Wichita baseball?
- Thread starter IrmoRed
- Start date
I only remember the Shockers being really good when the coach's brother played on the team. I think their name was Stephenson. Maine also used to be good back in the 80's, but like WSU and other northern schools they haven't been very competitive since. College baseball is now a sunbelt sport with a few exceptions (Oregon State, etc)
They had Joe Carter in 1980 and won the national title in 1989. Three times they were National Runner-Up. They fired their long time head coach, Stephens (1978-2013) after being eliminated from the NCAAs in 2013. I think the genesis of them being down was Stephens pulling a Bobby Cremmins and taking the Oklahoma job for about a day in 2005. After 2008 his teams fell off, so I'm guessing that hurt recruiting.
Wichita isn't a northern school, it's just above Oklahoma. Further south than Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia. It's at the top of the Humid Subtropical Climate Zone. Also Willie Jeffries, of SC State fame, was the head football coach there 79-83. He was the first black head coach at a majority white school.
Wichita isn't a northern school, it's just above Oklahoma. Further south than Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia. It's at the top of the Humid Subtropical Climate Zone. Also Willie Jeffries, of SC State fame, was the head football coach there 79-83. He was the first black head coach at a majority white school.
When I was working for Winthrop in 2005, Winthrop was in the Knoxville regional along with Wichita State, Austin Peay and of course Tennessee. Mike Pelfrey was pitching for Wichita State at the time. The coach's name was Gene Stephenso. That rregional had Pelfrey, Luke Hochevar (Tennessee), and Kevin Slowey (Winthrop) all who ended up in the majors.
If I recall correctly, Slowey out dueled Pelfrey 1-0 and Daniel Carte, the Eagles right fielder who went in the second round to the Rockies that year, went yard on Pelfrey for the only score of the game.
