May 23, 2008

Championship Information | Click Here

LEWISTON, Idaho -- There is one day left before the first pitch of the 2008 AVISTA-NAIA Baseball World Series and several festivities went on in Lewiston, Idaho on Thursday (May 22). Each of the 10 participating teams held batting practice throughout the day at Harris Field, leading up to various special events.

After batting practices, the NAIA-American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Youth Clinic was held at Harris Field. For a two-hour period, a group of approximately 400 youth of all ages were treated to a skills clinic in which players, coaches and Tournament personnel lent their expertise.

The Opening Banquet was held in the evening at the Lewiston Elks Lodge. Teams, fans and supporters of the World Series were in attendance for the two-hour dinner and ceremony. Special presenters included Marvin Benard, former All-American at Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) College, and Tim Salmon, former star at Grand Canyon (Ariz.) University. The two players are believed to be the only NAIA players who played against each other in the Major League Baseball World Series, Benard with the San Francisco Giants and Salmon with the Anaheim Angels in 2002.

Salmon was a collegiate at Grand Canyon from 1987-88 and a part of the NAIA World Series Runner-Up team in 1988. In his two-year career with GCU, he batted .383 with 51 career home runs. He was drafted by the Angels in the 3^rd Round of the 1989 Amateur Draft. He played his entire career with the Angels (1993-2006) and was named American League's Rookie of the Year. Referred to as the "King Fish" by Angels' fans, Salmon left the organization as the all-time leader in home runs (299), runs scored (983, walks (965) and slugging percentage (.499). He holds the unique distinction as having the most home runs of any player never selected to the All-Star team.

"I'm excited to be here and be back in Lewiston," said Salmon. "This is a great experience and it's been awhile since I have been back. My hope is to relive those great memories. When I was here playing, it was all about behind the scenes and the great time with the guys."

Benard played two years at Lewis-Clark State from 1991-92. He was a NAIA All-American the same year the Warriors won the National Championship in 1992. During his two-year stint, he produced a .373 batting average, 96 RBI, 133 runs scored and 38 stolen bases. The native of Nicaragua was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 50th round of the 1992 Amateur draft. Four years later, he got called up to the "Bigs" and lasted nine seasons with the Giants (1995-2003). He had a break-out season in 1999 which included a career-best 16 homers, 64 RBI, 36 doubles and a .290 batting average. For his career, he averaged .271 and totaled 441 runs scored, 714 hits and 138 doubles.

"Sometimes you only get one shot at doing this", said Benard, during his speech at the Opening Banquet. "This is an unbelievable experience. My recommendation to everyone playing is to leave it all on the field and tell yourself that you gave it your all."

Today also marked school visits for the World Series participants. Nine teams made trips to 15 combined area elementary schools with Lewis-Clark State pegged to visit a school on Monday, May 19. The teams participated in reading programs and talked about the Champions of Character program, which is the NAIA flagship program designed to instill character values in student-athletes, coaches and youth.

First pitch of the World Series is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. PST tomorrow (Friday) between No. 7 Spring Arbor (Mich.) and No. 10 Jamestown (N.D.). The champion will be crowned either May 29 or May 30.