1993 Miracle Yearbook

HE SIGNAL and the release of the ball are all an important part of Todd eljan's pitching. TheCedarvilleCollege baseballteam used astrong finish under first-year head coach Norris Smith to complete a 13-18 campaign. The Yellow Jackets re- bounded from a ten-game slide early in the season to win ten of their final 17games which included seven victories in the last ten. One ofthe highlights of the season occurred at the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA)District III tournamentat Marion,Indiana. The Jackets were seeded last in the seven-team field, but they won three out offive games to finish third. Long losing streaks also went by the wayside in 1993. Cedarville haslost30straightMid-OhioConfer- ence gamesand 28consecutive NAIA District22con- tests. Both skids ended in a 2-1 win over Mt.Vernon Nazarene when freshman Doug Ashley homered in the bottom of the seventh in- ning,whichironically wastheYellowJack- ets'only hit of the game. Cedarville went on to sweep a doubleheader from Central State,and later split twinbills with Walsh and Malone,both NAIA playoff teams. Senior co-captains Tim Edsell and Dan Ambrosewrapped uptheircareers. Edsell, who was voted the squad's MVP by his teammates,batted .265 and wasan NAIA District 22 honorable mention selection. He hurled a 7-0 victory at Central State in his only mound appearance of the year. Ambroseearned hisfourthletteranddrove in a team-high 17runs. Sophomore righthander Bret Popp led the pitching staff with a 2-1 record with onesavea3.67earned run average. Fresh- man Clint Miller was3-3 with a 4.34ERA. TheYellow Jackets have good reason to be optimistic as their young players de- velop. Eleven playersonthe18-manroster were either freshmen or sophomores,and more than half of those were regulars in the line-up. IN A DEEP BASEBALL CONVERSATION Ryan VanDuesan and Tim Edsell discuss the game. JUST BEATING THETHROW Paul Melvin is safe at third.