ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 27, 1996 TAG: 9605280134
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
Cal Lutheran catcher Tom McGee nearly ran through a wall Sunday for starting pitcher Eric Kiszczak.
McGee's game-sealing sliding catch ended up at the backstop, and at the same time ended Upper Iowa's hopes for a Division III baseball title. Cal Lutheran stayed alive in the loser's bracket of the championship series with a 3-1 victory at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.
Kiszczak, a freshman, kept the Kingsmen in control the whole way, pitching Cal Lutheran's third complete game in the series. He struck out six and allowed no earned runs. He also got an assist from McGee. Aside from giving him all the right signals, McGee provided the hit that gave Cal Lutheran a 2-0 first-inning lead.
``He's confident in what I call,'' McGee said.
``I don't know if I've ever shaken you off,'' Kiszczak shot back.
Recruiters tried to shake Kiszczak's interest in the Kingsmen last year when he was leading Lake Havasu (Ariz.) High School to the state baseball championship. Most of the pressure came from midwestern schools, but they never stood much of a chance. ``No way was I going to snow,'' he said.
After he pitched Lake Havasu to a 5-1 championship victory and was named Arizona's high school player of the year, some scholarship offers came through. Yet Kiszczak remained devoted to Cal Lutheran coach Marty Slimak. He was equally devoted to his girlfriend, Becky Bramlett.
Kiszczak actually initiated contact with the Kingsmen. Bramlett already had a biology scholarship lined up with Cal Lutheran when Kiszczak called Slimak. They talked numbers, from grade points to radar gun ratings. Kiszczak's mind was made up when he was offered half off tuition in financial aid. It was a package identical to the one offered to Becky.
``He was our No. 1 freshman recruit,'' Slimak said.
Kiszczak, like Bramlett, is majoring in biology and had a 3.85 GPA in his first semester. His 9-2 pitching record isn't shabby, either.
Typical of the devotion Bramlett, Kiszczak and his teammates share is the way a group of Cal Lutheran fans arrived in the Roanoke Valley earlier this week. Becky Bramlett and her older sister, Laura (a 1996 Cal Lutheran grad) drove with a few players to Kiszczak's house at Lake Havasu. There they picked up the Kiszczak family van and crossed the country in two days.
In Sunday's other game:
Bridgewater (Mass.) State 10, Methodist (N.C.) 4: The Bears fell behind but charged ahead to the victory, eliminating the Monarchs.
Bridgewater State (30-9) had 15 hits, all singles. Methodist (35-9) set the stolen base record for NCAA championship series play with 19.
The Bears know who today's opponent will be (Wisconsin-Oshkosh), but they don't know when the game will be played. Oshkosh and William Paterson, the only undefeated teams in the tournament, were fogged out of Sunday's 7 p.m. game. The game will be made up at noon today.
The winner of Oshkosh-Paterson will play at 7, while the loser will have to come right back and play at 3:30. Regardless of the result of the noon game, the later matchups are Bridgewater State-Oshkosh and Cal Lutheran-William Paterson.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 linesby CNB