Posted May 11 2001, 03:01 pm
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
rightfielder Ryan Peters | SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Wittenberg University senior rightfielder Ryan Peters has been selected to participate in the second annual NCAA Home Run Challenge on Thursday, June 7 in Omaha, Neb. Peters, who hit 14 home runs in 35 games this season, will be one of eight student-athletes in the competition, and one of only two representing NCAA Division III institutions.
The 2001 NCAA Home Run Challenge, sponsored by Rawlings Sporting Goods Co. Inc. and televised by ESPN2, is part of opening ceremonies at the NCAA Division I Men’s College World Series. Major League Baseball Hall of Fame members Tom Lasorda and Bob Gibson are expected to serve as celebrity captains for the event, and President George W. Bush, who is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the World Series, may also be on hand.
Peters, who was selected because he was one of the top home run hitters in the nation in 2001, is the first Wittenberg player to qualify for the event. The other Division III player invited was Steve Osborne of St. Joseph’s (Maine), who had 22 round-trippers in 44 games. The rest of the participants won’t be selected until the regular season concludes for Division I and II schools in approximately two weeks.
Peters is the second player from a North Coast Athletic Conference school to receive an invitation to the event. Matt Wilhelm of Wabash College was involved in the first NCAA Home Run Challenge last year.
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Peters ranked second in the NCAC in home runs with 14, but he led the way in homers per game at 0.40, and he also ranked fourth in batting with a .438 average. Peters’ 14 round-trippers tied Bryan Magoteaux’s 1998 season record, while his 48 runs batted in,108 total bases, 45 runs scored and 56 base hits all put him in the top-10 for a season in school history. Only a two-year starter, Peters wound up second to Magoteaux in career home runs with 25, third in batting average (.397) and a 10th in total bases with 209.
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