••• Made first team NCAA All-American •••• HVP of the Blazers, the South Atlantic Conference, I and the South Atlantic Region, and also a member of the 1974 All World Series team •••• Signed a substantial bonus with the Boston Red Sox •••• His best games the past two years were in the tournaments, even though his play was "super" every game •••• Simply a pleasure to I watch •••• Was 5-3 as a pitcher, and led the team last year with a 1.10 ERA •••• Threw smoke, and always won the "big-oneil for the Blazers. I AB R H BI AVG. 2B 3B HR SB 1973 ••••••• 184 43 49 36 .266 11 5 7 14 I 1974 ••••••• 160 52 55 37 .344 11 6 7 20 I TOTALS 344 95 104 73 .3p2 22 11 14 34 I I RICK BO~'lERS .. pitcher eo Tifton, Ga. I Tro..nst'cr from Brerlton-J:!arker JC •••• Dnd,cfea tcd at Valdosta Stu te •••• His ERA of 0.90 has only been topped twice in VSC hictory •••• Pitched 3 shut-outs in two years, and picked up a crucial win, 2-1, over west I Georgia this season.oo.Hill rank among the top 10 ERA pitchers in the nation for 1974. I G IP H" R ER BB SO i'1-L ERA 1973 •• 0.... 9 34 28 8 6 21 18 3-0 1 .57 1974 ••••••• 9 50 36 11 5 27 25 6-0 0.90 I TOTALS 18 84 64 19 1 1 48 43 9-0 '018 I DAN CHAD~HCK •• pitcher •• East Gary, Ind. A ~our-year letterman, who played on four championship teams •••• l·fade All-NAIA District 25 last season •••• Beat Shorter 2-1 in the I District finals, as a frosh •••• Beat Mercer four consecutive times •••• Had four shut-outs the past two seasons •••• Known as the "Toad" •••• Hit .500 as a frosh •••• A good fielding pitcher •••• Tdill be difficult I to replace. G IP H R ER BB SO W-L ERA I 1971 • • • • • • • 5 24 16 6 2 8 20 2-1 0.75 1972 ••••••• 8 30 45 2/4- 20 7 20 3-3 6.00 1913 ••••••• 9 55.2 44 18 12 19 48 6-0 1.94 I 1974 ••••••• 10 51.2 53 25 20 28 21 3-3 3.12 TOTALS 32 167.1 158 73 54 62 109 14-7 2.90 I GENE FELTS •• leftfield •• Lakeland, Ga. - The greatest career player in Valdosta State history •••• Holds I every career hitting record •••• Only missed the ctolen base recorq to make a clean sweep •••• Had a tremendous year in 1974, except for him •••• Had a fantastic sophomore season •••• I~ade first team !;.:HA. AIl-.t'..::::crican I in 1972 and 1973 •••• l>Iade All-NAIA i'lorld Series in 1973 •••• Hi t the best pitchers, and against the best teams •••• Led the team in batting for ti'10 years •••• Signed a bonus con tract with the Ne11 York !;1ets •••• I With Bowen and Register, comprised the best outfield in college ball in 1974 •••• !·1ost accurate arm on the team •••• A pleasure to knOii. I AB R H BI AVG. 2B 3B HR SB 1971 • • • • • • • 167 28 46 12 .275 4 2 2 14 1972 .0 ••••• 168 54 61 50 .363 9 6 13 19 1973 • 0 • • • • • 212 41 78 29 .368 1 1 6 4 20 I 1974 ••••••• 183 39 53 30 .290 10 4 0 14 I TOTALS 730 162 238 121 .326 34 18 19 67 I I I MARTY LeFILES •• pitcher •• Valdosta, Ga. I Best relief pItcher in Valdosta state history •••• During 1973, entered every game he pitched with men in scoring position, and allowed only one run to score; that on an error •••• Beat Grand Canyon I in 1973 NAIA World Series, and Rollins in 1974 Atlantic Regional •••• Was 8-16 as a career hitter, with 2 home runs •••• President of his frat, and has 3.8 GPA •••• 1974 VSC Spirit-award winner ••• No one has I ever been more coachable. G IP H R ER BB so 11-L ERA 1972 • • • • • • • 7 17 8 4 1 4 5 1-0 0.53 I 1973 • • • • • • • 14 53.1 48 21 14 14 25 8-0 2.36 1974 • • • • • • • 16 44 43 27 22 18 17 2-2 4.50 I TO'l'ALS 37 114.1 99 52 37 36 47 11-2 2.91 I JEROME REGISTER •• rif<htfield •• Valdosta, Ga. Transfer from Mladle Georgia JC •••• Out from his JO team as a sophomore •••• Worked way into Blazer line-up in 1973, when he was the I team's second leading hitter •••• Led VSO to 1973 NAIA World Series when his throw, and run-scoring double toppled David Lipscomb 1-0 •••• Always hit in the clutch •••• All-South Atlantic Conference in 1974 •••• Passed I up last year of elgibility to sign a sUbstantial bonus contract with the Boston Red Sox •••• A money ballplayer, with best speed on the team •••• Very coachable, a highly popular with the fans •••• Hit well in the 1974 I Regional and World Series •••• Part of an irreplacable outf1eld. AB R H BI AVG. 2B 3B HR SB 1973 ••••••• 141 28 43 34 .305 531 10 I 1974 ••••••• 150 32 52 29 .347 831 10 I TOTALS 291 60 95 63 .326 13 6 2 20 LARRY RENEW •• manager •• Lumpkin, Ga. I Like another coach .... 1007~ a baseball man .... Tremendous worker and organ1zer •••• Lived and died with the team's success •••• Pressed 1nto service as the 1973 "Sparks" catcher, and did a fine job •••• Announced I retirement at last team meeting in Springfield •••• Will be greatly missed. AB R H BI AVG. 2B 3B HR SB I 1973 Spark~.. 11 2 3 4 .273 000 2 I RALPH STARLING •• outfield •• Valdosta, Ga. First substitute in greatest outfieIQ in VSC h1story •••• Transfer from Norman JC •••• Played in 40% of Blazer games for past two seasons •••• I Great defense, with good, accurate arm •••• iient 2';"5 against Eckerd in 1974 Regional final •••• Very active in Baptist Student Union •••• Oldest player on team, and added maturity to squad •••• Would have started for I other conference teams. AB R H BI AVG. 2B 3B HR SB 1973 ••••••• 18 1 3 1 .167 000 o I 1974 ••••••• 24 3 6 . 1 .250 1 0 0 o I TOTALS 42 4 9 2 .214 100 o VALDOSTA STATE I 1974 Exhibition Game Statistics March 3, 1974 I won 12 - lost 2 AB R H BI AVG. 2B 3B HR SB I Jerry Dennis, 1b 20 3 9 4 .450 1 0 0 1 Ralph Starling, of 20 3 9 2 .450 0 1 0 0 Dan Alford, ss 29 10 13 1 1 .448 4 0 0 9 Jeff Greenhalgh, 1b 21 1 8 9 .381 1 2 0 2 I . Gene Fel ts, If 31 15 1 1 6 .355 2 0 1 7 Bill Petty, p-dh 17 5 6 2 .353 1 0 0 1 Vince Musashe, 2b 19 6 6 3 .316 1 0·0 3 I Darrell Branam, c 23 2 7 4 .304 1 0 0 0 Bill Parsons, inf 26 3 7 3 .269 0 0 0 0 Jim Roquemore, c 4 0 1 0 .250 0 0 0 0 I Foster Foran, c-p 25 5 6 3 .240 1 1 1 2 steve Sumner, 3b 25 3 6 4 .240 0 0 0 1 Marty Bishop, 3b 22 3 5 1 .226 1 0 0 0 Dan Darden, p-dh 19 6 4 5 .211 0 0 1 0 I Sam Bowen, cf 26 13 5 1 1 .192 1 0 1 4 Jerome Register, rf 33 9 6 3 .182 2 0 0 8 Lark Hahn, of 16 1 2 0 .125 0 0 0 0 I Pete Reeves, inf 1 1 0 1 2 .091 0 0 0 0 Marty LeFiles, p 1 1 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 steve MCDiffitt, p 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 I Tony Ferrera, p 2 1 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 _I TOTA.LS 391 90 112 73 .286 16 4 4 38 G· IP H R ER BB so W-L ERA Marty Lefiles 4 12 4 1 0 3 3 1-0 0.00 I Foster Foran 2 4 0 1 0 3 3 1-1 0.00 Sam Bowen 1 2 0 1 0 1 4 1-0 - 0.00 Tony Ferrera 3 7 5 1 1 4 5 0-0· 1.29 I Dan Darden 4 15 8 3 3 7 13 3-0 1.80 Dan Ohadwick 5 15 14 6 3 4 4 1-0 1.80 Larry Felts 3 5 3 3 1 2 7 1-0 1.80 Bill Petty 4 14 1 1 6 3 10 7 0-0 1.93 I Rick Bowers 4 15 14 8 5 14 7 3-1 3.00 Steve McDiffitt 3 6 8 7 5 5 2 1-0 7.50 I TOTALS 15 95 67 37 21 53 55 12-2 1.99 I BLAZERS 1 , VSC Alumni • • • • • • 0 BLAZERS 10, South Georgia • • • 7 BLAZERS 4, VSC Alumni •••••• 3 BLAZERS 13, South Georgia • •• 4 BLAZERS 6, South Georgia ••• 2 BLAZERS 4, South Georgia ·..