Gamble hits .423 for the tournament

Box Score Game 1      Box Score Game 2      Tournament Statistics
NORFOLK, Va., May 20, 2007 – It was a heartbreaking, disappointing and melancholy ending in what was otherwise a wonderful showing by North Carolina A&T in the 2007 MEAC Baseball Tournament at Norfolk State’s Marty L. Miller Field.

Bethune-Cookman scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to rally and defeat the Aggies 6-4 in the MEAC Baseball Championship Game. The win earned the Wildcats their ninth MEAC Championship in the last 10 seasons. They will represent the MEAC in the NCAA Regionals for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.

Slugger Charlie Gamble and pitcher John Primus earned all-tournament honors for the Aggies, who finished with a school-record 28 wins. It marked the 5^th time in Shumate’s 11-year tenure that the Aggies have broken the school record for wins. The Aggies finished the 2007 season strong by going 12-4 in their last 16 games.

“Coming out of the loser’s bracket is taxing on your pitching staff, but that’s what happens in a baseball tournament,’’ said N.C. A&T head coach Keith Shumate. “I’m proud of our guys, they showed mental toughness, we used guys over and over again and they pitched well. But we just lost to a deserving champion tonight.”

The Aggies went to the loser’s bracket after losing to Norfolk State on Friday. They came back on Saturday and defeated Delaware State and Norfolk State. They then took the first game on Sunday against the Wildcats to earn a chance at winning their second championship in three seasons.

The Aggies held a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the eighth in Game No. 2. Luis Gonzalez started the Wildcats rally by singling through the right side to score Patrick Jones. Angel Negron tied the game at 4 with another single, and Chris Brown gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game when he singled off of Aggies reliever Ron Phelps.

After C.J. Beatty led off the ninth with a walk, the Wildcats brought in MEAC Pitcher of the Year Francisco Rodriguez to close things out. He retired the next three Aggies to seal the victory and earn his first save of the season. Francisco Gomez earned the win (1-2), while Marquis Frink (1-1) took the loss.

“It took a lot of determination and effort to do what we did in the tournament,’’ said Shumate. “I’m proud of our players. They believed in themselves, they gave a very good team a very good fight. But give Bethune credit, they won the game, we didn’t give it to them.”

The Aggies, who pitched brilliantly throughout the tournament, received an outstanding start from Tim Johnson. Johnson left in the eighth and for the first time in the tournament, the Aggies bullpen wasn’t able to hold the lead (2.72 ERA in the tournament).    

The loss ends Gamble’s stellar N.C. A&T career. It could have also meant the end of Jeremy Jones’ career because he may be drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft. One thing is for sure, the duo will never play together as Aggies again, ending what has to be one of the most lethal combinations in Aggies history.

Both players earned MEAC Player of the Year honors during their careers. Both players hit better than .400 in a season. Both players were preseason national player of the year candidates at some point in their respective careers and both set numerous records during their careers.    

In fact  Gamble recorded his 300^th career hit at the same time he was leading the Aggies to a winner-take-all MEAC Championship Game on Sunday, becoming the first Aggie to accomplish the feat. Gamble’s 300^th hit came on a go-ahead home run that led the Aggies to a 4-3 win over the Wildcats.

With the game tied at 3 in the sixth inning, Gamble led off the sixth by working Bethune-Cookman starter Hiram Burgos to a 2-2 count before turning on a fastball that soared just inside the left-field foul pole for his 34^th career home run and his 10^th of the season, tying him for the league lead.  

Good fortune followed the Aggies the rest of the way. The Wildcats placed runners on first and second in the bottom of the seventh against Aggies starter Jody Calloway. N.C. A&T head coach Keith Shumate then turned to reliever Marquis Frink. Frink walked the first batter he faced to load the bases.

But Frink struck out Jose Almonte for the first out of the inning. Jose Ortiz-Rivera then hit a line drive to Aggies second baseman Joe Wade. After catching the line drive, Wade alertly fired the ball over to first to double up Jorge Velez to end the inning.

In B-CU’s half of the eighth, Neal Jones led off the inning with a triple. Frink walked Luis Gonzalez to put runners on the corner. The walk led to a Ronald Phelps appearance, which lately has meant bad news for the opposition. The Aggie closer opened by striking out Angel Mercado. On the third strike, the ball got away from catcher Neil Rosser, leading to Jones making a dash toward home plate.

Rosser retrieved the baseball and threw it to Phelps covering home plate. Phelps tagged out Jones for the double play. Angel Negron grounded out to short, ending another Bethune-Cookman threat. Phelps retired the Wildcats in order in the ninth to earn his MEAC-best seventh save of the season. Calloway got the win; he improved to 3-0.