Freshman outfielder Kayla Garcia and sophomore pitcher Kaylee Davis were named to the All-ASC East Division first-team, with freshman shortstop Jessica Delgado and senior outfielder/pitcher Ashton Brey earning second-team honors.

Redshirt sophomore Kristina Cordova was named the ASC East Division Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year.

The Tigers were eliminated from the ASC Tournament late last Friday. ETBU’s 9-4 win over Howard Payne early in the day on Friday stretched the program’s streak of at least 25 wins in a season to 15 – every year of the program’s existence. The Tigers could possibly be invited to play in the NCAA Tournament for a fourth straight year pending the release of at-large bids to the tournament on Monday.

We are so proud of our Tiger Softball team and the quality student-athletes in the program!  GO BLUE!

Learn more about the Tiger Softball Program here.

Thanks to David Weaver, ETBU Sports Information Director, for the story. His official press release is here.

The Dallas Sidekicks return to the DFW area with ETBU Alum Ronnie Davis as majority owner.

It is amazing how much the Dallas-Fort Worth area has to offer in terms of sports.  The Dallas Mavericks are NBA champs and are on the road to a repeat as I type.  The Texas Rangers are back to back American League champs and are on track to do very well in the playoffs again this year. And honestly, who doesn’t love the Cowboys?  They’re America’s team. And if you are a Texas sports fan, you’ll be happy to know another sports franchise is making a comeback.

All thanks to an ETBU alum.

The Dallas Sidekicks, a professional indoor soccer team that had great success in the 80′s, 90′s, and early 2000′s, was recently revived after an eight-year absence by Ronnie Davis, a 1990 business degree graduate, and a star basketball player for Coach Jim Webb from 1988-90.  Ronnie makes up the majority of an ownership team including Sonny Williams, Jim Tolbert, and legendary Sidekicks former player, coach, and GM, Tatu.

“It is still surreal. Even after the city of Allen voted 7-0 to allow us to play at the Allen Event Center, it still does not seem real. I have seen God’s hand in this from the very beginning,” stated Davis, who is a native of Liberty City, Texas. “Every door we tried to open to rebirth the Sidekicks has just flung wide open. I have seen God directing my path and praise Him for it.”

Sidekicks superstar agrees that the Sidekick return is a good thing – or in his words, “the right time to bring back the Sidekicks is now.” “We have a good business plan in place and Ronnie is totally committed to the goal of having a successful team. He is very smart and well connected in the market because of his experience,” said Tatu.

Ronnie’s experience comes from years working for organizations like the Texas Rangers, The Dallas Mavericks, and as VP for Business Development at PPI Marketing.  For three years, he’s operated his own sports marketing company, 4-R Marketing.

We are proud of what Ronnie is doing and that he’s a part of the Tiger Family. “I enjoyed my time at ETBU playing basketball for Jim Webb. The time at ETBU did not last long enough. My advice to students today is to enjoy your time because once you graduate it is real world time,” Davis said.

Great advice.

We couldn’t be happier for Ronnie and the Sidekicks on their return to Dallas and soccer! GO BLUE!

Learn more about the Dallas Sidekicks at www.DallasSidekicks.net.

Learn more about 4-R Marketing here.

Excerpts from this story taken from the Official ETBU Press Release by Director of Public Relations, Mike Midkiff and can be found here.

Three of the seven ETBU competitors advanced to elimination rounds at the tournament. Junior Heather Matthews of Whitehouse, and senior Michael Hicks of Bastrop, La., both advanced to the round of 32 in the Varsity and Novice division respectively. Dr. Cole Franklin, coach of the ETBU team, advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Professional Division before facing elimination. Matthews was the 8^th place speaker in the 70-competitor Varsity Division and Franklin won the 3^rd place speaker award in the Professional Division.

The association also gave season-long awards to individuals and institutions based on success throughout the 2011-2012 competitive debate season. As individuals, ETBU had three competitors rank in the Top 20 at the close of the season. LaDarius Carter, ETBU alumnus finished the season ranked 6^th nationally in the Professional Division. Franklin finished ranked 8^th nationally and Matthews concluded the season as the 16^th ranked IPDA Varsity debater in the country. As a unit, the ETBU team was highly ranked as well. The team finished ranked 4^th in the Professional Division, 9^th in the Novice Division and 14^th in the Varsity Division for an overall ranking of 9^th place in the country.

“We’re very proud of our success this year,” said Franklin. “Compared to our competition, we are a very small squad, but we have consistently had national success as a team. We look forward to continued success in the future.”

Proud?  We are too!  Way to go Debate Team!  GO BLUE!

Story taken from a press release by PR Director Mike Midkiff.

Alicia Ethridge, senior speech comm major, talks about her honors project at the Honors Chapel on April 11th.

ETBU senior Alicia Ethridge  was recognized this past weekend at the 2012 Southern States Communication Association convention in San Antonio where she presented her honors research paper, “The Relationship between Self-Esteem and Interpretation of Nonverbal Immediacy.”

The key here is that she was one of the only five selected to present from nearly 100 entries!

Dr. Carolyn Rester, Professor of Communication and the supervisor of Alicia’s honors project, had nothing but good things to say about Alicia and her project. “I am excited to see Alicia recognized for her scholarship in research. She is an excellent representative of the quality of work that ETBU students can do,” Dr. Rester said.

Way to go Alicia!  GO BLUE!

From a press release by ETBU PR Director Mike Midkiff.

Brian Colbath, pictured with his wife, Kelli, and daughter, Bailey, has become the youngest Texas Baptist camp manager in the state.

ETBU Graduate Brian Colbath (08) was recently named camp manager at Circle Six Ranch Baptist Camp.  That makes him the youngest Texas Baptist camp manger in the entire state!

Circle Six Ranch Baptist Camp is located in the heart of West Texas, about 5 miles north of Stanton.  Boasting beautiful and spacious facilities for worship, dining, and living,  and plenty of activity areas, such as a pool, challenge course, even archery and rifle ranges, Circle Six has a lot to offer churches, organizations, and individuals, whom they’ve been serving  for over 50 years.

Congratulations to Brian and way to go!  GO BLUE!

Learn more about Circle Six Ranch here

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It was Cotton’s second straight complete-game outing, pared with a 7-4 win at LeTourneau the week before.

SOFTBALL: Brey named ASC East Pitcher of the Week

Senior Ashton Brey has also been named the American Southwest Conference East Division Pitcher of the Week.

The righty from Lindale, tossed two complete-game shutouts and allowed just six hits – all singles – over 12 innings against ASC East opponent Ozarks. The two shutouts gave her three straight, including a 3-0 win at Centenary the previous weekend.

Brey also held her own at the plate, leading ETBU with a 6 for 9 (.667) performance that included an inside-the-park grand slam and five stolen bases.

Way to go Chance and Ashton!  GO BLUE!

The Hospital Hero award is not a regularly scheduled award; rather it is only awarded when there are incidents of exemplary and meritorious behavior of hospital team members.

Several weeks back, Judson bravely stopped the abduction of a small child from the ER by standing between the child and the would-be abductor.  He noticed things were a little fishy after the child’s mother and a male acquaintance couldn’t get their stories together as to why the child had a lesion on one hand.

As it turned out, the child was taken from the father’s home without consent.

“As a level four ETBU nursing student, I have seen many different forms of care. We are taught how to watch for ‘red flags’ and always use our first instinct, as well as assessment data, to guide us through our practice rotation,” said LaGrone.

No one can ever know how the story would have ended. But at the very least, the child is safe now.

And they have Judson to thank for it.

We are so proud of you Judson!  GO BLUE!

Read the full story here from ETBU Public Relations Director Mike Midkiff.

Sabrina Bentley of Georgetown is a senior DWI and drug court officer for the Williamson County Community Supervision and Corrections Department. She is treasurer of the Texas Association of Drug Court Professionals and Williamson County DWI/Drug Court Foundation. She is also a past member of the Texas Probation Association and Texas Gang Investigators Association, past co-chair of the Hill Country Community Resource Coordination Group, and past president and past member of the Bowie Cass Adult Education Co-Op. Bentley received a bachelor’s degree from East Texas Baptist University. She is appointed for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2015.

We are very proud of Sabrina and the work she is doing!  GO BLUE!

Read the State of Texas Office of the Governor Official Press Release here.

Most people wouldn’t have a clue what any of that means, but you can guarantee Will Hill, a 29-year-old junior at ETBU, does. Recently, he qualified to play in a national 9 Ball Billiards Tournament by winning the 2012 Association of College Unions International 9 Ball Region 12 Billiards Tournament played March 9-10.

During that match, he shot his way through the loser’s bracket of the double elimination regional tournament to win it all, beating winner’s bracket winner Jerry Yang of the University of Texas-Dallas twice to win the championship. “I won the championship by winning two straight over Jerry Yang, 5-1 and 5-2. He is a good player and had only lost two games in the whole tournament before he played me.”

With the winner of a match determined by the first player to win five games, he was down in one match 4-1. “I was down and came back to win 5-4. I had to get my game on in order to win that one.”

“I won the regional tournament last year as when I was a student at another university, but was not able to play in the national tournament because I ruptured my Achilles,” said Hill, who was taught the game by his father.

Hill is now looking forward to July when he will compete in the national tournament to be played at Indiana University-Bloomington. “Every region has five or six players they bring to the national tournament,” said Will. “The players I will be competing against are really good.”

It sounds like Will is pretty good, himself.

We are so proud of Will and wish him the best in July!

Way to go Will!  GO BLUE!

Chris, a sophomore from El Paso, went 9 for 15 with four doubles and a home run for the Tigers (6-14, 2-1 ASC), who opened conference play by taking two of three games at University of the Ozarks over the weekend. Chris was a major player in that, hitting a game-winning, three-run home run with two outs in the top of the ninth to rally ETBU to a 10-9 win in game one on Friday.

Chris also scored four runs and did not strike out during the week. He capped the series by going 4 for 4 in the final game on Saturday.

Way to go Chris!  GO BLUE!

Sports coverage and article from ETBU SID David Weaver.