1980 Trans America Athletic Conference baseball tournament
The 1980 Trans America Athletic Conference baseball tournament was held at Luther Williams Field on the campus of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, from May 1 through 4. This was the second tournament championship held by the Trans America Athletic Conference, in its second year of existence. Georgia Southern won their first tournament championship. The Eagles earned a bid to the 1980 NCAA Division I baseball tournament, the first for the league.
| Teams | 5 |
|---|---|
| Format | Double-elimination |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Georgia Southern (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Jack Stallings (1st title) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Southern ‡y | 0 | – | 0 | – | 38 | – | 21 | .644 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercer | 0 | – | 0 | – | 31 | – | 18 | .633 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Centenary | 0 | – | 0 | – | 34 | – | 19 | .642 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northeast Louisiana | 0 | – | 0 | – | 20 | – | 15 | .571 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hardin–Simmons | 0 | – | 0 | – | 25 | – | 25 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern State | 0 | – | 0 | – | 23 | – | 23 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1980[1] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Format
The league again used a blind draw to determine matchups, and conference teams again played few games against each other prior to the tournament. The teams played a six team, double elimination tournament.[2][3]
Results
| First round | Second round | Third round | Final | ||||||||||||||||
| Northeast Louisiana | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Southern | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Northeast Louisiana | 12* | Georgia Southern | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern State | 9* | Northwestern State | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern State | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hardin–Simmons | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Centenary | 4 | Georgia Southern | 5 | 15 | |||||||||||||||
| Georgia Southern | 3 | Mercer | 4 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Centenary | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mercer | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mercer | 8 | Mercer | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hardin–Simmons | 3 | Northeast Louisiana | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| Northeast Louisiana | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Centenary | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
* - Indicates game required 12 innings.
All-Tournament Team
The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team. No MVP was named until 1985.[4]
| POS | Player | School |
|---|---|---|
| P | Scott Barnhouse | Mercer |
| P | Carlos Colon | Georgia Southern |
| P | Ken Marks | Centenary |
| C | Marty Pevey | Georgia Southern |
| C | Frank Scelfo | Northeast Louisiana |
| 2B | Doug Guelde | Northeast Louisiana |
| SS | Bob Laurie | Georgia Southern |
| 3B | Derrell Baker | Georgia Southern |
| OF | David Klick | Northeast Louisiana |
| OF | Frank Millerd | Mercer |
| OF | Tim Smith | Mercer |
References
- Atlantic Sun Baseball Record Book (PDF). Atlantic Sun Conference. p. 3. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
- Atlantic Sun Baseball Record Book (PDF). Atlantic Sun Conference. p. 2. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
- "2013 Media Guide". Mercer Bears. p. 71. Archived from the original on September 26, 2013. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
- Atlantic Sun Baseball Record Book (PDF). Atlantic Sun Conference. p. 21. Retrieved September 21, 2013.