The 1997 Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Championship was held at Bear Stadium in Boyertown, Pennsylvania from May 15 through 17. The double elimination tournament featured the top two regular-season finishers of each of the conference's six-team divisions. West Division second seed Virginia Tech defeated Massachusetts in the title game to win the tournament for the first time, earning the Atlantic 10's automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA tournament.[1]
| Teams | 4 |
|---|---|
| Format | Four-team double elimination |
| Finals site |
|
| Champions | Virginia Tech (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Chuck Hartman (1st title) |
| MVP | Barry Gauch (Virginia Tech) |
Seeding and format
editEach division's top teams, based on winning percentage in the 21-game regular season schedule, qualified for the field. In the opening round of the four-team double-elimination format, the East Division champion played the West Division runner-up, and vice versa.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
East Division
| |||||
| Massachusetts | 17 | 4 | .810 | – |
1E
|
| Fordham | 12 | 9 | .571 | 5 |
2E
|
| St. Bonaventure | 9 | 12 | .429 | 8 |
–
|
| Temple | 9 | 12 | .429 | 8 |
–
|
| Rhode Island | 6 | 15 | .286 | 11 |
–
|
| Saint Joseph's | 4 | 17 | .190 | 13 |
–
|
West Division
| |||||
| Xavier | 14 | 6 | .700 | – |
1W
|
| Virginia Tech | 13 | 8 | .619 | 1.5 |
2W
|
| Dayton | 12 | 9 | .571 | 2.5 |
–
|
| Duquesne | 12 | 9 | .571 | 2.5 |
–
|
| George Washington | 9 | 12 | .429 | 5.5 |
–
|
| La Salle | 8 | 12 | .400 | 6 |
–
|
Bracket
edit| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |||||||||||
| 1W | Xavier | 6 | |||||||||||
| 2E | Fordham | 1 | |||||||||||
| 1W | Xavier | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2W | Virginia Tech | 17 | |||||||||||
| 1E | Massachusetts | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2W | Virginia Tech | 8 | |||||||||||
| 2W | Virginia Tech | 13 | |||||||||||
| 1E | Massachusetts | 8 | |||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower final | ||||||||||||
| 1W | Xavier | 1 | |||||||||||
| 2E | Fordham | 6 | 1E | Massachusetts | 6 | ||||||||
| 1E | Massachusetts | 14 | |||||||||||
All-Tournament Team
editThe following players were named to the All-Tournament Team. Virginia Tech catcher Barry Gauch, one of five Hokies selected, was named Most Outstanding Player.
Massachusetts's shortstop Brad Gorrie, who was also selected in 1996 was named to the team for the second time.
| Pos. | Name | Team |
|---|---|---|
| P | Scott Barnsby | Massachusetts |
| OF | Doug Clark | Massachusetts |
| C | Barry Gauch | Virginia Tech |
| 1B | David Giglio | Massachusetts |
| SS | Brad Gorrie | Massachusetts |
| OF | Matt Griswold | Virginia Tech |
| SS | Kevin Kurilla | Virginia Tech |
| SS | Tony Martelli | Fordham |
| 2B | Randy Martin | Virginia Tech |
| P | Denny Wagner | Virginia Tech |
| P | Louie Witte | Xavier |
References
edit- ^ "2014 Atlantic 10 Baseball Record Book" (PDF). Atlantic10.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 19, 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2014.