INDIANAPOLIS, April 7, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Marian College in Indianapolis is celebrating fifty years of baseball, remembering a "Diamond Debut" year that made history.
Marian College's first baseball team took the field in 1956. In that year, Elvis Presley recorded "Heartbreak Hotel," the Bikini Atoll was used to test the hydrogen bomb, Japan became a member of the United Nations, and Congress authorized "In God We Trust" as the U.S. national motto. Under head coach Ed Seyfried, student-athletes like Louis Ripperger '58, John Fenoglio '58, David James '59, and others, became a competitive varsity team, and Marian College's grand baseball tradition was born.
According to the 1957 "Marian" yearbook, that first team was "a little afraid in making their diamond debut among varsity competition," but that challenging start is little more than a paragraph in a history book. Marian's baseball teams represent an impressive part of the college's athletic history. Wall of Famers like Rudy Jansen '61, Chuck Federle '65, Larry Hornbach '69, Dave Jongleux '74, Ted Ahaus '74, Jeff Castner '86, Randy Canada '88, and Juan Escalante '89, have taken on the challenges of academic excellence, athletic competitiveness, and community and business leadership to become examples for all generations. In 2006, Marian College inducted another baseball player into the Wall of Fame: John Ripperger '88.
In 1989, the Marian Knights played their first season at Kaufman Field and said goodbye to long-time head coach Lynn Morrell, who spent 18 years weathering blustery February practices, temperamental pitchers, and blind umpires. A new era was beginning, one filled with MCC conference championships (five), and multiple All-American and conference Player of the Year selections. Teams in the early 90s ground away at grueling schedules that included great teams from Purdue University and Anderson University, often falling just short of success. Sean Murray '92 and James Pruett '92 helped lay the groundwork for gutsy teams full of character and helped set the stage for the first conference title in Knights baseball history.
In 1993, under the guidance of head coach Bret Shambaugh, the team went 17-3 in the conference. Hardened by a tough 60-game schedule, players like Chris MacEachren '93, Daren James '94, Rich Messer '93, Drew Dodson '93, David Harper '93, and Pat Cooney '94 led the title team. Players like Steve Bishop '98, who played from 1991-93, remember that time as a turning point in the program.
Current head coach Kurt Guldner '81, who played baseball for coach Morrell, enters his 13th year as coach in 2006. The season preview on the Knights web site notes that this is the 38th straight year of winning seasons for Knights baseball -- an impressive record, indeed. So many great stories make up Marian's baseball tradition. To celebrate, the college is planning an anniversary weekend on April 28-29, 2006. Some of Marian's baseball legends will gather to reminisce as the 2006 Knights team takes on Spring Arbor. No doubt the current and former campus legends will be dreaming about what the next fifty years holds for baseball at Marian College in Indianapolis.
To find out more: www.marian.edu