Edinburg, Texas - The weekend of February 6-8 saw the 2nd annual Al Ogletree Classic take place. Last year Illinois beat Texas-Pan American, Iona and Prairie View A&M to win the first Al Ogletree Classic. The tournament is named after Al Ogletree who was the head coach at UTPA from 1969-1997. During his 29 years at UTPA, he won 1,084 games and took the Broncs to post season play 12 times including a trip to the College World Series in 1971. During his 41-year coaching career, Coach Al won 1,217 games for a .631 winning percentage. He is currently 10th in career wins in the NCAA.

In addition to the tournament, the city of Edinburg had its annual 10K Fun Run and 2K Fun Walk. There were over 6,000 participants and everyone received a medal. Crossing the Fun Walk finish line in center field at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium was three of the head coaches Willie Gawlik (UTPA), Chris Rupp (Sam Houston State) and Ritch Price (Kansas) as well as Lamar Assistant Coach Jimmy Ricklefsen. The four coaches walked the race in their uniforms.

Texas-Pan American fell behind early but rallied to win the 2004 Al Ogletree Classic at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium. The Broncs lost their first game of the tournament but came back and won the last two. UTPA and Lamar ended up at 2-1 but the Broncs got the title on the basis of their 2-1 win over the Cardinals. Sam Houston State was 3rd at 1-1-1 and Kansas ended up fourth at 0-2-1.

Friday - February 6
Game 1 - Lamar 3, Kansas 2
Lamar pounded out 14 hits but the Jayhawks of Kansas used stellar defense to keep this game tight. Scott Vanderweg (Jr./Englewood, Colo./Midland College) gave up no hits and struck out five batters in four innings to move to 1-0 on the season. John Allen (Sr./Garland, Texas/Richland College) and Ryan Finan (Sr./Topeka, Kan./Hutchinson JC) of Lamar had three hits each. For Kansas, Matt Tribble (Sr./Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South HS) drove in two runs.

Game 2 - Sam Houston State 7, Texas-Pan American 2
The Bearkats scored four runs in the eighth inning to break up a tight game. Ryan Rafferty (Sr./The Woodlands, Texas/New Mexico) gave up three hits, two runs and struck out three batters in six innings to pick up the win. Chris Gressett (Fr./Iola, Texas - Hill JC) gave up one hit in three innings for the save. For the Broncs Nick Gregory (Jr./Mesquite, Texas/Angelina College) gave up five hits, three runs and struck out five batters in seven innings.

Saturday - February 7
Texas-Pan American returned to their history by wearing the uniforms of the 1971 College World Series team which had been invited back to the tournament for a reunion. The Broncs were 44-9 that year and beat Texas twice to win Districts and qualify for the College World Series. UTPA went 2-2 and finished in fourth place.

Before the UTPA game began, the 1971 team joined coach Al Ogletree on the mound to watch their former coach throw out the ceremonial first pitch. The team also stood alongside the current Bronc squad as the national anthem was played. Following the game, each member of the 1971 team was given a plaque for their accomplishments and they stayed around for a very impressive fireworks display. Following the display, the former Broncs had a late dinner together.

Game 3 - Texas-Pan American 8, Kansas 6
The Broncs rallied from a 5-0 deficit to take the victory. Down 5-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, UTPA scored three runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth inning to take the lead. They added two insurance runs in the eighth. Cesar Pena (Fr./Harlingen, Texas/Harlingen South HS) came on in relief and threw three and two-third innings of hitless ball to record the win. Ricky Broyles (Jr./Longview, Texas/Northeast Texas CC) came on in the ninth inning and gave up one hit, one run and struck out two for his second save of the year. Broyles also had a double that drove in two runs. For Kansas Ryan Baty (Sr./Wichita, Kan./Northwest HS) was 2-for-4 and drove in two runs.

Game 4 - Lamar 7, Sam Houston State 4
The Cardinals came from behind to remain undefeated in the Classic. The Bearkats jumped to a 4-0 lead after three innings. Lamar scored three runs in the fourth and two each in the fifth and the seventh to cap the comeback. Derrick Gordon (Fr. Beaumont, Texas/West Brook HS) picked up the win and Kyle Stutes (Sr./Port Neches, Texas/Port Neches-Groves HS) had the save. For Lamar, Chase Richards (Jr./Port Neches, Texas/Seminole JC) was 3-for-4. For Sam Houston State, Jeremy Holzbach (So./League City, Texas/Clear Brook HS) and Dustin Martin (So./Burnet, Texas/Burnet HS) had two hits each.

Sunday - February 8

Game 5 - Kansas 8, Sam Houston State 8
Sam Houston State scored six runs over the last two innings to force an 8-8 tie. Due to Kansas having to catch a flight, a time curfew of 2:45 p.m. was placed on the game. Kansas had a 7-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 7th inning. The Bearkats scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh. After giving up one run in the eighth, SHS came back to score two in the eighth and force the tie. For Kansas, Tribble and Jared Schweitzer (So./Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada/Lethbridge CC) had home runs while Jonathon Stone (Jr./Richmond, Texas/Northeast Texas CC) hit one for Sam Houston State.

Game 6 - Texas-Pan American 2, Lamar 1
In what proved to be the championship game, the Broncs took a tough and thrilling 2-1 win for the classic title. In the bottom of the seventh, Jarod Hickle (So./LaGrange, Texas/LaGrange HS) singled to drive in Matt Sisk (Sr./Fort Worth, Texas/Arlington Heights HS) for what would be the winning run. Juan Saenz (Jr./Mission, Texas/Mission HS) picked up the win and Broyles recorded his second straight save.

UTPA/AL OGLETREE CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
1B-Ryan Finan, Lamar
2B-Matt Baty, Kansas
3B-Ricky Broyles, Texas-Pan American
SS-Jeremy Holzbach, Sam Houston State
UT-Ben DiOrio, Texas-Pan American
UT-Ryan Baty, Kansas
OF-Jordan Foster, Lamar
OF-John Allen, Lamar
OF-Matt Tribble, Kansas
OF-Dustin Martin, SHSU
C-Matt Eichel, Texas-Pan American
C-Michael Ambort, Lamar
P-Ryan Rafferty, Sam Houston State
P-Scott Vanderweg, Lamar
P-Kyle Stutes, Lamar
P-Tommy Sorden, Texas-Pan American
Most Valuable Player-Ricky Broyles, Texas-Pan American

The Third Annual Al Ogletree Classic is scheduled for March 4-6, 2005 at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium. In addition to UTPA, Illinois, Texas-San Antonio, Sam Houston State, Air Force and Birmingham Southern have committed to playing in the classic. If a team is interesting in playing in the AL Ogletree Classic, please contact UTPA head coach Willie Gawlik at (956) 381-2235.