Commentary: Drama Surrounds Baseball Tournament

The SIAC 2008 Spring Sports Championship began today, beginning a quest to crown conference champions in baseball, softball, men and women's track and field and men and women's tennis. But the drama and intrigue surrounding the baseball tournament was heightened before one pitch was thrown this morning.

Stillman, which had appeared to wrap up the Western Division crown and a top seed for the tournament, was notified early Wednesday morning that it would drop to the No. 2 seed and lose the Division championship to Miles thanks to a self-reported violation by Tuskegee that caused the Golden Tigers to forfeit four games -- three against Kentucky State and one against Miles -- for use of an ineligible player.

The win gave Miles a 15-4 conference mark, a half-game better than Stillman's 14-4 record. This turn of events was heightened even more because the Tigers pummeled the Golden Bears in a three-game sweep this past weekend by a combined 74-13 score to take the Western Division title.

This change in seeding led to another change of events for Stillman, which went from earning a day off on Wednesday to playing Clark Atlanta at 4 p.m. Also, it puts the Tigers on the same side of the bracket with Albany State -- pitting the two favorites and winner of six of the last seven league championship against each other on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the second round.

After what happened three weeks ago between Albany State and Stillman and its aftermath, that game might have more fireworks than a championship match.

The Golden Rams ended Stillman's 28-game regular season win streak with a three-game sweep of the Tigers Mar. 29-30. The final game ended when Stillman coach Donny Crawford pulled his team from the field after a series of incidents that left him fearing for the safety of his team. Crawford would receive a two-game suspension for his actions and Albany State coach Edward Taylor received a three-game ban.

Both suspensions were to be served in the crucial, season-ending series that would decide the winner of both the Eastern and Western Division. But while Crawford served his penalty, Taylor was given a late reprieve by Dr. William Lide, the league commissioner, and he was allowed to guide his team to a 2-1 series win over Paine to earn a No. 1 seed. Taylor was later given a two-game ban for the league tournament, meaning he will not be in the dugout in a game against Stillman, but the Tigers were none-too-happy about the delay in his suspension.

If that wasn't enough, Stillman is also miffed because -- for the second consecutive year -- the Tigers did not earn one selection on the All-Conference teams selected by the league coaches. Stillman has been the best team in the conference the last two years and have only one second team selection to show for it. This year, Chase Wilson leads the league in wins and strikeouts and first baseman Graham White is tops in home runs and runs batted in, yet neither player was selected.

With all the twists and turns, the winner of the 2008 SIAC Baseball Tournament may also earn an award for Best Drama to go along with their league championship trophy.

 

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