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May 19, 2008

Camp helps Stars to World Series

Jeff Harrison

Oklahoma City University’s Landon Camp admits he was not been getting much sleep last week. The No. 5-ranked Stars were on the verge of a trip to the NAIA World Series, and the former Edmond North standout could not wait.

Camp was there in 2005 when the Stars won it all, and he’s been waiting for his chance to do the same.

“I was in the stands when they won it in 2005, it was an amazing feeling for me being there and I can’t even imagine what it’s like to put a jersey on and go out in front of all those Lewis Clark fans and put it to them,” Camp said.

But these day Camp can rest easy. Well, at least for a little while.

The Stars punched their ticket to Lewiston, Idaho with a 10-7 win over Missouri Baptist in the NAIA Mid-South Super Regional Friday night at Jim Wade Stadium.

Winning was nothing new for Land and his OCU teammates, but things have been different this year. After winning the national title in 2005, the Stars ran into the same problem the next two seasons. Both years, the Stars were knocked out of the playoffs by No. 1-ranked Lubbock Christian University.

Camp helped the Stars conquer their demons when he socked a grand slam in the 14-8 victory over Lubbock Christian on May 10.

“We just haven’t been able to put it together at the end of the season, this year we just seem to get hot at the right time,” Camp said. “The last two years the team s have been amazing, we have had unreal talent on our teams but we just fell one game short the last two years, and this year we finally didn’t fall short.”

Camp has played a major role in the Stars rise this year. After a pair of strong seasons, he has been hitting with more authority in 2008. This year Camp saw a slight dip in his batting average of .353, but has boosted his run production, hitting 21 home runs and driving in 77 runs.

“I’m just matured, I’ve gotten older and worked with Keith Lytle a lot, he’s amazing with what he’s done,” Camp said. “I came in here as an 18-year old kid and didn’t know much about anything and the game, but I’ve had a lot of good mentors, who have helped me progress through the college level.”

Camp has also found a mentor at home. His father Mike Camp was a standout player at Eastern Oklahoma State and was later drafted by the Detroit Tigers.

“It helps a lot because he’s been in my shoes as a hitter all of his life, so I really take everything he says to heart,” Camp said. “He’s been there, and he knows a lot about the game.”

After falling short the last two seasons, Camp said the team made a commitment to returning to the NAIA World Series this year.

“When we came in here in August, the first thing coach Denney Crabaugh told us, is he’s not going to Lewiston without us, and just drilled that in our minds,” Camp said. “So we’ve never had the though in our head that we’re not going.”

The OCU guys proved that fact, with a strong pitching staff, and an amazing group of hitters. The Stars have four players batting over .400, and have shattered the NAIA home run record this year. The Stars broke the old mark of 140, which was also held by OCU, with a home run by B.J. Wheeler in a win over Lubbock Christian. The team has since added to that mark, and now has 143 homers, heading into the NAIA World Series.

“I’ve never been on a team that hits like this one does, the last two years we’ve hit a lot of home runs, but this year it’s something different,” Camp said.

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