Eight Teams on the Street to Council Bluffs

from the Allied Press
Around the country, eight teams celebrated Sunday afternoon after it was finalized that they would indeed be headed to Council Bluffs, IA and the 2009 NCAA Division IV College World Series. The championship series, which has been in progress for the past two weeks, saw 96 teams compete at 24 regional host sites, each with the same goal to reach the Division IV College World Series. This past weekend, the remaining 24 teams fought head to head in eight super regionals to claim that right.

In Thomasville GA, two teams celebrated their return to Council Bluffs, as Thomasville Tech and Thomas College defeated IUPUEMC and Tombigbee respectively, to advance. For the Polecats of TTU, this marks the six straight year they have made the trip, which has included four national championships in , '04, '05, '06, and '07. "We are very pleased to have the opportunity to make a trip back again this year. I know last year a lot of our boys were disappointed leaving without the (championship) trophy, but this year we seek to rectify that." said TTU head coach Billy Bo Thurnton. Thomas College, on the other hand, makes their fourth straight CWS appearance in hopes to claim the school's first ever national championship.

In the Midwest, three more teams celebrated a trip to Iowa. The College of Charlestown Wildcats claimed the right after taking one from the cinderella team of the season, College of the Grand Canyon 4-0. In Wichita KS, Wichita A&M was ecstatic after winning the super regional final over Ada College 8-5. "We're headed back to Council Bluffs, and we're gonna win it again!" said a very excited coach Sean Stevenson. The Linemen won their only championship back in 1997. Meanwhile, players from Backwoods College partied in Gallup, NM after upsetting the host seed Gallup State in back to back games 15-14 in 10 innings and 8-6, to punch their ticket to the CWS.

Elsewhere, Point Loma College, Arizona A&M, and Kissimmee Tech each celebrated super regional victories to advance. Combined, this year's highly experienced field of eight CWS teams combine for five national championships and twenty CWS appearances since 1997. Breaking down the teams geographically, there are 3 teams from the South, 3 from the Midwest, and 2 from the West. The only two teams from the same conference are Thomaville Tech and Thomas College which finished 1 and 2 in the Peach Tree Conference and were seeded 1st and 6th in the NCAA tournament overall.

The NCAA Division IV CWS itself is a triple elimination tournament, with opening round games being played Monday. Here's a list of the first round matchups and seedings:

#1 Thomasville Tech (60-10) vs. #8 Wichita A&M (56-13)
#4 Point Loma College (54-16) vs. #5 College of Charlestown (55-12)
#2 Backwoods College (60-8) vs. #7 Kissimmee Tech (62-9)
#3 Arizona A&M (51-18) vs. #6 Thomas College (59-10)