The Avery Point campus baseball team ended its best season on June 5 after winning 41 games and competing at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II World Series at Eunice in Enid, Okla. The team – known as the Pointers – went all the way to the championship game, before being defeated 10-2 by No. 3 ranked Louisiana State University.

It was the third trip to the NJCAA World Series for the Pointers, ranked nationally at No. 6 and led by head coach Roger Bidwell. After qualifying for the national tournament in 1999 and 2004, this year was the first time the Pointers had won tournament games.

In the double elimination tournament, the Pointers beat No. 1 ranked Western Oklahoma State twice, including a 13-inning game, to make it into the championship.

Bidwell, who has directed athletics at Avery Point since 1982, says it is a challenge to remain consistently competitive with a roster that changes each year.

“The core of this year’s team from the World Series is leaving, and we have to replace them,” he says, noting that two players – third baseman Ryan Fuller and outfielder Chris Davidson – hope to continue playing baseball in Storrs, as they move toward completing their degrees at UConn. The Huskies Division 1 team also completed its best season on June 6, hosting the Norwich NCAA Regional and getting its first NCAA tournament win since 1979.

Two Avery Point student-athletes – first baseman Tyler McIntyre and pitcher Brett Shulick – were recognized with all-tournament honors for their play in Oklahoma. Shulick also was named Pitcher of the Tourney, and McIntyre, who set a tournament record by hitting six home runs in six games, also was named Outstanding Hitter of the Tourney. Bidwell was honored as Coach of the Tourney.

Avery Point also fields men’s and women’s basketball teams competing at the NJCAA. The teams have no athletic scholarships but have the same demands for practice and academics, and the same expectation of success as their NCAA counterparts in Storrs. This past season, the women’s basketball team nearly defended their 2009 NJCAA New England title, which sent them to the national tournament, by posting a 23-5 record in 2010 and reaching the semi-final game of the NJCAA New England regional championships.

Twenty-five Avery Point baseball players have gone on to play professional baseball after leading the team to the New England regional seven times since 1990 and to the NJCAA World Series in 1999 and 2004, including current major leaguers John McDonald (1992-1994), shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays, and Rajai Davis (1999-2001), center fielder for the Oakland Athletics.