1/31 - OREGON SPORTS AWARDS: Bruin Baseball One of Four National Champions Honored at OSA
BEAVERTON, Ore. - In a situation unprecedented in Oregon sports, not one, but four national champions, including the George Fox University baseball team, were honored with the George Pasero Team of the Year award at the annual Oregon Sports Award ceremonies Sunday evening here at the Tiger Woods Center on the Nike campus.
"The selection committee was faced with the unenviable task of trying to decide between four national champions, all of whom were so deserving of this honor, that we just decided to honor them all," explained one of the award's presenters, Portland Tribune sports editor Dwight Jaynes.
In addition to the Bruins' NCAA Division III World Series title, the Oregon Institute of Technology won the 2003-04 NAIA Division II basketball tournament, Linfield College brought home the NCAA Division III football championship, and the Aloha Knights semi-pro baseball team won the 32-team National Baseball Congress Tournament in Wichita, Kansas.
George Fox posted a record-setting season in 2004, setting a new school mark for wins in a 40-10 campaign. The Bruins tied for their sixth Northwest Conference title in nine years under coach Pat Bailey, going 20-4 for their best league record ever. The team was 4-0 in the West Regional to win its first regional championship, and 5-1 in the World Series, defeating Eastern Connecticut State University 6-3 in the final game. Of the Bruins' nine post-season wins, all were against nationally-ranked teams, and of their five World Series wins, four were against pitchers who were First or Second Team All-Americans. The Bruins had two First Team All-Americans of their own in pitching ace Scott Hyde and shortstop David Peterson. George Fox was voted No. 1 in the final ABCA national poll.
Bailey was a finalist for the Slats Gill Sportsperson of the Year award, which goes to the state's outstanding coach or administrator. The Bruins have compiled a 262-120 record under Bailey, who was Regional and National Coach of the Year at the Division III level as chosen by the American Baseball Coaches Association. The Slats Gill winner was Danny Miles, the Oregon Tech coach now in his 33rd year at the Klamath Falls college.
Hyde was a finalist for the Ad Rutschman Men's Small College Athlete of the Year award, which went to Linfield quarterback Brett Elliott. Hyde went 14-1 with a 1.99 earned run average and 191 strikeouts as a junior, leading Division III in wins and strikeouts. His strikeout total was the second-highest in one season in D-III history, and his 395 career strikeouts is the third-highest all-time. He was the NWC Player of the Year, West Region Pitcher of the Year, Co-National Pitcher of the Year, and was 3-0 with 30 strikeouts in the World Series, earning Most Outstanding Player honors. He signed a professional contract after being selected in the 7th round of the 2004 summer draft by the New York Mets.
Most of last year's Bruin team were able to make it to the ceremonies, as well as a large contingent of athletic department personnel, players' families, and a number of loyal fans and supporters of the team.
The Oregon Sports Awards ceremonies were televised live throughout the state by KATU-TV 2 in Portland, and were presented by KATU, the Portland Tribune, Nike, Les Schwab Tires, and Standard TV & Appliance. Bill Schonley, former play-by-play broadcaster for the Portland Trailblazers and a well-known local sports personality, served as master of ceremonies for the show.