Melissa Barrett was the Abbey’s first player to earn All-Region honors in softball. In 2002–her senior year–she batted .394 with 10 doubles, two home runs, and 30 RBIs. She was a four-time All-Conference selection and was named a two-time NFCA Academic All-America. Barrett never missed a game (a total of 182 starts) and was ranked among national leaders in walks per game (30th nationally). She graduated cum laude, with a degree in Business Management. Barrett is currently the Senior Associate Athletic Director at Belmont Abbey College.

Carl Bell came to the Abbey in the fall of 1971 from Reidsville, North Carolina and left four years later as the men’s basketball all-time leading scorer with 2,201 career points and 1,030 rebounds. Bell became the first player in school history to eclipse the 2,000 point plateau and did so without the benefit of the three-point shot. Over the course of his four years at the Abbey, he led the Crusaders to four straight .500 or better seasons and led his team in scoring. He was also the top rebounder for the first two years of his career and was the second highest rebounder for his last two years. Bell averaged 19.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. He played 113 total games over four years and never missed a practice or a game due to illness or injury. He was named men’s basketball MVP for all four years; named twice to the NAIA all-district 26-team and was an honorable mention All-American his sophomore and senior years. Bell set the College’s all-time single season scoring mark with 592 points as a senior, breaking his own record, which he set the year before. After living in Pennsylvania for some time, he now lives in his hometown of Reidsville.

Jennifer Dowd Breuer is the only All-America selection for Cross Country in the Abbey’s
history. She holds the record for the number of fastest times (19) and is the only female runner at the Abbey to eclipse the twenty-minute mark. During her college career, she was named a two-time Academic All-America, and led the Abbey to Conference Titles in 1989 and 1990. A four-time national qualifier, Breuer won the North Carolina NCAA Division II State Championship and Region III Championship. In 1995, she was named Belmont Abbey College Student of the Year and graduated magna cum laude.

Bryant came to Belmont Abbey from suburban Washington, D.C., in 1973 and played basketball for four years. He was among the Crusaders leaders in rebounds all four years and was called one of the team’s top scholars. A recipient of the Marty Thomas Award, Bryant graduated with a degree in Business Management. He later obtained a master’s degree
from Clemson. After a standout coaching career, Bryant is now the
Director of Athletics at Georgia Regents University, (formerly Augusta
State University) a position he has held for the past 26 years.

A 1980 Asheboro High School graduate, Cissy was “Miss Basketball” for the Blue Comets women’s basketball team. Her accomplishments as a high school player were many – All-Conference three years in a row, All-Randolph County, All-State, a recipient of the Mary Garber Award, and MVP of the East-West All-Star team. So it was fitting that Cissy became the first female basketball player to sign with Belmont Abbey College. As a freshman, she averaged 28.9 points per game and helped the Lady Crusaders become a nationally-ranked team for the first time. She was named an All-American in 1983, and to this day, she holds the Abbey’s all-time scoring record of 2,385 points (tops for both men and women). She also garnered honorable mention recognition for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Basketball team.

Cissy opted not to pursue an offer to play professional women’s basketball overseas and has resided in Gaston County, North Carolina ever since. She is married and has four children (two sons and two girls). She currently works as an auditor of Key Benefit Administrators and has been in the insurance field for over 20 years. Raising her family has been her passion and her youngest (twin girls) are in their second year of college.

Abbot Walter Coggin was President of Belmont Abbey College for two terms (1956, 1964-1967), served as Chancellor for 14 years and coached the Belmont Abbey Ramblers football team (at the Abbey’s prep school) in the 1940s. As a student, Walter Arthur Coggin distinguished himself in academics and sports, and as a campus leader. In 1936, he received The Bishop Haid Athletic Trophy for best all-around athlete. In 1938, Coggin’s football team won the National Junior College Championship, a season in which the team went undefeated, untied, and unscored upon. In the 1930s, the football team was considered the most competitive inter-collegiate team at the College. During his tenure as abbot, Coggin oversaw the Abbey’s greatest period of campus growth, including the construction of three dormitories, the dining hall, the science building, the library, the renovation of the Basilica, and, as he was leaving office, the construction of the Wheeler Center.

Theodore Crunkleton was immediately hired by the College after he graduated in 1959. During his Abbey career, he taught Physical Education, coached the baseball team and re-vitalized the intramural program. In 1967, he led the Abbey baseball team to the NCAA District III Regional Tournament and that same season was honored as the District Coach of the Year. During his 12 years at the College, he had the pleasure of coaching three All-Americans.

A two-time Catholic Digest All-America selection, Danny Doyle was Coach Al McGuire’s first recruit in 1957. He scored 1,290 points during his four-year career at Belmont Abbey, which places Doyle 19th in school history. He led the Crusaders to 15 or more wins and a national tournament every year of his career, highlighted by the school’s first trip to the NAIA National Tournament in 1961. Doyle was the first Abbey player to be drafted into the NBA. He was the third pick in the fifth round (41st overall) and was signed by the Detroit Pistons.

As a member of the first Abbey soccer team in 1958, Stanley Dudko scored all nine of the team’s goals during their inaugural season. From 1966 to 1976, he was the team’s Head Coach, while also serving as an Economics professor. In 1967, he led the Abbey to the national tournament. Dudko was named NAIA District 26 Coach of the Year nine times in ten years, and compiled a career coaching record of 120-47-12. His teams won nine district championships and were NAIA regional tournament runners-up five times. Dudko coached 22 NAIA All-South selections, two NAIA All-Americans and made Abbey men’s soccer a
perennial national contender. In 1971, Pope Paul VI honored Mr. Dudko with a Papal knighthood. And in 2001, he was inducted into the North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame. He remains a beloved mentor and Economics professor at the Abbey to this day.

The men’s tennis doubles team of David Buerkle and William Esser finished the 1995 tennis season ranked tenth nationally in NAIA and went on to win the conference championship.

Buerkle, from Lake Worth, Florida, was a four-year member of the Abbey’s tennis and cross country teams from 1993-1996. As a junior, he won the CIAC singles and doubles championships, and was named second-team NAIA All-American. Later that year, he and Esser finished tenth in the NAIA doubles championships, after the pair entered the tournament unseeded, and Buerkle was named an NAIA Scholar Athlete. Off the court, Buerkle was a Dean’s List student all four years and was awarded a Monastery Leadership Scholarship. In 1994, he was named to “Who’s Who Among American Colleges and Universities.” After leaving the Abbey, he continued his competitive career in tennis. In 2001, he and his doubles partner were the Men’s Open Florida State Closed Doubles Champions and were ranked fourth in the USPTA Grand Prix Circuit Men’s Open. They were also ranked the number one USTA Doubles Team in the nation in 2002. Today, Buerkle is the father of seven children and is a tennis professional at Mitchell County Tennis Center in Camilla, Georgia.

Esser graduated summa cum laude from Belmont Abbey College in 1995 and received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Notre Dame in 1999. While at the Abbey, he was a member of the tennis team for four years and also ran cross country. In 2006, Esser served as an adjunct professor at the Abbey and in 2010 he was named Belmont Abbey College’s Brother Gregory Corcoran Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. Esser is the co-founder and past president of the Saint Thomas More Society and a member of the National Alumni Board of Belmont Abbey College. He is also a past president and board member of Room at the Inn, Inc., a safe haven for pregnant women and their children, and assisted in initiating a capital campaign to build the nation’s first college-based maternity and after-care residential facility to be housed near Belmont Abbey College. Recently, The Charlotte Business Journal named him one of their “40 under 40,” which lists people who are making major strides in their careers and impacting their communities. He is currently a partner in the law firm Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP in Charlotte.

Bill Ficke ‘69 played basketball at the Abbey during the Al McGuire era for two years before entering the U.S. Air Force. Upon graduation from the Abbey, Bill moved to White Plains, NY, where he had a life-changing experience; he met and married his wonderful wife, JoAnn. In 1975, they moved to Denver, CO, where Bill opened, Fleet Feet, an athletic footwear store.

From 1982-1985, Bill was an Assistant Coach with the Denver Nuggets under Doug Moe, helping to coach the team to the NBA Playoffs for three seasons. Then, Bill became the Head Coach of the Kansas City Sizzlers. In1986, his son was born, and Bill spent the next ten years as a Denver area scout for the Indiana Pacers and New Jersey Nets.

When Bill opened Big Bill’s New York Pizza in 1995, he had no idea it would become a staple in the Denver area. Each year, Big Bill’s holds a 9/11 Day of Giving in remembrance of the September 11th attacks. On that day, rather than paying for a meal, diners make a donation to help cancer patients and support cancer research. Since 2001, the day of giving has raised more than $1.3 million.

Additionally, Bill and son, Dan, formed the JoAnn B. Ficke Cancer Foundation, in memory the late JoAnn Ficke, who passed away from lymphoma in 2007. Bill served as President of the Harold & Carole Pump Cancer Foundation of Sherman Oaks, California, for five years, and continues to serve on their Board of Directors. He is also a proud grandfather to twins, William Winslow and Sloane Ficke.

A native of Mount Holly who attended Mount Holly High School, Larry Hartsell was a key leader of the Abbey’s first team to reach the NCAA Baseball Regionals in 1968. During his career, he played catcher, third base and first base. A career .368 hitter, Hartsell batted .372 as a freshman, ranking him 17th nationally, and later earned the Marty Thomas Award. As a sophomore, he led the Abbey to the nation’s longest winning streak, recording a .310 batting average. One year later, he hit .368 in leading the Crusaders to the NCAA Regional tournament. Capping off a stellar career, he batted .398 as a senior and earned the Michael A. Nalls Athlete of the Year award. Harstell was a Dean’s List student during all of his eight semesters at the Abbey and was a member of the Epsilon Sigma Honor Society.

After graduating magna cum laude and second in his class in 1970 with a degree in Accounting, Hartsell earned a law degree from Emory University in Atlanta. Showing a love for his alma mater that has never wavered, Hartsell has generously given back to Belmont Abbey College in many ways. He has initiated several scholarships, including the J.P. Smith Scholarship. He also hosts every Abbey athletic team that travels to the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area. He served on the Alumni Board from 1985-1992 and was subsequently named the Belmont Abbey Alumnus of the Year.

Today, he is retired after running his own accounting firm for 30 years and lives in Myrtle Beach.

Father “Pop” Martin Hayes, O.S.B., came to Belmont Abbey as a student in 1930 and entered novitiate at Saint Vincent as a candidate for Belmont on July 1, 1932. He made his first profession was on July 2, 1933 and made his solemn vows on July 11, 1939. Three years later, he was ordained in Philadelphia.

As a Benedictine, he undertook many responsibilities over the years. He was based in Savannah from 1947-54, returning to work in the Diocese of Charlotte, as Pastor of St. Helen in Spencer Mountain and as Novice Master. He began to refocus his efforts on the College in 1958, coaching tennis 11 years, then golf from 1969-88. Martin then served as the Director of Athletics for three years until 1972.

After retiring from Athletics, he continued to work in the Diocese with a concentration in parochial settings. He served on the Presbyteral Council from 1986-89.

Father Martin was beloved in both the college and cloister. He was genial, witty, and pastorally committed. The athletic department’s Wheeler Center Conference Room is dedicated as the “Pop” Martin Room.

Father Martin Hayes died on August 14, 1992 and is buried in the Abbey Cemetery.

Venetta Wilson Jagan is the most decorated player in the 21 year history of the Belmont Abbey women’s soccer program. She entered Belmont Abbey in the fall of 1997 from St. Andrews High School in Charleston, South Carolina and led the Crusaders defense for four seasons. She was a three-time All-American, including first team honors in 1998 and 1999- the first such honor bestowed on a Crusader in program history. She played in 89 matches in her career, starting in 88 of those, totaling 29 goals, 34 assists and 92 career points.

Anchoring the Crusaders defense, she led Belmont Abbey to a four year record of 68-22, two Conference Carolinas Championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching the Elite Eight in 1999.

Graduating in 2001, Jagan now lives in Columbia, South Carolina with her husband Lyndon and their two children. She is employed by Palmetto Health as the activities director. Using her soccer passion, she coaches youth league soccer in Columbia.

Jim Lytle was a four-year starter for the Crusaders, both on the freshman team and the varsity, and was known for his defensive prowess, often shutting down the opponents’ high scorers.

A member of Coach Al McGuire’s second recruiting class out of New York City’s Power Memorial Academy, his teams won 81 % of their games, a record even more impressive in that only four to five games each season were played at home. Early in his career, he averaged 10 points a game on a team that had five players reaching double figures in scoring. As team captain and lone senior his final year, Lytle upped his scoring average to 14 points per game and lead the Abbey to its fifth straight post season tournament. The unseeded team played its way to the round of 32 in Kansas City, Mo., in the 1962 NAIA National Championship. The season closed with a 61-58 overtime loss to No. 5-seed Pan American University, led by NBA first-round pick Luke Jackson.

During his career, Lytle never missed a game. His service to Belmont Abbey continued after graduation as president of the Alumni Association and later as a two­term member of the Board of Trustees. As a Trustee, he played a vital role in drafting the Abbey scholarship program for the children of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks

Joseph McDermott, a two-time small-college All-American, joined the Belmont Abbey College basketball team as part of Al McGuire’s third recruiting class. During his three-year college career, he scored 1,587 points, which is 8th on the All-Time leading scorer list. After his junior year, he was selected to play on a U.S. team assembled by the State Department to go up against the Soviet Union National team. In 1963, McDermott was the second Abbey player drafted into the NBA, when he was selected in the fifth round as the first pick of the New York Knicks. In 2007, McDermott was one of thirteen of Al McGuire’s early recruits to be inducted into the Belmont Sports Hall of Fame. He recently retired after a 38-year career in the restaurant business.

As the Head Coach of the Abbey men’s basketball team from 1957 to 1964, Al McGuire posted a 109-64 record, leading the Crusaders to five post-season appearances. He went on to lead Marquette to the NCAA Championship in 1977. As a coach, McGuire was one of the select few who won both the NIT and the NCAA Championships. During his career, twenty-six of his players were drafted into the NBA—thirteen of whom were inducted into the Belmont Sports Hall of Fame on October 9, 2007. In 1992, Al McGuire was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA.

Natalie Monfils earned first-team All-Conference and All-Region honors all four years during her career at Belmont Abbey College. She was named Conference Freshman of the Year, and in 2001, she was honored as the Conference Player of the Year. As a senior, Monfils scored 21 goals with five assists, and was recognized as the Abbey’s Most Outstanding Athlete.

Jim Mullen was a member of Al McGuire’s first recruiting class at Belmont Abbey, starting at guard from 195 7-61. He served as the team captain for his junior and senior year, helping the teams to an 81-19 record. He was selected to several all­tournament teams and was the Most Valuable Player at the NYAC Christmas Tournament his senior year.
Academically, Mullen was selected to Delta Epsilon Sigma National Honor Society and Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities for his junior and senior years, while also holding the distinction as a charter member of TKE social fraternity.
After graduation, he joined the United States Marine Corps and continued his basketball career, most notably as a member of the 1964 All-Service team, which participated in the Olympic Trials at the NY World’s Fair. Following his days in the Marine Corps, Mullen joined the FBI as a special agent, working his way through the ranks to Unit Chief before retiring in 1989. After returning to work in the private sector, he fully retired in May of 2009.

He and his wife, Ellen, recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They have four children and IO grandchildren.

Angela Placona-Congelli joined the Abbey women’s soccer program from her hometown of Tempe, Arizona. In her four-year career as a Lady Crusader, she scored 52 goals and had 29 assists. At the end of her first season, she was named “conference freshman of the year” and earned second-team honors. She would go on to earn first-team all-conference honors her last three years.

Placona-Congelli was also a three-time all-region selection and earned All-American honors as a senior. In 2000, Belmont Abbey College named her Female Athlete of the Year and that same year she was named the Carolinas- Virginia Athletics Conference Female Athlete of the Year. Off the field, she was a second-team academic all-district selection, and was named to the Dean’s List seven times and to the President’s List twice. Placona-Congelli graduated from the Abbey with a 3.52 GPA and a degree in Biology. She currently lives in Mount Holly and teaches Earth Science at East Gaston High School.

Jim Riches was a native New Yorker who came to the Abbey in 1989 as a freshman basketball player. He enjoyed a distinguished career in basketball from 1989 to 1992. A textbook three-point field goal shooter, he is listed 10th in that category on the Abbey’s All-Time list. He scored 32 points against St. Andrews in 1991, which ranks as the 9th best performance in the single game scoring category. He also scored a total of 432 points during the 1990-91 season, ranking him 13th on the All-Time Abbey list in total individual season points. A member of the New York Fire Department, as was his father, he lost his life on September 11, 2001, the day before his 30th birthday, in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Discharging his duty with courage and valor, he was engaged in saving the lives of many individuals who found themselves the victims of the worst terrorist attack in United States history. As a way of paying tribute to Jim Riches, the Board of Trustees at Belmont Abbey College on October 12, 2001 approved a scholarship in his name: The Jimmy Riches Memorial Scholarship Fund of Belmont Abbey College. This scholarship is extended to the families of firefighters, police officers, and rescue workers who lost a family member on September 11. Jim Riches may have been one of the greatest players ever to hit a three-pointer, but he will always be remembered as a hero to his family at Belmont Abbey College and to the world.

Dr. Michael Reidy coached the men’s tennis team at Belmont Abbey College for 31 years. During his tenure as coach, he led his teams to six conference titles and seven national tournament appearances. Reidy was named Coach of the Year four times. In 2001, his team reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division II tournament. Reidy also served as the women’s tennis coach in the late 1990s and led the Lady Crusaders to a CVAC championship in 1999, the same year he was named CVAC women’s tennis Coach of the Year. “Doc” also coached the swim team, headed the intramural department and served as Athletic Director. In 1988, Reidy was inducted into the Campbell College Athletic Hall of Fame. He was a basketball standout for the Camels from 1960-1964, scoring 1,610 points during his career and serving as the team’s captain his final three seasons.

Kay Schellenberg ‘13 played volleyball at the Abbey from 2010-2013. During her career, she was named the 2012-13 Conference Conference Carolinas Female Athlete of the Year. She went on to be the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Player of the Year for Volleyball. Kay was the first player in school history to earn all-region honors, and she received an honorable mention from the American Volleyball Coaches Association/AVCA for the All-Southeast Region.

In her senior year, she was named player of the week and MVP in the Conference championship. Additionally, she was nominated by the Conference for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. That year, she led the Crusaders in a record-breaking season, including a 26-5 overall record as well as the first Conference Carolinas Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament berth in school history. The team posted many records, including overall wins, conference wins, and all-conference honorees. She finished the year leading the conference in assists per set and total assists, as well as service aces per set. Her offense led the conference in hitting percentage (a total ranked as high as third nationally) and in league highs. Kay surpassed the 3,000 assist mark in the Conference Carolinas Tournament Quarterfinal and wrapped up her career with a school-record of 3,151 assists.

After leaving the Abbey, Kay began teaching at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Jacksonville, FL. She is in her 7th year as a third-grade teacher and volleyball coach at Sacred Heart, and she coaches volleyball at her alma mater, The Bolles School.

Brother Paul Shanley has been a respected member of the Belmont Abbey College community for more than three decades – as a monk, a teacher, Head Cross Country Coach, Sports Information Director and as a valued counselor to countless students, faculty and staff. He has also earned Coach of the Year honors six times as the Abbey’s cross country coach.

A native of upstate New York, Brother Paul is a 1973 graduate of the Abbey with a B.A. degree in English. He later earned an advanced certificate in film history and criticism. At the 2002 Athletic Banquet, Brother Paul was honored for his contributions to the Athletic Department and to the Cross Country Program when the Abbey Trail was renamed “The Brother Paul Trail.”

At the conclusion of the 2009 Cross Country season, Brother Paul will retire from coaching and will continue to serve in the athletic department as its archivist.

Bill Soussi ‘77 came to the U.S. from Libya in 1973 to play soccer at the Abbey. Bill’s brothers, Mosadak and Fikri, followed him. Together with Hall of Fame Coach, Stan Dudko, they would rewrite the record books. The Crusaders earned several district titles Bill’s senior year and were one game shy of the Final Four at the Rose Bowl.

Bill’s Abbey Soccer career lasted from 1973 to 1977. Each year, he was the team captain and the MVP. Bill scored a career total of 136 goals and was the leading scorer in the nation his senior year with 36 goals. He also held the NAIA record for most goals scored in a game by a single player. Under Bill, the team was a four-year All-District team and All-South team, as well as a three-year NAIA All American Team.

One particularly memorable game was against Appalachian State Bill’s senior year. In the last minute, with the score at 0-0, the ball came out to the top of the penalty area. Bill got the ball and started towards the goal 80 yards away, to secure an incredible 1-0 victory.

Bill would have been a professional player, if not for an ACL tear, but that setback did not keep him from other pursuits. He started a mobile sporting goods store with teammate Ed Young and became an investor in The Carolina Lightnin’. Later, Bill ran a successful OEM diaper company that supplied several brands as well as their own. Bill now lives in Libya, where he manages a hospitality company.

Steincke, a native of New York, was a member of the basketball, baseball, and soccer teams during his career. A four-year member of the basketball team, Steincke spent two years on the diamond and played one year of soccer. In 1962 he led the baseball team in home runs, and he was the starting goalkeeper on the inaugural soccer team. As a senior, he was the recipient
of the Marty Thomas Award as the most outstanding athlete.

The 1999 Belmont Abbey Alumnus of the Year, Steincke has sponsored Belmont Abbey’s involvement in the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade for the past 30 years. In 2010, he was also instrumental in bringing to Belmont Abbey College the production of Coach, a one-man play about his former coach Al McGuire that was written by legendary sportscaster Dick Enberg.

John Von Bargen came to Belmont Abbey from his native Mount Vernon, New York in the fall of 1957, recruited by legendary coach Al McGuire. While a member of the basketball team, he was also a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. A 6-11 center, Von Bargen ended his Crusaders career with 826 points and 1,188 rebounds in 93 games as the team compiled a four year record of 81-16 with four NAIA Tournament appearances.

He graduated in 1961 with a degree in business administration and returned to Mount Vernon. He worked in the recreation department for the city of Mount Vernon, serving the final 27 years of his career as the superintendent of recreation before retiring in 1999 after 38 years and 10 months of service.

He continues to volunteer in the recreation department in Pelham, New York, assisting with the game clock and serving as the official scorer during basketball and soccer matches. He is married to Diane.

Howard “Humpy” A. Wheeler, Sr. was hired in 1929 to coach all sports at the Abbey: football, basketball, baseball and more. He was also the Athletic Director for 38 years. The football teams he coached won 100 games and six North Carolina Junior College Championships. His basketball teams won 248 games from 1930 to 1953 and racked up seven North Carolina Junior College Championships, as well as three runner-up finishes. Wheeler was also the first layman to hold an enduring appointment to the Abbey faculty. He taught history, politics, civics and hygiene here. In his “spare time,” he also directed intramural competitions on campus. Upon his retirement, Belmont Abbey College awarded him a doctoral degree, honoris causa. In 1970, the Wheeler Center was built in his honor and dedicated to him in April of that same year.

Coached by Humpy Wheeler, Sr., the 1938 football team claimed the Junior College National Championship, capping a season in which it went undefeated, untied and unscored upon. During their magical season, the Crusaders outscored their opponents 273-0, including a 90-0 win over Presbyterian Junior College. Three members of that team are still alive today, including John Kabas, the student body President; Martin Gass, Sr., the student body Vice President; and John Golden.

The 1966 Belmont Abbey men’s soccer team finished the season with a 13-6 record as the Crusaders used a strong end of regular season finish. The year culminated with a 4-1 win over Alderson-Broaddus in the District 26 playoff game, to qualify for the NAIA Tournament, finishing fourth at the tournament hosted at Alumni Field. After losing its first two games, Belmont Abbey won its next eight straight matches, four by shutout. Senior Mike Daniels was named to the all-tournament team, with classmate Kevin Soden and Luis Rodriguez named to the All-South team.

The 2009 Abbey Men’s Baseball Team had a record-breaking season. They finished the season with a 40-26 overall record, sweeping the NCAA Southeast Regional and advanced to the College World Series where they posted a 2-2 mark in Cary to finished tied for third overall. They won the Conference Carolinas Tournament, working their way back through the loser’s bracket for a 6-1 record and swept Erskine in the championship round. They were regular-season champions with a 14-5 mark. As a team, the Crusaders batted .314 with 75 home runs and 439 RBIs, and had an ERA was 4.58. Several members of the team played professionally (MiLB, independent or overseas) after leaving the Abbey.