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Date Posted: 18:44:36 07/30/03 Wed
Author: Starter
Subject: A trip to baseball paradise

A trip to baseball paradise
Jason Pugh / Special to The Times
Posted on July 30, 2003

On most college students' lists of potential summer getaways, Wichita, Kan., probably ranks a couple hundred spots behind Panama City Beach, Fla., or Cancun, Mexico.

But, a group of college baseball players based in Natchitoches are more than happy to be heading north on Interstate 35 to the middle of the Kansas wheat fields this weekend.

That's because, for two weeks, Wichita becomes a baseball purist's paradise as dozens of collegiate summer league teams descend upon the city's venerable Lawrence-Dumont Stadium for the annual National Baseball Congress World Series.

The Natchitoches Braves' lineup has several players with local ties, including former Loyola standout and current Centenary outfielder Bobby Gilliam as well as Airline High School and Louisiana-Monroe product Jack Skaggs.

Gilliam and Skaggs were two of the four Braves who made the all-tournament team when the Braves qualified for the NBC World Series by winning a tournament in Houston. Two Northwestern State products - outfielder Josh Boop and infielder Brandon Morgan - also earned all-tournament accolades.

And, thanks in large part to the two Demons, the Braves are headed to a baseball tournament and a circus all rolled into one.

"None of us have ever been there, but we've all heard about it," Gilliam said. "None of us have actually gone, but I've heard it's a carnival-type atmosphere and a big thing for the town."

Make no mistake, despite its lack of national media attention, this World Series is a major goal for the players involved as well.

"All the scouts are going to be there," Gilliam said. "It's something everyone wants to go to because you get a chance to show what you have."

For players like Gilliam, whose Centenary team has struggled in the win-loss column the last couple of seasons, a chance to play on a winning team again has had it's benefits.

"You want to win during the (college) regular season," Gilliam said. "That's why you play the games - to win. Not only that, but (playing summer ball) is fun because you get to play with a bunch of guys from different schools."

Perhaps surprisingly, the Braves, who were scuffling through the Big States League season before Boop and Morgan joined the team almost a month ago, have quickly developed a chemistry that has helped inject life into their World Series run.

Because the team pulls from area schools such as Centenary, Northwestern State and Bossier Parish Community College, many players are plenty familiar with one another. In fact, Skaggs and Gilliam have played against each other since their high school days in Bossier City and Shreveport.

"The biggest thing about summer ball is playing against these guys next year," Gilliam said. "You try to talk to the guys you've played with before BP and after BP. You form a bond with these guys."

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