Lewis-Clark State's Reign As NAIA Power At Stake With Oklahoma City, LEE Ranked 1-2

In the 27-year period from 1981 to 2008, Idaho’s Lewis-Clark State won 16 NAIA World Series championships and finished second six more times. It never went more than three years in that stretch without winning at least once.

The Warriors have again gone three years since winning their last NAIA World Series title in 2008, a relative drought by that school’s historically-relevant standard of success. But there are questions whether one of the greatest dynasties in college sports may be coming to an end, especially with the retirement prior to the 2011 season of the mastermind of the team’s success, long-time coach Ed Cheff, who went 1,705-430 in 34 seasons.

Under new coach Gary Picone, a long-time Cheff assistant, the Warriors (38-17) failed to win at least 40 games for the first time in 32 years in 2011 and bowed out of the NAIA World Series with just a 1-2 record for the second straight season.

If a changing of the guard is in order at the NAIA level, the most-logical candidates to replace Lewis-Clark State at the top of the pack are perennial powers Oklahoma City and Lee (Tenn.). Between them, those schools have won only one national title (Oklahoma City in 2005), but have a combined five second-place finishes in the last decade.

As the 2012 NAIA baseball season sets to open on a number of fronts this weekend, Oklahoma City and Lee are 1-2 in Perfect Game’s ranking of the nation’s Top 10 NAIA teams (see below). Coincidentally, those schools also boast the top two prospects in the NAIA ranks for the June draft in Oklahoma City junior catcher Dane Phillips and Lee junior righthander Kris Hall.

Oklahoma City already projected as the nation’s No. 1 team prior to landing Phillips in December after he was denied a waiver by the NCAA that would have made him eligible to play at Arkansas in the 2012 season. Phillips had transferred to Arkansas from Oklahoma State late last summer. By transferring again to an NAIA school, he is eligible to compete immediately for Oklahoma City.

Phillips projects as a second- to fourth-rounder in this year’s draft, with his stock likely to fluctuate depending on his ability to shore up some of the acknowledged defensive deficiencies in his game. His ability to hit has never been questioned.

He spent his first two college seasons at Oklahoma State, hitting .337-3-34 as a freshman and a near-identical .337-4-34 as a sophomore. Last summer, he appeared to elevate his worth by hitting .349-4-34 in the Cape Cod League, while narrowly missing winning a batting title.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Hall, meanwhile, went 4-1, 3.46 with eight saves for a 51-14 Lee team in 2011, but was passed over in last year’s draft as a 21-year-old sophomore. He significantly elevated his stock for this year’s draft, though, by leading Gastonia to a Coastal Plain League championship last summer with a fastball that reached 94 mph. The pitch subsequently peaked at 96 in the fall.

Phillips augments an Oklahoma City roster that returns catcher Chad Carmon (.323-4-41), first baseman Miguel Beltran (.346-13-66) and lefthander Rich Hawkins (10-5, 2.04), and welcomes several other prominent transfers, notably senior righthander Blake Schwarz, who went 10-2, 2.18 last spring for Division II Minnesota State-Mankato and later was selected the Northwoods League’s pitcher of the year during the summer.

Hall’s supporting cast at Lee is nearly as impressive as Phillips’ at Oklahoma City. Lee also returns a power-hitting first baseman in Roberto Reyes (.321-13-64), and its roster has been bolstered by a number of prominent transfers from four-year schools and junior colleges.

Lewis-Clark State begins the 2012 season at No. 4, and can’t be counted out as it has historically gained a significant home-field advantage as the host team in the NAIA World Series, which has been played in Lewiston, Idaho, from 1984-91 and 2000-present.

The Warriors have traditionally thrived by annually bringing in a wave of transfers, and two of their key newcomers this year are power-hitting first baseman Eric Peterson and righthander Terik Gofinch, both former University of Washington players.

California’s Concordia College (43-19) was a surprise winner of the NAIA World Series in 2011 and should be in the hunt again with the return of righthanders Blake Harrison (8-1, 2.74) and Brent Clapper (9-4, 4.32). Outfielder/lefthander Aaron Gates, a transfer from Pepperdine and former West Coast Conference all-star selection, is a key addition.

Scouts will get an early opportunity to view many of the top NAIA prospects over the next 2-3 weeks, especially those playing for traditional Sun Belt schools, as their counterparts in the more powerful Division I ranks won’t kick off their 2012 season until Feb. 17, the uniform starting day for D-I teams.

The 10-team 2012 NAIA World Series will be contested May 25-June 1 in Lewiston.

NAIA Top 10 Teams