more to come

It was probably small consolation — well, more likely, no consolation at all — for Delta State that it had five players make the Gulf South Conference All-Tournament team. The Statesmen, the top seed, did not take home the championship in the weather-plagued event; they lost in today’s deciding game to Valdosta State. DSU, which is 42-9-1 and was ranked No. 1 at times this season, now awaits an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. It’ll get one. The Statesmen, who made a remarkable run to the D-II World Series final last season, showed some of that same spunk in the GSC event. After falling into the loser’s bracket, they won elimination games over West Florida, West Alabama and West Georgia to make the title round, where they lost a 5-4 heartbreaker to Valdosta. In the three elimination-game wins, Jordan Chovanec, DSU’s center fielder and leadoff batter, earned tournament MVP honors by going 8-for-15 with six runs and four RBIs. He was joined on the all-tourney team by Brent Langston, Sam Kidd, Josh Crowdus and Josh Branstetter. P.S. William Carey opened NAIA Tournament play with a 7-3 win today over Oklahoma Baptist at Wheeler Field in Hattiesburg. The Crusaders, with their pitching, will be a tough out in that regional.