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Complete Forecast for  Jul 09 2008

By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer

Last season went so splendidly for the Tyler Junior College baseball team that it could not have been scripted any better.

The Apaches started hot, stayed hot and won the NJCAA Division III national championship.

If the Apaches had a script writer for the 2008 season, he or she would have been fired before the midway point.

TJC endured a slow start before coming together to win nine consecutive series in the Metro Athletic Conference and capture a second straight league title.

The Apaches (30-19) are once again the No. 1 seed for this weekend’s four-team, double-elimination district tournament in McKinney. The winner advances to the Division III World Series at Tyler’s Mike Carter Field.

Before they could even get into playoff contention, the Apaches had to ride out an early season storm.

It started in October when Jacksonville’s Payton Diers, who would have been a key pitcher for the Apaches in 2008, died shortly after an automobile accident.

The drama continued in the offseason when several key members of the team were put on probation for violating team policy. They would miss the first 11 games of the season, including two conference series.

It all added up to a 3-6 start in MAC play.

Good thing they had sophomore Mike McCollum to lean on during the tough times, whether it was leading prayers for Diers in the hospital room, or helping the freshmen through the peaks and valleys of a long season.

“Mike McCollum has been an outstanding leader on this team,” said TJC head coach Jon Groth. “He put up good numbers last year, mostly at the beginning of the year, and this year has been productive all year.

“More importantly, Mike has been the glue of this year’s team.”

McCollum appreciates the compliment, but deflected much of the praise.

“Maybe I was a leader, I thought everybody kind of banded together,” said McCollum, who entered the spring semester with a 3.7 grade-point average. “I don’t know if anybody really stood out more than anybody else. If what I did helped lead people, that’s good.”

McCollum came to TJC from Houston Clear Lake High School, where he made second-team all-district at third base.

He hit .333 in 25 conference games as a freshman, but his playing time dwindled late in the season and he had only two at-bats in the World Series.

But he still showed an ability to lead; even it was from the bench.

“That was a big deal,” McCollum said of encouraging his teammates. “Even though we’re not on the field and we’re not getting our name in the paper, it was fun on the bench and it helped out a lot, when guys are yelling and making noise.”

The switch-hitting catcher/designated hitter has been a mainstay in the lineup as a sophomore. He batted .367 in 35 conference games and produced 12 doubles, two home runs and 36 RBIs, good enough for honorable mention All-MAC.

McCollum was the conference player of the week during a recent three-game sweep of Mountain View when he went 8-for-13 with four doubles, two home runs and 14 RBIs. Knowing hot streaks like that are short-lived, McCollum pointed to his 3-for-12 series against Richland the next weekend as evidence.

The Apaches play fourth-seeded Eastfield in their district tournament opener at 6 p.m. today at The Ballfields at Craig Ranch in McKinney. The event will be held on Gabe Nesbitt Field.

The winner will play either second-seeded Richland or third-seeded North Arkansas at 3 p.m. Saturday. The losers would meet in an elimination game at noon Saturday.

The Apaches needed just three games to win the championship last season. This season, they finished with the same conference record (24-12) as Eastfield and Richland.

“We feel like we’re the best team,” said McCollum, who bats cleanup. “We’re not cocky going in, we know we have to play good baseball to win.”

Take I-20 West to U.S. 80 West. Merge onto I-635 North and go to 75 North (Central Expressway). From 75, exit Stacy Road in McKinney and go west to the intersection of State Highway 121 and Stacy Road. Take a left and go one mile to the Ballfields on the right at Alma and SH 121.