After years of trying and coming close, the聽聽finally broke through and earned its first-ever trip to the聽NCAA Division II national championship.
It will have to wait before claiming its first victory at the finals. The Prairie Stars came, saw and were quickly conquered, as their bats went cold in聽back-to-back losses to Point Loma and Rollins.
Coach Ryan Copeland鈥檚 Midwest Region champions managed only three runs over their 18 innings at the USA Baseball National Training Complex to see their season come to a聽disappointing end with a 48-11 record.
鈥淎s a head coach, you know at some point the season is going to end,鈥� Copeland said. 鈥淵ou hope it鈥檚 going to be with a win, but only one team gets to do that. Unfortunately, that wasn鈥檛 us.鈥�
Whether it happens next year or sometime farther in the future, Copeland believes his team will be better prepared to stay longer and perhaps bring home a national championship once it makes its World Series return.
鈥淲hen we get back, we鈥檒l have that feeling that we鈥檝e been here before,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 good for our program to officially break through on the national stage. There鈥檚 something about teams that get here that get immediate respect. And we hadn鈥檛 done that yet.
This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on June 8, 2022. .