ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702250038
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
THE PANTHERS TRY a different route to the NCAA Division III baseball championships in Salem.
So near, yet so far.
Abe Naff drives from his Franklin County home to the NCAA Division III championships each spring in Salem. The Ferrum College baseball coach has enjoyed sitting at Municipal Field and later Memorial Stadium, watching eight teams play for a national championship.
He would enjoy it much more if his team accompanied him.
``We keep knocking on the door,'' said Naff, preparing for his 13th season as the Panthers' coach. ``Salem is so close for us. We've been good enough to get there. We just have to close the deal.''
Several area colleges already have opened a season Naff's team will begin Tuesday in Danville against Dixie Conference foe Averett.
Ferrum's roster has changed dramatically since last season. Of the 31 Panthers, 24 are freshmen or sophomores. The lone senior is third baseman Todd Cunningham of Lynchburg. They've gone from a club known for its pitching to a team that likely will win with the bat.
``I've already said this is the best team of position players, top to bottom of the lineup, that we've ever put on the field,'' Naff said. ``It's also the best freshman class we've ever had. If we can overcome the experience factor, or lack of it, we have a chance to be really good.''
The Panthers have learned they must be really good to reach the Division III World Series, which returns to Salem for another run May 24-28. In the nine seasons Ferrum has been eligible for the Division III playoffs, it has reached the 32-team regional round eight times. The one time it didn't was 1995, when Naff had a 32-10 club that was ranked 16th nationally.
Ferrum has lost in the championship round of five regionals, including last year. Another of those teams was the one Naff calls his best, the 1992 squad that included future major-leaguers Billy Wagner (Houston pitcher) and Eric Owens (Cincinnati infielder-outfielder). The major loss from last year's 35-11 squad is pitcher Jimmy Hamilton, a seventh-round draftee by Cleveland this past June who is expected to pitch in Class A ball this season.
``If our pitching staff develops, we could be back in the NCAA [Tournament] this year,'' he said. ``I don't like to use the term `rebuilding,' because in college athletics people are always leaving and new ones coming in. That's just how it works. We have a tradition we'd like to continue.''
Before thinking about an NCAA bid, Ferrum must get through the Dixie, which is recognized as one of the nation's best Division III baseball leagues. The Panthers are picked third in the conference race, behind Methodist (N.C.) and North Carolina Wesleyan. That is nothing new. Naff knows it isn't likely all three, whether deserving or not, will get regional bids.
``The last three years, the committee hasn't picked more than two from our league,'' Naff said. ``They don't move teams out of their own [geographic] regions, or they haven't.''
ODAC LINEUPS: There is no automatic qualifying for the Division III regionals, and the Salem-based Old Dominion Athletic Conference didn't get an NCAA berth last year. The pick for the ODAC title this season is Virginia Wesleyan, although in the coaches' poll, the Virginia Beach school had one fewer first-place vote than Bridgewater, which is second. Lynchburg, Naff's alma mater, is third. Washington and Lee, which reached the four-team ODAC tournament last year, is projected to finish seventh in the nine-team conference.
The only ODAC school with male students that doesn't play baseball is Roanoke College. The Maroons have reinstituted a club program. It wouldn't be surprising to see Roanoke go to varsity NCAA status in the next few years.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Naff, Hodgesby CNB