VALDOSTA — Late Sunday night the Valdosta State Blazers found out that their baseball season will continue.
The NCAA announced the teams that will participate in the eight different regionals around the country on Sunday night, and the Blazers (41-19) are in the mix.
VSU is the No. 7 seed in the South Regional which will be played in Magnolia, Ark., starting on Thursday. The Blazers’ first round opponent in the double elimination regional is No. 2 Barry (44-9). The two teams will play Thursday at a time to be determined.
The other first round matchups are No. 1 Southern Arkansas vs. No. 8 Stillman, No. 3 West Alabama vs. No. 6 Florida Southern and No. 4 Tampa vs. No. 5 Lynn.
Stillman got the automatic bid for winning the SIAC, Barry got the bid for winning the Sunshine State Conference and Southern Arkansas got the automatic bid for winning the Gulf South Conference. Southern Arkansas is the host school.
West Alabama, Tampa, Lynn, Florida Southern and the Blazers received at-large bids.
If the Blazers win their game against Barry they will play the winner of West Alabama/Florida Southern on Friday in the winner’s bracket. If the Blazers lose against Barry they will play the loser of West Alabama/Florida Southern on Friday in an elimination game.
It’s the same format as the Gulf South Conference tournament where the Blazers finished in second place.
They lost their opening round game of the GSC tournament to Southern Arkansas, then avoided elimination three straight days by beating Ouachita Baptist, Harding and West Florida.
In the process, some teams that were competing with the Blazers for one of the last spots in the South Regional tournament fell. Alabama-Huntsville went 0-2, West Florida went 2-2 with a loss to VSU and Delta State went 2-2.
The Blazers made it to the finals of the GSC tournament but were eliminated by Southern Arkansas, 5-0. Apparently the run the Blazers went on was impressive enough to assure themselves a spot in the South Regional.
The Blazers have played four of the other seven teams in the South Regional this season — Barry, Southern Arkansas, West Alabama and Tampa. The Blazers are a combined 3-6 against those teams.
VSU beat Barry once, was beat twice by Southern Arkansas in the GSC tournament, was swept in a three-game series at West Alabama and took two-of-three from Tampa at Billy Grant Field.
The baseball team is the 10th team out of 11 at VSU that has made it to an NCAA regional tournament this school year.
Local Sports
VSU baseball gets bid to South Regional
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VSU teams hosting summer camps
The national champion Valdosta State softball team will host two separate summer camps this summer, as well as weekly clinics throughout the summer.
The two summer camps will be held on June 11-13 and July 9-11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The camps will cost $100 each. -
David Dean Youth Camp begins next week
The David Dean Youth Football Camp is quickly approaching.
The fourth annual camp will be held May 29-June 1 at the Athletic Fieldhouse off Mary Street. -
National champion head coach rewarded with new truck
National champion head coach rewarded with new truck Valdosta State head softball coach Thomas Macera was rewarded with a new Toyota Tacoma from Valdosta Toyota on Wednesday for his team’s 4-1 victory over the University of California-San Diego in the Division II Softball National Championship Game.
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Valwood’s Savino, Elliott named All-State soccer
Two Valwood boys’ soccer players have been named to the GISA Class AA All-State team.
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All-American again
Go ahead and add another award to resume of this year’s Valdosta State softball team.
Between conference player of the week awards, a national player of the week award, All-Conference and All-Region honors and four All-American awards, the national champion Blazers had plenty of individuals honored for performances throughout the season, which ultimately led to VSU’s first ever softball national title. -
Local area events coming soon
Several local area runs will take place in the coming weeks.
Monday, May 28, there will be a Memorial Day 5K, which will begin at 8 a.m. from the VECA School located on the corner of Azalea Drive and College Street. -
Tech bound
Donjahae Jones gets it done in the classroom and on the track.
One of the top students in her class, and one of the top track and field competitors in the state, Jones will be taking her talents to the Division I level after she signed a track and field scholarship with Georgia Tech on Tuesday. -
Blazers garner All-Region honors
Two Valdosta State baseball players have been named All-South Region while a third has garnered Academic All-Region, according to announcements made by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and the Collegiate Sports Information Director's of America (CoSIDA) this week.
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Lowndes' Phelps named tennis Coach of the Year
Lowndes tennis coach Heath Phelps has been named the Region 1-AAAAA girls’ and boys’ tennis Coach of the Year, after he guided both teams to region championships.
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Wildcats close spring practice
VALDOSTA — The Valdosta Wildcats put their finishing touches on spring practice Saturday night with the playing of their annual spring game at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
No score was kept in the game, but the Wildcats did play best-on-best, pitting the starting offense against the starting defense. - More Local Sports Headlines
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VSU teams hosting summer camps
