By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A trio of Bahamian student athletes were a part of a history making moment for their Bluefield State Big Blue baseball programme.

Kevon Moxey, CJ Cooper, Trae Fowler, and the Big Blue won the inaugural Black College World Series at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.

Bluefield State entered the tournament as the No.3 seed and defeated No.1 overall seed Xavier University of Louisiana Gold Rush, 7-2, in the finale Saturday night.

Moxey, the senior infielder, finished 1-2, including an RBI triple in the final game of his collegiate career. His RBI gave Bluefield a 7-1 lead in the fourth inning.

“No better feeling than going to war with my team and winning,” he told the Big Blue’s Athletic website.

From there, the Big Blue pitching and defence were on display. Cooper, the team’s starting shortstop, and second baseman Taylor Tibbs turned a double play to end the game and clinch the historic championship for the Big Blue.

“I am so proud of this team. We went 4-1 in 4 days and played some really good competition. We had to play a really good Xavier team three times,” Bluefield State head coach Drew Bailey said. “Not only is this the first championship in Bluefield State Baseball history, this is also the first winning season in programme history. All the credit goes to our guys. We could have rolled over after we lost to Xavier in Game one, but we battled and got it done.”

Bluefield State finished the season at 15-12. They began the tournament by defeating No.6 seed, Edward Waters, 5-4 in the opening round. Moxey went 1-3 with one RBI and scored two runs. They followed with a 4-1 win over the Gold Rush in the first matchup between the two programmes. Fowler got the start at third base.

In the semifinals, Bluefield State advanced with a 10-3 win over Florida Memorial. Headed into the title game, the Big Blue was undefeated while the Gold Rush came in with one loss. Bluefield lost game one 16-2 which forced a winner take all second championship game.

The inaguaral Black College World Series was hosted by Black College Nines (an organisation dedicated to the preservation of the legacy Historically Black College and University baseball) and BCSG 360 (America’s largest organisation exclusively representing the Black College Community). The event featured six HBCU teams playing in a double-elimination style tournament over a four-day timespan.

Moxey concluded the season by hitting .275 with 19 hits, 18 RBI, 19 runs scored, and three home runs in 24 games. Cooper, a redshirt junior infielder, hit .274 with 20 hits, six RBI, scored a team high 24 runs and also led the team with 24 stolen bases. Fowler, a sophomore utility player, hit .333 through 15 games with 11 hits, six RBI and scored six runs. He also appeared in two games on the mound with one start.

The trio was recently featured on ABC-affiliate WOAY in West Virginia.

Moxey, who said he followed his other brother to Bluefield State, was the catalyst for the group coming together and joining the school’s baseball programme. “I was like hey, I’m looking for somewhere to go. There’s guys from the Bahamas there so why not?” Cooper said.

Fowler added: “CJ recruited me in 2019 in November. He told me about the opportunity to go and I just took it. It’s kind of good to have fellow Bahamians to be in college with me. It makes the experience that much easier.”