Former West Delaware prep pitches baseball team to national title

Thank you to Jackie Mormann, mother of former West Delaware pitcher Mitch Mormann, for contributing this story to us.

Mormann's Gem Clinches NBC Title

Mitch Mormann, former West Delaware student athlete and son of Randy and Jackie Mormann, spent the summer in Santa Barbara California, playing baseball in the California Collegiate League, where he was a member of the Santa Barbara Foresters.  The Foresters earned a birth in the National Baseball Congress World Series, which was held in Wichita, KS.  On July 31

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they packed up the bus and began their journey to Wichita, where they would be competing against 32 of the best summer-ball teams in the country, in hopes of securing their 3

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national title.  

The Foresters secured a spot in the championship game after 6 consecutive wins in the tournament.  Mormann, the 6' 6 – 255 lb, hard-throwing right-hander, took the mound in the 3

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game and then lead the team by pitching it to a National Baseball Congress World Series title in a 1-0 win over the Alaskan Kenai Oilers Saturday night at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in Wichita.

"This was the best performance of the summer for me, I wouldn't argue that," said Mormann, who is entering his senior season at Wichita State. "I felt like I had really good stuff the whole game and I was able to pound the strike zone repeatedly. "It was fun to come out and pitch well in front of these fans. I'm sure a lot of them were (Wichita State) Shocker fans. It was very special for me."

Mormann only needed 74 pitches to get into the eighth inning, all the while nursing a 1-0 lead that came Santa Barbara's way in the first inning.  It was all Santa Barbara would get off of eight Oilers pitchers, who threw one inning apiece. It was all Mormann would need to secure the win.

"He was unbelievable tonight," said right-fielder Joe Wallace.  "Mitch was locked in and we knew if we could play solid defense behind him, that he had the stuff out there to shut them down."

And shut them down he did. Mormann only allowed one base runner to reach third in his seven innings. He allowed only three singles and a double while striking out four and issuing one walk in his seven innings.

"Early on I was just pounding a lot of fastballs and mixing them in and out to the hitters," Mormann said. "Then later in the game I came with more sliders and changeups, which really had them off balance, and that really helped me out.

The Foresters went through this year's NBC World Series without a loss. They won all seven games they played, for their third World Series title and first since 2008. Three of the victories were shutouts.

“It's crushing,” said Dennis Machado, head coach of the Oilers, “You put in a year's worth of work into this roster and into this team and you grind out an Alaska Baseball league season.  To come up one run short from being the last team standing, it's tough.  Their guy (Mormann) was tough.  He threw 93 to 97 mph.  You tip your cap to him.”

"This year's title is so rewarding because nothing was handed to us. We had to fight through so much adversity," said Bill Pintard, who completed his 17th season as Foresters manager. "We had so many injuries to deal with. We lost guys to the (Major League Baseball) draft.   This is probably the most rewarding of the three (titles) for me because this team really came together. And they did it here in Wichita. They focused very, very hard in this tournament and they got it done."

"We wanted to come out and win this first game and get it done," Mormann said. "The defense played well all game and thank God I was able to pitch well and we were able to win it without having to play a second game."   The Foresters were the only undefeated team remaining in the tournament entering Saturday, the Oilers had to beat them twice to win the title, while the Foresters needed just one victory in the double-elimination format.

The Detroit Tigers drafted Mormann in the 25

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round in June, even though he didn't pitch last spring at Wichita State.  NCAA rules required him to sit out last season after transferring from LSU.  The Tigers watched him put together a strong summer, earning a spot on the roster for the California Collegiate All-Star team and capping his season by his selection of NBC World Series accolades of MVP of the Championship Game, MVP of the NBC World Series, NBC World Series All American Team, and voted Leading Prospect to the Majors by the MLB scouts.  The waiting game ended on Monday, August 15

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when Mormann declined the Tiger's significant offer and decided to return to Wichita State for his senior year. 

“I'm thrilled,” WSU pitching coach Brent Kemnitz said.  “Anybody who saw Mitch pitch in the finals of the NBC tournament knows this guy is a special talent.   I think he can come back and make another big jump.  I think it was a win-win situation for him.  Detroit is a great organization.  I certainly would have not blamed him if he had taken that route.  I respect the fact he wanted to finish what he started here at WSU.”

“I am going back to school.” Mormann said.  “I think the biggest thing was that I get to finish my degree.  And seeing the progress that I made this year and what another year might do for me.  I want to help the team win a championship.”

This will be the 3

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time Mormann has been drafted and turned down the opportunity to sign professionally.  In 2008 he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 17

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round and in 2009 he was the 20

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pick of the San Francisco Giants.  He has played summer ball in the Northwest League for the Duluth Huskies and the Waterloo Bucks and spent the summer of 2009 in Massachusetts playing for the Falmouth Commodores in the Cape Cod League.  He is currently pursuing a degree at Wichita State for Sports Management.