High expectations

Story by Rick A Cumings

T h e 1983 Liberty Baptist Collegebaseballseason was everything it was expected tobe Even Coach Al Worthington exclaimed, "This could bethe most talented Liberty Baptist baseball team I have coached."

They were ranked 11th inthe NAIA preseason poll and they were ranked in the top 20throughout the1983 season They won 40games forthefirsttime enroute to the NAIA District 29 and area playoff championships.They traveled tothe NAIA World Series forthethird time ina row

And yet, they were haunted by a nagging feat they failed to accomplish, one that they desperately wanted at thebeginning of the season They wanted to go beyond their twofifth-place finishes in the NAIA World Series They wanted to winit all.

Ironically,theFlames again came back to Lynchburg with another fifth-placefinish, hardly anything to beashamed of, but still nottotally totheir liking.

From thebeginning oftheseason, the emphasis wason developing a good crop of freshman players and then molding them together with three returning senior starters The Flames needed to replace four starters who were lost tograduation (Two ofthefour signed with thepros — outfielder Renard Brown, whosigned with the Seattle Mariners, and pitcher Doug Smith, who signed with the Minnesota Twins.) The result was some spectacular play from the underclassmen and some final fireworks from theoutgoing seniors that produced a 40-17 season.

The Flames traveled to Florida inlate February tobegin theirseason inthe warm weather Fortunately, rain wasnot included inthewarm weather The Flamesenjoyed the sunny climate, returning home with an unblemished 5-0 mark as LBC jumped off tofive straight wins.

Sophomore outfielder Todd Nelson was a major reason for the Flames' success Nelson went seven for ten, reaching base on 13of 14plateappearances Inaddition, he stole four bases and pitched three innings against Alma College

Back inVirginia, the Flames were rained outofa double-header against the Universi- ty ofVirginia. The games were never made up.

Although they boosted their record to 60, trouncing Western New England, 14-6, the Flames ran into Wingate Collegeand Eastern Tennessee State University and dropped twogames toeach school

The Flames bounced back,winning five ina row,fouragainst Queens College The potent offense roared to life pouring well over ten runs across the plate in each game

After exchanging several wins and losses, two to a powerful Old Dominion University squad, the Flames' bats once again erupted Norfolk State wasthefirst victim, losing twice, 19-8and 13-3.A 12-2 pounding ofPoint Park Collegefollowedon April Fool's Day.The Flames reeled off nine straightwins,gaining revenge against Wingate College twice, thelastone a 12-11 slugfest

Old Dominion came back totown and stopped the winning spree cold However, itwashardly enough tokeep the Flames down Once again,they went ona winning streak, compiling four victories over the likes of George Washington University, Towson State and Howard University

Afteralossto North Carolina Wesleyan, the Flames regained their winning form, this time spinning offseven consecutive wins The stringculminated a5-2 whipping of in-state powerhouse Virginia Tech at LBC's home field.

The Hokies sought and won revenge, however,the next afternoon ontheir home field,4-2.TheFlames then ground out 10 runs in blitzing Tennessee Temple, 10-0. The last game oftheregular season saw the Flames, unable to maintain their momentum, losing toTennessee Temple bya run, 6-5

On May 12,the post-season began Both theNAIA District 19and theArea play-offs were hosted by LBC Games were played at City Stadium andatLBC's home field

In three outofthefive District playoff games, theFlames rammed across ten or more runs Thefirstwasa 19-15 shellacking ofNorfolk State A 15-4 pounding followed over the University of Southern Maine After a hard-fought 5-3 win over Point Park College,the Flames were headed toLubbock, Texas, fortheir third consecutive NAIA World Series This time, they intended to win

Throughout the 57-game season, the Flames were ranked in the nation's top20 at theNAIA level

The playerwho helped sustainthat ranking was freshman second baseman Jimmy Bevins.

(continued on page 100)

1983 Flames Baseball Team: (Kneeling, left to right) PhilSmith, Jimmy Bevins, Todd Nelson, Dave Bream.Gary Wagner, Mike Horsley, Joe Clark, Dean Harvey. Bill Ogden,Dave Harris; (standing) Al Worthington. Head Coach; Walter Dacuycuy. Mark deYmaz, Darrell Manuel, David Fleischfresser, Kyle Bryan, Ke vin Napier. PatSipe, Niles Creekmore, Mike Gunter, RickWells. DavidReeves, manager; Jeff Mincey, assistant coach.

Going for a strike. Kyle Bryan winds up. He led LBC pitchers in wins (8) and complete games (9) and was oneof three Flamesnamed to NAIA AllAreaVIII First Team 1983.

(continued from page 98)

Bevins wielded the hottest bat on the team, batting over .500 throughout the month of April He eventually ended the year at.402,tops on theteam

Bevins also led the squad with 62RBI's, tied atfirstwith nine triplesand smacked eight home runs — the second higheston the team

Senior Rick Wells and Darrell Manuel each contributed heavily totheteam'ssuccess Inaddition toproviding badly needed leadership, leftfielder Wells led the team with 52 singles. His eight triples ranked him second inthat department

Manuel, whowasnamed tothe secondteam NAIA All-American squad, topped the team with 18 doubles; hitsecondbehind Bevins; and batted in58 runs,third best. Right fielder Manuel closed out his college playing days with a .359average and he holdstheLBCcareerrecord with44 doubles

Sophomores Todd Nelson,Gary Wagner and Dave Bream all matured into solid playerswho provided spark when the team most needed it Nelson,thestartingcenterfielder, tied for firstwith nine tripleswhile also leading theteam in fielding percentage at .982. Wagner, the Flames' shortstop,ledallFlames instolen bases with46 outof58 attempts.Dave Bream was also a Flame whocould get awalk when needed, leading thesquad with 32 bases on balls

The Flames sported three pitcherswho won eight games, including senior Dave Harris (8-2), sophomore Kyle Bryan(8-4) and freshman Kevin Napier (8-2). Freshman NilesCreekmore wound upwith a 6-3 record as wellasleading the staffin strikeouts with 43

Joe Clark, afreshman pitcher/outfielder was Coach Worthington's ace reliever His four saves made up a list with 23 strikeouts in29 2/3innings

As ateam,the Flames batted .331 to set a record incomparison totheir opponents' .276 The squad slugged 39 homerunsto 29 Itsspeed overwhelmed opponents as runners successfully stole 156 bases in 201 tries, compared to 51 out of 70for all opponents combined