Milligan College Buffaloes

Milligan College, Tenn. (July 27, 2009) --- The Tennessee Tornadoes, a member of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League, repeated as regular season and tournament champions Saturday night at Cardinal Park with some help from the Milligan College pitching staff.

Milligan supplied the Tennessee Tornadoes with four of their pitchers and one coach for the summer league. Seniors Todd Caldwell (Johnson City, Tenn.), Aaron Dorriety (Pickens, S.C.), Frank Newcomb (Knoxville, Tenn.) and junior Jason Trivett (Bristol, Tenn.) all saw significant time on the mound for the Tornadoes. Milligan Assistant Coach Chris Gordon was the Tornadoes’ pitching coach for the second summer in a row.

“Over the past three years we have enjoyed a great relationship with Coach Nathan Meade and the Milligan College baseball program,” commented Tennessee Tornadoes General Manager Tom Reece. “The four pitchers we had this year from Milligan were the heart and soul of our pitching staff, and without them we could not have enjoyed the success we had. We also could not have done this without all the hard work that Coach Gordon put in with these pitchers and our ball club.”

The Tornadoes were 30-15 on the season, with Caldwell, Dorriety and Newcomb accounting for a combined record of 12-2. Trivett was in his usual closing role for the Tornadoes, as he accounted for nine of the Tornadoes 12 saves on the year. Of the collective group of Milligan hurlers, they combined for 124 strikeouts in 49 appearances.

Tornadoes’ Head Coach Phil Al-Mateen started Caldwell in Game 1 of the SCBL tournament, as Caldwell led the Tornadoes to an 8-4 victory. Caldwell earned the decision in 5.1 innings of work, striking out one and scattering six hits.

Caldwell headed into this season’s tournament with a 4-0 record and an ERA of 2.31. In 39.0 innings of work, Caldwell struck out 42 batters while only walking 13.

“Todd (Caldwell) had a great year for us this summer and he was virtually un-hittable,” said Reece. “I expect him to have just as much success in his upcoming season at Milligan.”

Coach Al-Mateen gave Dorriety the nod for Saturday’s championship game against the Lake Norman Copperheads. The Milligan senior gave a valiant effort as he held the Copperheads scoreless for six complete innings. Dorriety scattered nine hits and yielded one earned run, but a couple Tornadoes’ errors would knock Dorriety out of line for the win.

On the year, Dorriety had an ERA of 2.75 in 36.0 innings of work, while he struck out 29. Dorriety had an overall record of 4-2.

“Aaron (Dorriety) started out as a reliever for us this season, but then we moved him to a starter just a few games in,” noted Reece. “Inevitably he won four straight games for us as a starter and had two shutouts. He really did a tremendous job.”

Newcomb, a top candidate for SCBL Tournament MVP, saw action in all three tournament games. During Game 1, Newcomb pitched 1.2 innings of relief as he struck out three batters and scattered three hits. On Friday night, Newcomb came in and cleaned up the mess that his predecessors had left and threw two solid innings en-route to earning the win. On championship Saturday, the game fell in the hands of Newcomb once again. With the game tied at 3-3 heading into the top of the ninth, Newcomb threw two flawless innings to secure the championship for the Tornadoes and earn yet again another win.

During the 2009 season, Newcomb had a perfect 3-0 record for the Tornadoes in 32.2 innings. Newcomb carried a 3.31 ERA and boasted the third most strikeouts on the Tornadoes staff with 35.

“Frank (Newcomb) was a middle relief guy for us,” added Reece. “We would always put Frank in when we needed to get out of trouble or if we wanted to stay out of trouble, just like he did for us on Saturday night.”

Trivett, the Tornadoes “go-to” guy in close situations, held a very similar role to his one at Milligan. Just as he led the AAC in saves, Trivett tallied nine saves to lead the SCBL. Over the course of the season, Trivett saw 15 appearances and chalked up 20 strikeouts.

In Thursday’s SCBL opener, the Tornadoes brought in their hard-throwing right hander to secure their slot in the winners’ bracket on Friday. Trivett came in during the ninth inning against the Carolina Stingers and struck out three of the four batters he faced to advance the Tornadoes.

“(Jason) Trivett came in to close for us numerous times and did an outstanding job as he led the league in saves this year,” commented Reece. “He came in the ball game in tight situations and threw powerful stuff and always got the job done for us.”

“Coach Meade and Milligan College have been a huge tribute to our success in the SCBL and we truly value the great relationship with them,” said Reece in closing.