1954 NCAA Baseball Tournament facts for kids
| Season | 1954 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 24 |
| Finals site |
|
| Champions | Missouri (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Rollins (1st CWS Appearance) |
| Winning coach | Hi Simmons (1st title) |
| MOP | Tom Yewcic (Michigan State) |
The 1954 NCAA Baseball Tournament was a big baseball competition. It happened at the end of the 1954 NCAA baseball season. The tournament helped decide the best college baseball team in the country.
Eight teams made it to the final part, called the College World Series. This was the eighth time the College World Series was held. It's a special tournament where teams play until only one champion is left. For the first time, the early games in each area were officially approved by the NCAA. These early games are now known as "regionals."
A total of 24 teams played in the tournament. They came from different parts of the country. The College World Series took place in Omaha, NE. It ran from June 10 to June 16. The team that won was Missouri. Their coach was John "Hi" Simmons. The best player in the College World Series was Tom Yewcic from Michigan State.
How Teams Qualified for the Tournament
To reach the College World Series, teams first had to win their local district tournaments. There were eight districts across the United States. Each district had its own way of picking teams. This meant 24 teams got to play in the tournament. These games happened after their regular season. Sometimes, they even played after their conference tournaments.
District 1: Springfield, Massachusetts
The games for District 1 were played in Springfield, Massachusetts.
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||
| UMass | 9 | ||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|Springfield]] | 7 | ||||||
| UMass | 2 | ||||||
| Boston University | 0 | ||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|Boston University]] | 8 | ||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|Holy Cross]] | 3 | ||||||
District 2: Allentown, Pennsylvania
District 2 games took place in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|St. John's]] | 4 | ||||||
| Navy | 2 | ||||||
| St. John's (NY) | 0 | ||||||
| Lafayette | 9 | ||||||
| Lafayette | 4 | ||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|Villanova]] | 3 | ||||||
District 3: Virginia and Florida
District 3 had two separate series of three games. First, Virginia Tech played Clemson. The winner then played Rollins in another three-game series. The winner of that series went to the College World Series.
- The first game was in Clemson, South Carolina. The second game was in Blacksburg, Virginia. Both final games were played in Winter Park, Florida.
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||
| Virginia Tech | 0 | 3 | – | ||||||||
| Rollins | 3 | 9 | – | ||||||||
| Virginia Tech | 11 | 7 | – | ||||||||
| Clemson | 10 | 1 | – | ||||||||
District 4: Athens, Ohio
District 4 also had two three-game series. Ohio played Ashland first. The winner then played Michigan State in another three-game series. The winner of that series moved on to the College World Series.
- Games were played in Athens, Ohio.
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||
| Ohio | 10 | 7 | 3 | ||||||||
| Michigan State | 14 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|Ashland]] | 4 | 6 | – | ||||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|Ohio]] | 18 | 10 | – | ||||||||
District 5: Missouri Qualifies Automatically
- The Missouri team automatically qualified for the College World Series.
District 6: Austin, Texas
Games for District 6 were played in Austin, Texas.
| District 6 Series | |||||
| [[{{{school}}}|Oklahoma State]] | 6 | 12 | 7 | ||
| [[{{{school}}}|Texas]] | 3 | 16 | 6 | ||
District 7: Greeley, Colorado
Games for District 7 were played in Greeley, Colorado.
- Arizona beat Colorado State College 8-2.
- Colorado State College beat Wyoming 21-14.
- Arizona beat Wyoming 16-9.
- Arizona beat Colorado State College 8-5 in 11 innings.
District 8: Eugene, Oregon
Games for District 8 were played in Eugene, Oregon.
| First Round | Semi-Finals | Finals | |||||||||||||
| Oregon | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| Seattle | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| Winner's bracket | |||||||||||||||
| Fresno State | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| Fresno State | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|Southern California]] | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 15 | — | |||||||||||||
| Fresno State | 05 | — | |||||||||||||
| Seattle | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Southern California | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| Fresno State | 7 | ||||||||||||||
| Loser's bracket | |||||||||||||||
| Southern California | 4 | ||||||||||||||
The College World Series
The College World Series is the final part of the tournament. Eight teams compete in a double-elimination format. This means a team is out if they lose two games.
Teams That Played
Here are the teams that made it to the 1954 College World Series:
| School | Conference | Record | Head Coach | Previous CWS Appearances | Best CWS Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Border | 39–7 | Frank Sancet | 0 | None |
| Lafayette | Independent | 16–6 | Charlie Gelbert | 1 (in 1953) | 3rd (in 1953) |
| UMass | Yankee | 14–5 | Earl Lorden | 0 | None |
| Michigan State | Big 10 | 22–8–1 | John Kobs | 0 | None |
| Missouri | Big Seven | 17–3 | Hi Simmons | 1 (in 1952) | 2nd (in 1952) |
| Oklahoma A&M | MVC | 16–9 | Toby Greene | 0 | None |
| Oregon | PCC | 18–6 | Don Kirsch | 0 | None |
| Rollins | Independent | 22–6 | Joe Justice | 0 | None |
Tournament Results
The teams played many exciting games to determine the champion.
| First round | Second round | Third round | |||||||||||
| Winner's bracket | |||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 16 | ||||||||||||
| UMass | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Arizona | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Arizona | 12 | ||||||||||||
| Oregon | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Rollins | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Rollins | 911 | ||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Rollins | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Missouri | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Missouri | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Lafayette | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Loser's bracket | |||||||||||||
| UMass | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Oregon | 3 | Missouri | 8 | ||||||||||
| UMass | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Lafayette | 2 | Arizona | 4 | ||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 514 | ||||||||||||
| Semifinals | Finals | if needed | |||||||||||
| Re-ordered Semifinals | |||||||||||||
| Rollins | 2 | Rollins | 1 | ||||||||||
| Michigan State | 310 | Missouri | 4 | ||||||||||
| Michigan State | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Missouri | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Missouri | 7 | ||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 3 | ||||||||||||
Game by Game Results
Here's how each game played out during the College World Series:
| Date | Game | Winner | Score | Loser | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 10 | Game 1 | Michigan State | 16–5 | UMass | |
| Game 2 | Arizona | 12–1 | Oregon | ||
| June 11 | Game 3 | Rollins | 9–5 (11) | Oklahoma A&M | |
| June 10 | Game 4 | Missouri | 5–3 | Lafayette | |
| June 11 | Game 5 | UMass | 5–3 | Oregon | Oregon was eliminated |
| Game 6 | Oklahoma A&M | 4–2 | Lafayette | Lafayette was eliminated | |
| Game 7 | Michigan State | 2–1 | Arizona | ||
| Game 8 | Rollins | 4–1 | Missouri | ||
| June 12 | Game 9 | Missouri | 8–1 | UMass | UMass was eliminated |
| Game 10 | Oklahoma A&M | 5–4 (14) | Arizona | Arizona was eliminated | |
| Game 11 | Rollins | 5–4 | Michigan State | ||
| June 13 | Game 12 | Missouri | 7–3 | Oklahoma A&M | Oklahoma A&M was eliminated |
| Game 13 | Michigan State | 3–2 (10) | Rollins | ||
| June 14 | Game 14 | Missouri | 4–3 | Michigan State | Michigan State was eliminated |
| June 16 | Final | Missouri | 4–1 | Rollins | Missouri won the College World Series! |
Famous Players
Many talented players took part in the 1954 College World Series. Here are some of the notable players from each team:
- Arizona: Don Gile, Don Lee, Carl Thomas
- Lafayette: (No specific players listed in the original text)
- UMass: (No specific players listed in the original text)
- Michigan State: Bob Anderson, Ed Hobaugh, Jack Kralick, Leroy Powell, George Smith, Bill Stewart, Tom Yewcic
- Missouri: Jay Hankins, Jerry Schoonmaker, Norm Stewart
- Oklahoma A&M: Tom Borland
- Oregon: George Shaw
- Rollins: (No specific players listed in the original text)
