Team MVP Jr. SS Nathan DeRohan
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Air Force Baseball 2004 Season-In-Review
Falcons go 6-49 overall.
Complete Season-Review With Stats in PDF Format
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June 23, 2004
In Closing
Air Force finished the season with a 6-49 overall record and a 0-28 regular-season conference mark for sixth place. The Falcons went 1-2 in the MWC Tournament, falling to UNLV (13-9), then defeating BYU (5-3) before losing to New Mexico (23-2).
Hutcheon At The Helm
Mike Hutcheon concluded his first year as the head coach of the Falcons. Hutcheon spent the last four years at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Ind. and compiled a record of 130-78 during his tenure there. In 2002, Hutcheon was named National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Coach of the year after leading Bethel to the 2002 NCCAA national title. Prior to his stay at Bethel, Hutcheon coached at Belhaven College in Jackson, Miss., for five seasons where he went 109-62. Through ten seasons as a head coach, Hutcheon has compiled a 245-189 record.
Hitting Notes:
Falcons batted .285 on the season with a .400 slugging percentage and .368 on-base percentage... Freshman Karl Bolt led the team with a .349 batting average to go with 60 base hits... Junior Nathan DeRohan led the team with 17 doubles, 36 runs scored and 34 RBI's... Sophomore Jason Brown led the team with six home runs... Junior Brent Tittle led the team in conference play with a .365 average... AFA batted .266 in conference play, slugging .384 with an on-base percentage of .345... The Falcons stole 76 bases which tied for the second-highest total for the team in the last five years.
Pitching Notes:
Falcons had a staff earned run average of 12.16... Sophomore
Clayton Couch led the team with three wins and 47 strikeouts in 71.2 innings pitched with an ERA of 7.79... Freshman
Mitch Brown and sophomore
Jeff Tetrault tied for the team-lead with 20 pitching appearances... Sophomore
Paul Vignola led the team with 15 starts and 11 losses... Couch and Vignola both tossed complete-games for the Falcons... Freshman
Blake Nixon was second on the team with 39 strikeouts in 46 innings pitched... Sophomore
Kyle DePierre and Tetrault tied for the team-lead with 16 relief appearances...
Mitch Brown led the team with two saves.
Freshmen See Significant Time In The Infield:
Mike Hutcheon often started as many as three freshmen in the five infield spots hoping that the experience these youngsters gained will pay dividends as they mature in the coming years. Karl Bolt emerged as a major offensive threat, leading the team with a .349 average in 49 starts at first and third base. Geno Salazar proved to be a solid middle-infielder, appearing in 45 games, with 37 starts at shortstop and second base and tied for the team-lead with three triples. Jon Polston, a converted quarterback from the JV football squad, started a team-leading 35 games at catcher. Also coming on strong late in the season was Billy Adams, who appeared in 15 games after getting called up from the junior varsity squad, earning seven starts at either catcher, second base and third base.
Falcons Are Young In The Pitching Department As Well
Of the 15 players who pitched for the Falcons in 2004, 13 of them were freshmen or sophomores. Five sophomores lead the team with 33 starts and 208.2 innings pitched logged amongst them. Eight freshmen accounted for a team-leading 85 appearances with Mitch Brown leading the team with two saves and Blake Nixon second on the team with 39 strikeouts in 46 innings pitched.
Sophomores Swingin' It
Three sophomores are also saw significant starting time and put up productive offensive numbers. Josh Wolfram started 45 games in center field and batted leadoff for the Falcons in 32 contests and led the team with 17 stolen bases. Since being converted from pitcher to first base/outfield, Jason Brown has become a potent source of power as he led the team with six home runs to go with 28 RBI's and led the team with 19 runs scored in conference play. Matt Musser started in 20 of 21 games he played in since making the move up from the junior varsity squad and stole nine bases and scored 14 runs.
Hitter Heavy Junior Class
Three of the top five hitters on the team were juniors, led by shortstop/third baseman Nathan DeRohan. DeRohan was the lone Falcon to start in all 55 games and led the team in runs (36), doubles (17) and RBI's (34). Fifth on the team in hitting was second baseman Colton Walter, who batted .280 with 10 multi-hit games. Team captain Travis Fugler, who started 35 games in the outfield or first base, and later was converted to a reliever, batted .282 with 22 RBI's and 16 runs scored. After missing a significant portion of the season due to a hand injury, Brent Tittle finished the season swinging a hot bat as he batted .347 on the season, including a team-leading .365 in conference games.
April Weather Woes
The Falcons had seven home conference games--all in April--postponed or cancelled due to rain and snow. Air Force was only able to play one game each against San Diego State and Utah, managing to get all three games in against New Mexico before having all three games vs. BYU postponed due to rain and snow. AFA made up all the Utah and BYU games in Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah, while the San Diego State games were cancelled.
Falcons Fall 7-3 To Colorado Springs Sky Sox In Exhibition Game
A six-run second inning propelled the Colorado Sky Sox to a 7-3 win over Air Force, in a five-inning exhibition baseball game at Sky Sox Stadium on Tuesday, April 6. Jeff Tetrault was tagged with the loss pitching the second inning. The Falcons got to work immediately in the first, scoring a run of Sky Sox starter Brian Tollberg to take a 1-0 lead. Colton Walter singled and then stole second base and came around to score on a throwing error by second baseman Erick Almonte. Air Force starter Paul Vignola threw a 1-2-3 inning in the first. The Sky Sox then exploded for six runs in the second as Clint Barmes hit a three-run homer and Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer. The Sky Sox tacked on one more run in the third as Garret Atkins homered off Kyle DePierre to make it a 7-1 game. The Falcons added runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Travis Fugler scored of Reid Lamson's sacrifice fly in the fourth and Matt Musser scored on a throwing error after stealing third base. Air Force had three hits on the day, led by Fugler, who went 2-for-3.
Last Week
Air Force went 1-2 at the 2004 Mountain West Conference Championships at Earl E. Wilson Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev. The Falcons surrendered eight runs in the first inning to lose 13-9 to UNLV in the opening round game. AFA rallied in its night game by defeating BYU 5-3, to snap a 34 game-losing swing. The Falcons gave up eight runs in the first inning again in a season-ending 23-2 loss to New Mexico the following day, where 11 conference tourney records were broken.
MWC Tournament Notes:
The UNLV Rebels claimed their second straight Mountain West Conference Tournament championship as they defeated the Aztecs of San Diego State (35-29) 6-3 on Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas. With the win, the Rebels capture the MWC's automatic berth into the 2004 NCAA baseball tournament. UNLV sophomore right-hander Matt Luca pitched the complete game for the Rebels, allowing just three runs on six hits while striking out ten and walking four. Luca was named the MWC Tournament Most Valuable Player.
AFA Tournament Notes:
Air Force hit .275 in three games in the tournament, but the opponents batted .358 against the Falcons... Reid Lamson led the Falcons with four hits and a .444 batting average... Lamson had a career-high three hits against UNLV... Karl Bolt had five hits in the tourney, to go with two doubles and three runs scored... Josh Wolfram stole three bases in the tourney... Brent Tittle and Bolt each had three RBI's... Clayton Couch tossed a five hit complete game win against BYU... Couch fanned seven batters vs. the Cougars... Mitch Brown, JT Schroeder and Jeff Tetrault did not allow a run in relief appearances... Falcons... Schroeder fanned five batters in two innings of relief... AFA had a 9.36 staff ERA in the tourney... AFA fielded .935 in tourney, committing seven errors.
Couch Named To 2004 MWC Baseball All-Tournament Team
Clayton Couch, a sophomore right-handed pitcher for Air Force, was named to the 2004 Mountain West Conference All-Tournament Baseball Team, announced Saturday evening by MWC officials. Couch was one of 11 MWC players selected to the All-Tourney team. Couch, a native of Inola, Okla., was the driving force in sixth-seeded Air Force's thrilling 5-3 upset win over third-seeded BYU Thursday evening at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. Couch tossed a complete game five-hitter, striking out a career-high seven batters in the win, which snapped the Falcons' 34-game losing streak and advanced the team to the second day of the tourney. The sophomore finished the season leading Air Force in wins (3), innings pitched (71.2) and strikeouts (47).
DeRohan Named Team MVP
Junior shortstop/thirdbaseman Nathan DeRohan was named team MVP at the Falcons season-ending banquet. The Waukegan, Ill., native was the lone Falcon to start all 55 games this season batting .299. DeRohan led the team with 36 runs, 17 doubles and 34 RBI's. DeRohan had five base hits in a game on two occasions this season and his 17 doubles is tied for 14th all-time at the Academy. DeRohan was the lone Falcons to be named MWC Player of the Week and was also named to the Service Academies Classic Spring Classic All-Tournament Team.
DeRohan Earns MWC Player of the Week Honors
Air Force junior shortstop Nathan DeRohan was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week for his performance against New Mexico State, Feb. 7-8, in Las Cruces, N.M. DeRohan, from Waukegan, Wis. (Waukegan HS), was 5-for-14 (.347) with a pair of doubles, a home run and five RBI in a three-game series vs. New Mexico State. He was 2-for-4 with two RBI on Feb. 7, and nearly hit for the cycle the next day, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a double off the fence, a home run and three RBI.
Couch, DeRohan Named To Service Academies Spring Classic All-Tournament Team
Sophomore right-hander Clayton Couch and junior shortstop Nathan DeRohan were named to the 2004 Service Academies Spring Classic All-Tournament team, which took place Feb. 27-29 at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn. Couch, a Inola, Okla., native led AFA to a 7-0 shutout win over Navy on the 28th. In one of his best pitching performances as a Falcon, Couch struck out a six batters in a career-high six innings pitched, while allowing just three base hits. DeRohan, a Waukegan, Ill., native went 4-for-9 over the weekend (.444) leading the team with five runs scored. Against Navy, DeRohan went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs and an RBI.
Who's Gone:
The entire final roster for the Falcons will return for the 2005 season as AFA did not have any seniors on the team.
Who's Back:
AFA returns the entire 2004 squad for 2005. The Falcons will return seven players who will be seniors next year, 11 juniors and 10 sophomores.
