2002 Runnin’ Lopes

The 2002 Runnin’ Lopes finished the most successful eason in the school’s history with a 52-3 regular season and a 31-1 league record. LCC won back-to-back Empire Conference regular season titles and hosted the Regional Tournament in Lamar on May 9th-12th. LCC swept through the Regional Tournament with a 7-4 victory over Trinidad, 12-6 victory over Otero and 5-2 victory over Otero in the championship game. With a Region IX Championship under its belt, Lamar Community College hosted the Southwestern District Tournament against El Paso Community College the following weekend. LCC defeated El Paso 5-4 in an extra inning game. The next day LCC defeated El Paso 14-6 and earned a trip to the JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado. Lamar Community College went 2-2 in the World Series and finished third in the nation. This finish was the best ever by a Colorado Junior College. Game one was a night game in front of 10,000 people. The game was in the Lopes favor through eight innings with LCC holding a 4-3 lead. The eight and ninth innings didn;t go well for the Lopes and the game ended in a 10-4 loss to Manatee, FL. Games two and three were better outcomes with a 7-0 victory over John A. Logan College, IL and a 10-5 victory over Wallace State, AL. in the final four LCC again matched up with Manatee, FL and came up short 12-2. The game was close through three innings, but the Lopes could not hold the Manatee offense down. The Lopes final record was 34-1 in league and 59-5 overall for the best record in all of college baseball. The Lopes have dominated the Empire Conference the past two years. The two year combined conference record is 56-6 with two Empire Conference Titles.

Each year, the Runnin’ Lopes place numerous players on All-Region teams and 2002 was no different. LCC saw eight First Team All-Region players: Kurt Welch (C), Ian Bladergroen (1B), Doug Beck (SS), Scott Balster (OF), Jason Cox (DH), Greg Atencio (P), Brandon McCarthy (P) and Don Clement (P). LCC also placed three players on the Second Team All-Region team: Jesse Stelo, Andy Scholl, and Sean Clancy.

LCC finished 1st in the nation in batting with a .404 team batting average. Ian Bladergroen was the top offense producer and First Team All-American. Ian Finished 6th in the nation with 17 home runs tied with Doug Beck and Jesse Sotelo. Ian also finished 3rd in the nation in RBI’s with 80 and 18th in batting average at .439. Ian also won the batting and home run title honors for the year. Kurt Welch was selected Honorable Mention All-American as well as Defensive Player of the Year in the Southwestern District. Todd Morben finished 22nd in the nation in batting average at .438.

On the pitching side, the Lopes finished with the best ERA in school history at 2.70. Ten school records were broken with six of the school records coming from the pitching side. The 2002 top pitcher and Cy Young winner, Greg Atencio (10-0) finished with 78 innings pitched, 105 strikeouts and a 2.06 ERA. Brandon McCarthy finished 1st in the nation in strikeouts with 130, Greg Atencio finished 3rd with 105, DOn Clement finished 6th with 77 and Seas Clancy finished 19th with 70. Ben Buck finished 3rd in the nation in saves with 9.

Empire Conference - Region IX Standings

                                    Regular Season                                  League

Lamar CC                               59-5                                         34-1

Western Nebraska                  34-25                                       25-11

Otero JC                                 30-28                                       18-19

Trinidad JC                             27-33                                       14-22

Northeastern JC                     24-34                                       11-23

McCook CC                            11-37                                       4-30

Regional and National Honors

2002: 59-5 overall record (school record), World Series Final Four

• World Series Final Four Appearance and final ranking 3rd in the country
• Empire Conference Regular Season Championship (34-1 league record)
• 1st in the Nation in Team Batting Average at .404
• 1st Team All-American Ian Bladergroen, 6th in the Nation Home Runs, 3rd in RBI’s, and 18th in Batting Average
• Honorable Mention All-American Kurt Welch voted Defensive Player of the year in the Southwestern District
• Brandon McCarthy 1st in the Nation in Strike outs, Greg Atencio 3rd, Don Clement 6th, and Sean Clancy 19th
• Ben Buck 3rd in the Nation in Saves
• Doug Beck and Jesse Sotelo tied for 6th in Nation in Home Runs
• Todd Morben 22nd in the Nation in Batting Average
• School record for Team ERA at 2.70
• School record for Team Batting Average at .394
• 10 team school records broken in 2002 (six in pitching)
• Individual school records broken: Kurt Welch (25 doubles), Sean Clancy & Brandon McCarthy (wins 12), Ben Buck (season ERA: 1.06 & career ERA: 2.07), Ben Buck (saves 9 & career saves 18), Terry Montoya & Jarame Beaupre (40 career appearances)
• Eight First Team All-Region players (Greg Atencio, Brandon McCarthy, Don Clement, Kurt Welch, Ian Bladergroen, Doug Beck, Scott Balster, Jason Cox)
• Three Second Team All-Region players (Jesse Sotelo, Andy Scholl, Sean Clancy)