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MIAA baseball tournament comes to CommunityAmerica Ballpark
By DAVID BOYCEThe Kansas City Star
The reward for winning the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association’s regular-season baseball title used to be hosting the league tournament. So more often than not, the tournament annually took place at Crane Stadium in Warrensburg, Mo.
This year, Emporia State edged out Central Missouri for the MIAA title. But the Hornets won’t be the host team.
The MIAA decided to hold the tournament at a neutral site — CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan. The double-elimination tournament featuring the top four teams in the league standings begins today and runs through Sunday.
“I like it,” Central Missouri coach Tommy Myers said. “You get to play in a neutral-site environment like the College World Series.”
The ultimate goal for these four teams is to advance to the eight-team NCAA Division II national tournament. Emporia State and Central Missouri have all but locked up spots in the Central Regional regardless of what they do in the MIAA tournament. The MIAA tournament winner gets an automatic bid to the Central Regional.
“This (postseason) is what we’ve waited for,” Central Missouri outfielder Brian Rutledge said. “We are ready and excited to get going.”
Myers, who is in his first season as head coach at Central Missouri, said the coaching staff and the players are still learning about each other.
“We are a work in progress,” Myers said. “We keep adding new things defensively. They are still learning how hard I want them to play. Still, they will do whatever we ask of them.
“There have been ups and downs this year. At this tournament I want to see them compete at a high level, play hard and play smart.”