GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum College will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Pioneers' 1964 Volunteer State Athletic Conference baseball championship this Friday night when TC hosts Catawba College at Pioneer Park.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and all Tusculum baseball alumni will be admitted free to Friday's game.
The 1964 team is holding a reunion of former players, coaches and their families on Friday prior to the game and will be honored in pre-game ceremonies leading up to the South Atlantic Conference clash between the Pioneers and the Catawba Indians.
Coach Dale Alexander's 1964 Pioneers rallied from a six-run deficit, scoring eight unanswered runs, including two in the 12th inning to upset the Carson-Newman Eagles 8-6 and capture the program's first VSAC baseball title. The Pioneers posted an 8-4 record in 1964, while finishing that year with a five-game winning streak.
The 1964 Pioneers were led by All-Conference catcher Steve Monsky (Elizabeth, N.J.), who batted .350 for the Black and Orange. All-VSAC outfielder Eddie Jeffers (Chuckey, Tenn.) was second on the squad with his .333 average and led the team with 18 hits, including two doubles, two home runs and a league-best five triples. Jeffers' five triples are still tied for eighth most in school history.
Greeneville, Tenn. second baseman Ray Collins also batted .333 for the Pioneers while earning a spot on the All-VSAC squad. Collins finished second the team with 17 hits, including a TC-high six doubles.
First baseman Bill Gardner rounded out the All-Conference selections on the 1964 squad as the Fall Branch, Tenn. product posted a .312 batting average with 15 hits, but none bigger than his two-run single in the 12th inning to beat Carson-Newman in the VSAC championship game.
1964 team members Gardner and Bean Station, Tenn. shortstop Jim Rich are both inductees in the Tusculum Sports Hall of Fame.
Also on Friday night, former Tusculum pitcher Taylor Rakes will be honored with the presentation of the 2013 Capital One Division II Baseball Academic All-American® of the Year award. Rakes, a native of Norcross, Ga., will also be presented the 2012-13 South Atlantic Conference Presidents Award and the Division II Collegiate Commissioner's Association Southeast Region Scholar Athlete Award.
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