NCAA Home Run King Coach Naff presents Brett Thomas with the NCAA Division III Home run statistical champion plaque.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gary Holden, Sports Info. Director
(540) 365-4306

September 30, 2007


Baseball Honored with Championship Ceremony

FERRUM, Va. -- The 2007 Ferrum College baseball team was honored Saturday, Sept. 29, with a ceremony at halftime of the Ferrum-Averett football game to commemorate its USA South Athletic Conference championship season.

During the ceremony, each member of the team was presented with a championship ring.  Assisting with presentation of rings was Ferrum Vice-President for Institutional Advancement Dr. Lee King.

Included in the ceremony was the presentation of Brett Thomas' NCAA Division III statistical champion plaque as the nation's leader in home runs.   Thomas batted .387 last season with 10 doubles, three triples, 15 home runs, and 65 RBI.  He earned All-America second team honors last year, the 21st baseball All-American at Ferrum.  Thomas is only the second player from Ferrum to win the NCAA home run statistical championship, joining former All-American Pat Daly, who earned the honor in 1998 with 24 home runs.

The Panthers closed out the regular season in 2007 as co-champions, then ran the table at the 2007 USA South Tournament and claimed the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.

Ferrum hosted an NCAA Regional for the first time on campus and drew the largest field possible, a seven-team event.  Ferrum was eventually eliminated in the championship game, falling 6-5 in 12 innings to eventual NCAA runner-up Emory University.  The Panthers' final record was 27-18.

Coach Abe Naff retired from coaching last spring following the NCAA playoffs, but remains as Director of Athletics at Ferrum.  Naff closed out his career with a 643-236-3 career coaching record, for an impressive 73 percent winning record.  Naff averaged over 28 wins a year over a 23-year career as the Panthers’ skipper.

Naff's honors include 10 trips to the NCAA playoffs, 10 conference championships, seven regional runner-up finishes, five Virginia Small College Coach of the Year awards and four USA South Coach of the Year awards.  He is a member of the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame and the Lynchburg College Sports Hall of Fame.

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2007 Ferrum College Baseball Team
USA South Athletic Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champions