Edward Waters and Kentucky State, both forced into the loser brackets after losing their first games, had nice rebounds winning the NAIA and NCAA Division II bracket championships, respectively. Edward Waters eventually defeated Kentucky State to become the Black College World Series champion. Fans in attendance witnessed high energy championship level competition at Riverwalk Stadium last week. Black College Nines wants to look back at some of the best that the world series provided.
Tournament Noise: Loud dugout chatter from Florida Memorial baseball team inspired a tough, hard fought NAIA Bracket 5-4 win over Talladega and a blowout 14-1 win over Edward Waters. There was a mixture of English and Spanish with a ton of “Aqui Vamos” (here we go, in Spanish).
Best Confidence Boost: Kentucky State. After losing its first game of the tournaments in the NCAA Division II bracket to No. 1 seed Albany State 12 to 2, head coach Rob Henry challenged his team’s heart and confidence in a post-game meeting held at their Wingate Suits Hotel. The eventual Black College World Series Division II bracket champions made it to the championship game. Henry’s “mound visit” at the hotel paid off.
Hunger Strikes: Before any of the games were played, all eight teams attend the Black College Nines Elites Awards Banquet Tuesday night, May 10th at the beautiful Multiplex at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama where they feasted on pulled pork, pulled chicken, Alabama White Sauce, traditional BBQ Sauce, Macaroni and cheese, baked beans, cheese biscuits, buns, banana pudding, and both sweet tea and lemonade. They also sampled some of Montgomery’s best restaurants, delis, pizzas, and were served nutritional meals each breakfast, lunch, and dinner during their tournament stay.
Best Game: Florida Memorial vs Edward Waters. The game started at 9:55 pm CST ended at 1:30 am CST(2:30 am EST). It had the intensity of a championship game. After being blown out by Florida Memorial 14 to 1 on day 2, the Tigers of Edward Wates won a nail biter 9-8 over the Lions, winning the NAIA bracket championship.
Best Single-Game Performance By a Player: Edward Waters 9-6 win over Rust College in day one of the Black College World Series. Kellin Washington went three-for-four. The three hits included a double and a triple, with four runs batted in.
Best Pitcher: Dashawn Hureskin Kentucky State. He had a 0.87 earned run average, 1-0 in two appearances, one game started, 10.1 innings pitched, allowed eight hits, with two runs scored, struck out 14 batters, and a .211 batting average against. In Kentucky State’s 5-2 win over Bluefield State, Hureskin, in 7.1 innings on the hill, allowed eight hits, one earned run, and recorded 11 strikeouts.
BLACK COLLEGE WORLD SERIES SUPERLATIVES:
| HITTING SUPERLATIVES | PITCHING SUPERLATIVES |
| Hitting minimums – 2 Games | Pitching minimums – 2 Games 4 IP |
| INDIVIDUAL BATTING | INDIVIDUAL PITCHING |
| Rohandry Javier – Florida Memorial .750 | Dylan Compton – Kentucky State 2 |
| Alex Gomez-Florida Memorial .571 | (10 tied at……1) |
| Garret Hladilek-Bluefield State .556 | |
| HITS | EARNED RUN AVERAGE |
| Kelton Saylor – Kentucky State 14 | Brady Davis – Albany State 0.00 |
| Adren Thompson Kentucky State 9 | Josh Graves-Kentucky State 0.0 0 |
| Aram Kumar – Kentucky State 9 | Michael Pedraza-Kentucky State 0.00 |
| Byron Famble – Kentucky State 9 | Dashawn Hureskin – Kentucky 0.87 |
| Jacob Bisharat – Miles 9 | Juan Hernandez – Florida Memorial 1.29 |
| RUNS SCORED | INNINGS PITCHED |
| Kelto Saylor – Kentucky State 8 | Brady Bibb – Kentucky State 12.2 |
| Byron Famble – Kentucky State 7 | Dylan Compton-Kentucky State 11.1 |
| Jacob Bisharat – Mile 6 | Dashawn Hureskin – Kentucky State 10.1 |
| Keilin Washington – Edward Waters 6 | Joseph Eischen – Edward Waters 9.0 |
| (8 tied at……. 5) | Mason Kirby – Miles 8.2 |
| RUNS BATTED IN | OPPOSING BATTNG AVERAGE |
| Antonio Chambers – Kentucky State 13 | Michael Pedraza – Kentucky State .105 |
| Aram Kumar- Kentucky State 8 | Juan Hernandez – Florida Memorial .125 |
| Jacob Bisharat – Miles 8 | Austin James – Edward Waters .125 |
| Michael Archie – Miles 7 | Brady Davis – Albany State .143 |
| (2 tied at……… 6) | Frank Grimaldi – Edward Waters .143 |
| DOUBLES | GAMES IN RELIEF |
| Michael Archie – Miles 4 | Tyler Allen – Miles 3 |
| Kody Long – Miles 4 | Josh Graves – Kentucky State 3 |
| Keilin Washington – Edward Waters 3 | (8 tied at…….. 2) |
| (7 tied at……….. 2) | |
| TRIPLES | STRIKEOUTS |
| Keilin Washington – Edward Waters 3 | Brady Bibbs-Kentucky State 14 |
| Barry Rincon – Talladega 1 | Deshawn Hureskin – Kentucky State 14 |
| Miguel Oropeza – Talladega1 | Ramses Ortega – Talladega 9 |
| Jalen Young – Florida Memorial 1 | Brytan Sampson – Rust 8 |
| (4 tied at………. 7) | |
| HOME RUNS | WALKS ALLOWED |
| Clifton Orr – Miles 2 | Frank Grimaldi – Edward Waters 0 |
| Alex Gomez – Florida Memorial 2 | Juan Hernandez – Florida Memorial 0 |
| Jacob Bisharat – Miles 1 | Ramses Ortega – Talladega 1 |
| Aram Chambers – Kentucky State 1 | Shawn Runey – Bluefield State 1 |
| Adren Thompson – Kentucky State 1 | Elijah Dennis – Albany State 1 |
| TOTAL BASES | EARNED RUNS ALLOWED |
| Keilin Washington – Edward Waters 16 | Brady Davis – Albany State 0 |
| Kelton Saylor – Kentucky State 14 | Michael Pedraza – Kentucky State 0 |
| Adren Thompson– Kentucky State 13 | Josh Graves – Kentucky State 0 |
| Antonio Chambers – Kentucky State 13 | Max Charnin – Florida Memorial 1 |
| Jacob Bisharat – Miles 13 | Juan Hernandez – Florida Memorial 1 |
| STOLEN BASES (SB-ATT) | APPEARANCES |
| Kelton Saylor – Kentucky State 7-7 | Dylan Compton-Kentucky State 3 |
| Clifton Orr – Miles 5-6 | Tyler Allen – Miles 3 |
| Max Davenport – Miles 4-4 | Josh Graves-Kentucky State 3 |
| Jacob Bisharat – Miles 3-3 | (11 tied at………. 2) |
| Michael Archie – Miles 3-3 |