Second Extraordinary Session, 000 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. BY SENATOR DARDENNE COMMENDATIONS. Commends the LSU baseball team on winning its fifth national title at the 000 NCAA College World Series. 0 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION To recognize and commend each member of the LSU baseball team on winning its fifth national title at the 000 NCAA College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska as they defeated a tough Stanford team by a score of -. WHEREAS, June, 000 will mark the date of one of the most dramatic comebacks in the history of the College World Series, compliments of Skip Bertman s LSU Tigers, as the Tigers clipped the Stanford Cardinal by a score of - in the bottom of the ninth inning; and WHEREAS, the emotional come-from-behind victory by the Tigers is only the third time in NCAA history that the College World Series has been won in the bottom of the ninth; and WHEREAS, Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha has become a second home to the Tigers where a sea of purple and gold and the chants of "LSU, LSU" rule; and WHEREAS, before a crowd of,, the Tigers performed their Page of
0 0 Omaha magic in a "dream-come-true" fashion as they completed another 0- win season with a record of -, which included a remarkable -0 record in post-season play, paid in full through hard work, persistence, and working together as one single unit, a true sign of a championship team; and WHEREAS, in a championship game filled with Tiger heroics, both offensively and defensively, the entire Tiger squad performed as "Most Valuable" players and should be justly named, whether one remembers the awesome, unbelievable catch made by Ray Wright as he made a leap of faith into the right field seats and robbed Stanford of a two-run homer, or the outstanding relief pitching by Trey Hodges, or team captain Blair Barbier s solo home run which ignited an explosion at the plate, or Jeremy Witten s game-tying two-run homer over the left field wall at the bottom of the eighth inning, or Brad Cresse s hard-hit single through the gap into left field in the bottom of the ninth that scored Ryan Theriot from second base to win the championship that resulted in a dogpile on top of the senior slugger between first and second base; and WHEREAS, as the hearts of all LSU fans were with home-run king, Brad Cresse, when he stepped up to the plate in his last at-bat as a Tiger, it was truly fitting for the senior star, who had a remarkable season as the nation s leader with thirty home runs and 0 RBIs, to nail the game-winning, title-clinching RBI, which will be remembered as one of his greatest hits ever; and WHEREAS, although the leadership by the seniors was a key that sparked the emotional come-back, each Tiger player gave 0% to earn his place in NCAA history as America s best; and WHEREAS, while the fifth national title has tied the Tigers with Arizona State as the second most national baseball titles earned by a team in NCAA history, an even greater feat is the fact that LSU has earned these five Page of
0 0 titles all within the last ten years, making the Tiger baseball program the most dominant program in the country; and WHEREAS, under "the Skipper," LSU has never lost a championship game at the College World Series, with national titles won in,,,, and now in 000 with the Tigers on top and leading the nation in a promise of what the future holds in the new millennium; and WHEREAS, while the celebrated Head Coach Skip Bertman continues to amaze and wow fans and audiences every year, his coachmanship was again recognized as he was honored by College Baseball Newspaper as the 000 National Coach of the Year, previously awarded to Bertman in,,, and ; and WHEREAS, several Tigers have risen to ranks of national prominence by their outstanding season and post-season play, and the Legislature of Louisiana congratulates them upon earning All-American honors as follows: Brad Cresse, 000 Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I All-American Baseball First Team; Brad Hawpe, 000 Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I All-American Baseball Third Team; Mike Fontenot, 000 Louisville Slugger NCAA Freshman All-American Team and Co-Freshman of the Year; and Bo Pettit and Wally Pontiff each received an honorable mention as freshmen; and WHEREAS, the Louisiana Sports Writers Association also honored several members of this talented Tiger team by voting Brad Cresse as the Louisiana Player of the Year and Mike Fontenot as the Louisiana Freshman of the Year, adding to his SEC Freshman of the Year honors; and WHEREAS, joining Cresse and Fontenot on the Louisiana Sports Writers Association All-Louisiana Collegiate Baseball First Team are Tigers Brian Tallet, Brad Hawpe, and Cedrick Harris, while Second Team members include Hunter Gomez, Jeremy Witten and Wally Pontiff; and WHEREAS, the honors continue to flow for the highly touted Tiger Page of
0 0 hero Brad Cresse as he has received numerous All-American honors, was a finalist for the Rotary Smith national player of the year award and the Dick Howser Award, and was awarded the distinguished Johnny Bench National Catcher of the Year Award, selected from among the finest catchers in the nation; and WHEREAS, the Legislature of Louisiana also congratulates each member selected to the NCAA College World Series All-Tournament Team as follows: Trey Hodges - pitcher and Most Outstanding Player, Brad Hawpe - designated hitter, Blair Barbier - third base, Ryan Theriot - shortstop, and Mike Fontenot - second base; and WHEREAS, the superiority of the nationally-acclaimed baseball program at Louisiana State University continues to instill pride not only in each member of this national championship team, but it also instills a great sense of pride in the university and the people of Louisiana; and WHEREAS, the words of Skip Bertman, "Of all the national championships, this is the best one," captures the sentiments of all the Tiger fans throughout Louisiana as the 000 Tiger baseball team will be remembered as one of the greatest baseball teams in history; and WHEREAS, although the Tigers provided many exciting and memorable moments for the dedicated fans throughout the regular season at "the Box," the ultimate and most satisfying achievement for each member of the team was capturing the national championship and bringing the national title back home to Louisiana State University. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby recognize and commend each member of the LSU baseball team for the Tigers sweep of the 000 NCAA College World Series and does commend Head Coach Skip Bertman for leading the Tigers to their fifth national baseball title. Page of
0 0 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby congratulate each national champion who contributed throughout the season: Brad Cresse, Mike Fontenot, Ryan Theriot, Brad Hawpe, Blair Barbier, Jeremy Witten, Cedrick Harris, Ray Wright, Trey Hodges, Wally Pontiff, Hunter Gomez, Tim Nugent, Brian Tallet, Ben Saxon, Weylin Guidry, Victor Brumfield, Tommy Morel, Johnnie Thibodeaux, Mike Daly, Billy McBride, Jeff Lipari, David Raymer, Jeremy Loftice, Brad David, Christian Bourgeois, Bo Pettit, Heath McMurray, Ryan Jorgensen, Jason Scobie, Shane Youman, Billy Brian, and Jamin Garidel. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana also commends the assistant coaching staff and personnel for a job well done as follows: Dan Canevari, Turtle Thomas, Bill Dailey and Bill Franques; and support staff Shawn Eddy, Curtis Tsuruda, Mike Boniol, Wes Penn, Johnny Collins, Jody Autery, and Shaun Duhe. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana, on behalf of the Tiger fans of this state, offers their heartiest congratulations to this talented group of seniors, who have played with great emotion and heart throughout their tenure at LSU and have become household names in homes around the state, and wishes each one of them much success in their future endeavors. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution shall be transmitted to Head Coach Skip Bertman, to Athletic Director Joe Dean, to Chancellor Mark Emmert, and to President William Jenkins. Page of
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Sherri H. Breaux. DIGEST Commends the LSU baseball team for winning its fifth national title at the 000 College World Series. Page of