   Current Temp: 68° F |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  
DinosaursWinter SportsHikingWhitewater RaftingColorado National MonumentGolfBikingCampingDiningShoppingDowntown Grand JunctionMuseums
  
  A HOMETOWN HOMERUN By Amiee White Beazley
The tournament involves 10 teams that have captured their regional division titles (Gulf, Northern, Eastern, Southeastern, East Central, Southwestern, Western and South Central) and takes place at Suplizio Field, an 11,000-seat stadium voted in 1998 as the top amateur baseball facility in the country by the American Baseball Coaches Association. Home to the Mesa State Mavericks Baseball team, Suplizio Field also hosts home games for the area's four high school teams. This stadium has been the home of JUCO for 50 years – the entire run of the tournament in Grand Junction. Before its move here, the JUCO World Series was held in Miami, Oklahoma for just one year. Because of bad weather and an experience that officials knew could be improved, the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce (with assistance from Mesa State, then a junior college) rallied to have the tournament moved to Colorado's beautiful, and dry, Western Slope and Grand Junction. JUCO officials moved the tournament the following year, 1958. Today, the series is your opportunity to see some of the best baseball talents in the country before they make it to the big leagues. Major leaguers Curt Shilling, David Wells and Kirby Puckett all participated in the tournament during their junior college days. And these are just a few of the luminaries who have scrambled and batted on Suplizio Field. "While baseball is what everything is centered around," says JUCO Vice Chairman Bruce Hill, "this is really a family
To honor those with exceptional play from the past 50 years (specifically, those players who made their respective year's All-Tournament Team), the JUCO Committee has planned special events including the Golden Anniversary All-Tournament Team banquet. Twenty players will be honored at the banquet on Fri., May 23. Many of the players will also be participating in baseball clinics, signings and other events for local and visiting children. On the night of Thurs., May 22, kids ages 7 to 14 are invited to Suplizio Field, where players and coaches from all 10 clubs will hold a clinic on baseball technique, followed by an autograph session. Last year, more than 400 children attended this event. "Little leaguers have postponed their games so they can come out to the ball park," explains Jamie Hamilton, JUCO Chairman. "They can get up close [with] a collegiate athlete, and experience what [the athlete is] experiencing. The players get their energy off the young people, and vice versa. It's pretty special." Catch the JUCO World Series Championship Game at Suplizio Field on Sat., May 31. The first game will be played at 2 p.m.; the second at 7:30 p.m., if necessary. If you can't make it to the championship games, College Sports Television (CSTV) is adding the championship games to its lineup for the next three years. Although delayed, one or both championship games will be shown within 72 hours and re-broadcast as well. Who: Everyone What: Alpine Bank National JUCO World Series When: Memorial Day weekend, May 25 - June 3, 2008 Where: Suplizio Field, 12th and North Avenue, Grand Junction Why: For the love of the game! |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
