CSN in top form for baseball tournament
While he spent four days in the hospital last month, Tim Chambers received two reports of positive news.
The College of Southern Nevada baseball coach was cleared after a health scare resulting from busted blood vessels in his nose. At the same time, and in his absence, his team started to turn around its season.
"It was really rough for us early," Chambers said.
The Coyotes were the preseason No. 1-ranked junior college team in the nation before falling out of the top 25, losing ace pitcher Colby Shreve to an injury and seeing their coach hospitalized.
But what happened next remains inexplicable to Chambers. CSN won its final 15 regular-season games and claimed the Scenic West Athletic Conference title to earn the top seed in this week's NJCAA Region 18 tournament at Morse Stadium in Henderson.
"I don't know how it happened," Chambers said. "But we're playing our best baseball now."
The Coyotes (41-14) host the College of Southern Idaho (31-26) at 4 p.m. today. Western Nevada College (35-18) plays Salt Lake Community College (36-18) at 1 p.m.
CSN and Western Nevada received first-round byes in the double-elimination tournament, which began Wednesday as Southern Idaho and Salt Lake posted victories. Southern Idaho beat College of Eastern Utah 11-1, and Salt Lake beat Colorado Northwestern, 8-1.
Coyotes right-hander Taylor Cole, a freshman from Bishop Gorman High School, will start today's game.
Shreve, a sophomore from Bonanza High, blew out his right elbow in March. Shreve, who was expected to go early in June's major league draft, needs Tommy John surgery.
Soon after Shreve's injury, the Coyotes went to Carson City on April 4 and lost three games to Western Nevada.
"The kids were really upset about it," Chambers said. "At that point, we were saying, 'What the hell is going on?' "
A week later, CSN started its winning streak by beating Colorado Northwestern three times.
Chambers missed the games after being rushed to a Las Vegas emergency room in a bloody mess.
"It was coming out of my mouth and my eyes," he said. "The blood was filling up my hands. I thought I was dying. It was scary."
