The Selma University baseball team will be making its seventh straight collegiate baseball playoff appearance since the tenure of head coach Adrian Holloway began in 2010. The program has participated in every National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA) baseball tournament since 2011 and won the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championship in 2009. The Bulldogs are the last Historically Black College and University (HBCU) baseball program to win a national title in recent memory.
Selma will start its quest to win a second college baseball World Series title May 10th when it is scheduled to start play in the NCCAA South Region in Toccoa Falls, Georgia. Selma will compete as the fourth seed along with Trinity Baptist College, tournament host Toccoa Falls College and Emmanuel College Selma will open up against #1 seed Emmanuel College in game two in first round action.
Selma has only played in 26 games this season due to inclement weather. However, many games that were played ended up as victories against very good NCAA Division II programs as well as top NAIA schools. Selma defeated a University of Mobile team 7-5 this past April 18 who received votes in the NAIA Top 25. Not a small feat by any measure.
This years’ team make up is gritty and tough. They won a number of games with great defense and pitching. They are a young team with several freshmen in the starting lineup. They had a slow start at the beginning of the season with guys learning to play together and freshmen adjusting to the speed of the college game. Nonetheless, the team upheld the tradition of Selma baseball and now will be competing for a national title.
True freshmen Tariq Aaron, Robert Clark and Will Thomas have accumulated a lot of innings. They have shut down opposing hitters and kept Selma in games. Selma is a team with only two seniors on the roster. The young guys are energetic, like to swing the bats, go station to station and are aggressive.
If they can win the regional. The NCCA World Series starts May 24 – 27, 2017 in Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio.
Selma is hungry for a second World Series championship in 2017.