2003 NCAA Baseball Tournament to showcase SteepleCats

12:00AM / Friday, June 06, 2003Print Story | Email Story

The 2003 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament will showcase a number of players who will call North Adams home this summer. The NCAA has announced all 16 Regional sites and 64 teams that have been selected for the 57th annual NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The 64-team field consists of 30 automatic qualifiers and 34 at-large selections. The tournament is broken down into 16 4-team regionals, to be played this coming weekend, May 30-June 1. The 16 winners move on to play in 8 2-team Super Regionals at the site of one of the 2 teams, June 6-8. The 8 teams left standing move on to Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series, June 13-23. Invited schools that include 2003 North Adams SteepleCats players are Cal State Fullerton, Florida Atlantic, North Carolina, and Washington. Most prominent among that foursome is Cal State Fullerton(43-13), who was awarded the National #7 seed for the tournament and will host its regional. Seeded #1 in their Regional, Fullerton will open Friday night against #4 seed San Diego(31-28). In the preceding game, #2 seed Arizona(35-21) will meet #3 seed Notre Dame(43-16). A name to keep an eye on for Fullerton is reserve infielder Neil Walton, signed to play with the 'Cats this summer. Walton batted .276 on the season in 29 at-bats. Blake Davis is another Titans freshman infielder headed to North Adams, but was redshirted for the season and will be in uniform opening night, Saturday June 7, against the Torrington Twisters at Joe Wolfe Field. "It's a pretty interesting situation with Neil," North Adams SteepleCats President/GM Jonny Watterson said. "The farther Fullerton goes, the later he will be arriving. But I think everyone involved would get a big kick out of seeing Neil on television in Omaha, on the game's biggest stage." Cal State Fullerton has won 3 NCAA Championships, most recently in 1995. Their last College World Series appearance came in 2001. North Carolina numbers among its players arguably the SteepleCats best pitcher. Freshman LHP Adam Kalkhof is a member of the Tar Heels, seeded #2 in their regional, hosted by #1 seed Mississippi State. North Carolina(39-21) opens up Friday afternoon with #3 seed Missouri(35-20), while MSU(40-18-1) meets #4 seed Middle Tennessee State(33-25) in the night game. Kalkhof is currently the Tar Heels' number 2 pitcher, with a laundry list of impressive statistics. He is 7-1 with a 3.77 ERA in 76.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 72 batters while walking only 24. On Friday May 23, in the Tar Heels' second game of the ACC tournament, Kalkhof went up against Florida State. In a game eventually won by North Carolina in 10 innings by a 3-2 score, Kalkhof pitched 7 strong innings, giving up 8 hits and 2 runs. He struck out 4 while walking one, earning a no-decision. All the more impressive is the fact that on Monday, the selection committee made Florida State the National #1 seed in the Tournament. "Adam could be lined up to throw another incredibly important game," Watterson said. "Because he is the number 2 starter, I see him getting the nod against Mississippi State in the undefeated game of the tournament on Saturday, provided UNC gets by Missouri." Freshman 1B Mark Fisher is also a member of the Tar Heels but was redshirted this season and will also be in uniform opening night for the SteepleCats. Washington boasts one of the 2003 SteepleCats' best hitters. Sophomore INF Nick Batkoski is a member of the Huskies, seeded #3 in their regional, hosted by #1 seed Long Beach State. Washington(40-16) opens up Friday afternoon with #2 seed Minnesota(39-20), while Long Beach State(38-18) meets #4 seed Pepperdine(36-23) in the night game. "That is a brutal regional," Watterson said. "When a formal national champion is your 4 seed, you know it's a tough one." Simply put, Batkoski has hit his way into the lineup. In their final 4 Pac-10 Conference games of the season, all home wins(one victory over Arizona State and an impressive 3-game sweep of Southern Cal), Batkoski started every game at designated hitter. He batted .357(5-14) in that 4-game stretch with 4 runs and 3 RBI. On the season, Batkoski is hitting .348(24-69) with 4 doubles, 3 home runs, and 17 RBI in 33 games, 16 of which he has started. "Nick is going to be a big part of our team this summer," Watterson said. "We think he projects quite nicely into the 3-hole." Also included on Washington's roster are RHP's Matt Kasser and Keaton Everitt. Kasser has the best chance of making an appearance, evidenced by his most recent performance: On May 9 in a conference game at UCLA, Kasser threw the final 2.2 innings of a 5-4 loss, giving up no hits and no runs. He struck out 4 while walking 3. Regardless of how Washington does in its Regional, Batkoski, Kasser, and Everitt will be about a week late(much like 2002 SteepleCat Mike Wagner) due to Washington's final exam schedule, which falls later in the calendar than most schools'. Florida Atlantic includes on its roster another '03 SteepleCat, RHP Will Mann. FAU is seeded #2 in their regional, hosted by #1 seed(and National #8 seed) Miami(Fla.). FAU opens up Friday afternoon with #3 seed Florida(34-19-1), while Miami(39-14-1) meets #4 seed Bethune-Cookman(30-26) in the night game. "Another tough regional," Watterson said. "Florida Atlantic always seems to end up with Miami in their regional. I am hoping this is FAU's year to finally get past the Hurricanes and get to a Super Regional, even though that would make Will a late arrival." In 8 appearances this year(one start) totaling 11.2 innings, Mann had a record of 0-0 and an E.R.A. of 2.31. He struck out 11 batters and walked only 4. "This is a deep FAU team and Will might not see action this weekend," Watterson said. But they are a top-20 program, nationally, and Will factors into their future plans prominently so I am anxious to see what he can do for us this summer." "A real issue for the NECBL is these Regional dates," Watterson added. "Any team with a player that makes the Super Regionals will not have that player for opening day, and any team with a player that gets to Omaha, well, that player will be extremely late."

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McCann Recognizes Superintendent Award Recipient

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:32PM / Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Landon LeClair and Superintendent James Brosnan with Landon's parents Eric and Susan LeClair, who is a teacher at McCann.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Superintendent's Award has been presented to Landon LeClair, a senior in McCann Technical School's advanced manufacturing course.

The presentation was made last Thursday by Superintendent Jame Brosnan after Principal Justin Kratz read from teachers' letters extolling LeClair's school work, leadership and dedication.

"He's become somewhat legendary at the Fall State Leadership Conference for trying to be a leader at his dinner table, getting an entire plate of cookies for him and all his friends," read Kratz to chuckles from the School Committee. "Landon was always a dedicated student and a quiet leader who cared about mastering the content."

LeClair was also recognized for his participation on the school's golf team and for mentoring younger teammates.

"Landon jumped in tutoring the student so thoroughly that the freshman was able to demonstrate proficiency on an assessment despite the missed class time for golf matches," read Kratz.

The principal noted that the school also received feedback from LeClair's co-op employer, who rated him with all fours.

"This week, we sent Landon to our other machine shop to help load and run parts in the CNC mill," his employer wrote to the school. LeClair was so competent the supervisor advised the central shop might not get him back.

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