Garden City Community College - Broncbuster Yearbook (Garden City, KS)

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SPORTS Inf After 21 game winning streak Season ends two weeks too earl We had a good year, except it ended two weeks too soon, said Head Baseball Coach Joe Slobko. The team ended the season with a 31-11 record. For six weeks, March 5 to April 16, the Busters ex- perienced a 21 game winning streak. The 21-game winning streak was great, I loved it, Slobko said. The team opened the season on a winning note as sophomore centerfielder Doug Ruff hit a grand slam homerun against Otero Coun- ty Community College to put the Busters ahead by four runs. That was just the beginning. The team won a double header against Colby, 14-1 and 15-8, that set their streak at 19. Standout hitters against Col- by were Doug Ruff who went 3-for-3 for a pair of homeruns and four runs batted ing Steve Johannson, Dayton Moore and Chad Armstrong were all 3-for-4. Their first double-header loss of the season ended their winning streak. They were defeated at home by Barton County. We were three outs away from a conference cham- pionship, Slobko said. No tear drops, they played good. They had as many hits as we did, they just made their's count. We had the tying run on second with no one out, he said. The Busters then faced a short string of A losses, in- cluding one to Trinidad, Colo. Their bad luck ended April 19 when they won three in a row. The team defeated Barton 18 Baseball!Sports County at the Barton County Pepsi Tournament, putting their record at 29-9, 25-5 against junior colleges. The Barton tourney was good for us. fCougarsl had looked awesome in that doubleheader, and it was very important that we beat them, Slobko said. We found out they are human, too. The team was blessed with six pitchers with winning records. Sophomore pitchers were Cory Gesell, Troy Salinas, Mike Acre and Todd White and freshmen pitchers were Kelly Knepley and Kelly Arnberger. In the last action before sub- regionals, the Busters faced Hutchinson in a double-header and pitchers Mike Acre and Todd White combined for a three-hit shutout. Acre moved his pitching record to 4-1. The double win left the team ranked 19th in the nation with a 31-9 overall record. Their 10-2 conference record put them in second place behind Barton County. Hopes of a Region VI cham- pionship were dashed when the Busters were defeated by both Dodge City and Pratt at sub-regional play at Butler County. The team went into the tournament ranked 20th in the nation and seeded first. Our kids played wel1,we're not disappointed in the season. We hope the sophomores look back on it as a positive ex- perience and our freshmen look at it as a stepping stone for next year. Slobko said. Grand Slam-Doug Ruff watches the ball in hopes of another grand slam. Telegram photo by Tim Unruh. Season Record Otero 3 GCCC Gtero 6 10 South Mountain Lamar 6 I s scum Mqumain Lamar 1 5 Grand Canyon IV Seward Co. 3 15 Grand Canyon IV Seward Co. 9 8 Central Arizona Pratt 2 1 Seminole Pratt 7 I 8 ASU JV Dodge City 2 4 Central Arizona Dodge City 1 10 ASUIV Lamar 1 3 ASU IV Lamar 5 10 Grand Canyon Colby 1 15 Lamar Colby 8 7 Lamar Butler Co. 3 14 Lamar Butler Co. 8 10 Air Force1V Barton Co. 8 9 Air Force IV Barton Co. 9 2 ' , .., . f , Mr fr ,r . . If- f I . . . ' ,Mg

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SPORTS Inf Williams' provide an amazing gift O New fHC1l1t nears completion Dugouts of major league caliber were only the beginn- ing. The baseball team, who normally played their games 'at Clint Lightner field, soon had a new field of their own under construction. The site was just north of the gymnasium and had special meaning for Garry and Janet Williams of Kokomo, Ind. Their son, Lewie, played for GCCC in the early 1980s. The Williams' contributed S220,000 to initiate the project, along with a challenge to the community to finance the re- mainder of the cost for the new field. Williams referred to the link between athletics and academics when he spoke before the Board of Trustees on Sept. 11. Exciting, talented teachers are wanting to come to the university because of the fine facilities, he said. His appearance before the board was to appeal for an ad- ditional S150,000 commitment to the project. His appeal was successful. Preliminary discussion of the project had produced pro- posed cuts which concerned the Williams'. They were com- mitted to excellence, and their initial contribution was made to construct the finest place to play baseball in the area. They felt some of the propos- ed cuts would conflict with this purpose, therefore pro- moting the appeal. Coach Slobko felt that hav- ing their own facility would be beneficial for the team. Because of the central loca- tion of Garden City, top teams will pass through consistently, Step by step-The grandstand area of the baseball facility nears completion. And there was light-One of several light poles waits to be hoisted in to place beside the grandstand. and now we will have the facilities with which to accom- modate them, he said. Having these facilities will undoubtedly give a tremen- dous boost to recruiting top talent to play baseball here at GCCC, Slobko added. The facilities included a grandstand that had a roof as well as a seating capacity of approximately 400 people. The new facility was original- ly planned to have an artificial turf playing field. However, after discussing the plans with the Williams', Coach Slobko explained that due to costs involved with ar- tificial turf, as well as the fact that baseball was designed to be played on natural turf, the plan was revised. It was then changed to have a natural grass turf with cut-outs. Coach Slobko summed it up when he said the new facilities are going to be super, for recruiting, playing spectatingf' Z? Z 20 Baseball!Sports fa 2 is Z 2 ? fb 0- K- E