The 2021 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference baseball tournament began on May 20 and ended on May 22 at Marty L. Miller Field on the campus of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia. It was a six-team double elimination tournament. Norfolk State won the tournament for the first time and claimed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.[2][3] Departing member Bethune-Cookman, which opted out of baseball competition for 2021,[4] had claimed sixteen of the prior twenty-one tournament championships, with North Carolina A&T earning the 2005 and 2018 titles, Florida A&M winning in 2015 and 2019, and Savannah State in 2013.
| Teams | 8 |
|---|---|
| Format | Double-elimination tournament |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Norfolk State (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Keith Shumate (1st title) |
| MVP | Alsander Womack (Norfolk State) |
| Television | FloSports |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norfolk State x‡y | 18 | – | 10 | .643 | 25 | – | 28 | .472 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Delaware State | 13 | – | 18 | .419 | 15 | – | 27 | .357 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coppin State | 7 | – | 20 | .259 | 10 | – | 29 | .256 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Carolina Central x | 17 | – | 11 | .607 | 27 | – | 20 | .574 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida A&M | 15 | – | 13 | .536 | 22 | – | 33 | .400 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Carolina A&T | 17 | – | 15 | .531 | 22 | – | 32 | .407 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
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Format and seeding
editThe top two teams from each division qualified for the Tournament, with seeding determined by conference winning percentage from the regular season. The top seed form the North Division played the second seed from the South and vice versa, with winners advancing and losers playing elimination games in the double-elimination tournament.
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Tournament
editBracket
edit| Upper round 1 | Upper final | Final | |||||||||||
| 1N | Norfolk State | 8 | |||||||||||
| 2S | Florida A&M | 3 | |||||||||||
| 1N | Norfolk State | 1 | |||||||||||
| 1S | North Carolina Central | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1S | North Carolina Central | 9 | |||||||||||
| 2N | Delaware State | 4 | |||||||||||
| 1N | Norfolk State | ||||||||||||
| 1S | North Carolina Central | ||||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower final | ||||||||||||
| 1S | North Carolina Central | 5 | |||||||||||
| 2S | Florida A&M | 14 | 2S | Florida A&M | 3 | ||||||||
| 2N | Delaware State | 13 | |||||||||||
Game results
edit| Date | Game | Winner | Score | Loser | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20 | Game 1 | (1S) North Carolina Central | 9–4 | (2N) Delaware State | |
| Game 2 | (1N) Norfolk State | 8–3 | (2S) Florida A&M | ||
| May 21 | Game 3 | (1N) Norfolk State | 1–0 | (1S) North Carolina Central | |
| Game 4 | (2S) Florida A&M | 14–13 | (2N) Delaware State | Delaware State eliminated | |
| Game 5 | (1S) North Carolina Central | 5–3 | (2S) Florida A&M | Florida A&M eliminated | |
| May 22 | Game 6 | (1N) Norfolk State | 7–611 | (1S) North Carolina Central | Norfolk State wins MEAC Tournament |
All-Tournament Team
editThe following players were named to the All-Tournament Team.[3]
| Name | School |
|---|---|
| LJ Bryant | Florida A&M |
| James Deloatch | Norfolk State |
| Ty Hanchey | Norfolk State |
| Danny Hosley | Norfolk State |
| Cort Maynard | North Carolina Central |
| Octavien Moyer | Florida A&M |
| Cameron Norgren | North Carolina Central |
| Miguel Rivera | Delaware State |
| Shawn Runey | North Carolina Central |
| Austin Vernon | North Carolina Central |
| John Weglarz | Delaware State |
| Alsander Womack | Norfolk State |
Outstanding Performer and Outstanding Coach
editAlsander Womack was named Tournament Outstanding Performer, while Keith Shumate was named Tournament Outstanding Coach. Womack was a second baseman for Norfolk State, while Shumate was the Spartans' head coach.[3]
References
edit- ^ "2021 Baseball Standings". meacsports.com. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- ^ "2021 MEAC Baseball Championship". Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Norfolk State Wins 2021 MEAC Baseball Championship". Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. May 22, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
- ^ Zach Dean (October 27, 2021). "Bethune-Cookman shuts down all sports through spring, citing 'spike' in COVID-19 cases". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved May 25, 2021.