A trip to the World Series is always a nice way to cap off a successful season. Despite the fact the Colorado Mesa University baseball team could not capture a national title, they accomplished things in one season most teams don’t manage to do in a decade.
The Mavericks won the RMAC title in the spring with an overall record of 50-12 and a conference record of 32-4. The team only lost five games at home all year and produced some of the best numbers the ball club has ever seen.
Players, such as Chris Ramirez and J.R. McDermott, will be returning for the 2018 season in hopes to capitalize on the momentum they were left with coming out of the summer World Series.
The Mavericks won the RMAC in convincing fashion at the start of the postseason, but that was just the start of an early summer treat. They would go on to regionals and knock off every team in the south regional, the toughest field in the entire country.
CMU would win regionals and advance to the World Series in Grand Prairie, Texas but would only win two out of four games, which did not allow them to win the national championship.
“We’ve got enough good players to make it back [to the World Series] and we know that,” head coach Chris Hanks said. “Now it’s just a matter of executing.”
The overall 50-12 record was one of the best records the club has ever produced and the stars of the diamond were a testament to that. Outfielder Bligh Madris hit a team high .422 batting average to go with his 67 RBIs. Catcher Kyle Serrano was right behind Madris with a .397 batting average.
Nine other Mavericks hit over .300 by the end of the season.
Two players, Madris and Tyler Day, got selected in the MLB Draft over the summer. Madris was drafted by the Pittsburg Pirates and was assigned to their farm team, the West Virginia Black Bears. Day was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays and was assigned to their minor league affiliate, The Hudson Valley Renegades club.
Sixteen other players competed representing CMU over the summer and all over the nation in competitive summer leagues. Head coach Chris Hanks was very pleased with his players’ performances over the summer and what it shows about the program.
“Our guys competed at the highest level in the best leagues and I think that speaks well for our program and what kind of guys we have here,” Hanks said.
It is good to bask in the glory of 2017 and remember the memories it provided; however, the earth keeps on spinning and the Mavericks are already focused on reloading for another spectacular year.
