SPORTS
PAGE 1B
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2005
BASEBALL
WWW.KANSAN.COM
To the beat of their own drum
Players select, enjoy intro songs
BY KELLI ROBINETT
krobinett@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Matt Baty stepped up to the plate in the first inning of a home game against Wichita State. He had just been announced to the crowd, and the Georgia Satellite song, "Keep Your Hands to Yourself," blared on the loud speaker.
The lyrics, "I got a little change in my pocket," could be heard as the junior outfielder took his first practice swing, and the song continued until the first pitch was thrown.
"That's pretty cool," said one fan sitting in the right field bleachers of Hogglund Ballpark. "I wonder what my intro song would be? Maybe something by Bruce Springsteen."
This type of conversation is commonplace *at baseball games.
The man sitting next to him shook his head.
"No way," he said. "It's got to be something that pumps people up."
The introduction songs that go along with batters and pitchers have become so popular that music is now played before every at bat, pitching change and even between innings.
Most players above the high school level have likely chosen an introduction song at some point. And players on the Kansas baseball team will attest that selecting a good song isn't easy.
"I've heard of players that go home and spend over an hour on the computer trying to come up with a song they feel comfortable with," Kansas baseball coach Ritch Price said. "As an old school guy, it's pretty hilarious to me. But it's something that players today really look forward to."
Before the season began, a list was posted in the team's locker room, and the players got the chance to choose their songs. The Kansas athletics marketing department then put the selected songs together, and they are played at every home game.
No regulations exist on what songs can be played, and genres from country to punk rock are heard at games. Some players prefer to hear a Nelly song before they bat, while others favor Metallica.
WALK-OUT SONGS
ach player on the
Each player on the Kansas baseball team chooses his own introduction song, and the music is played as he approaches the plate before an at-bat.
The songs for the Jayhawks' starting lineup:
♦ Junior Outfielder Matt Baty
"Keep Your Hands to
Yourself" by The Georgia
Satellites
♦ Junior Infielder Ritchie Price
"City on Down" by O.A.R.
- Junior Outfielder A.J. Van Slyke
"What If" by Creed
Junior Outfielder Gus Milner
"Headstrong" by Trapt
"Bro Hymn" by Pennywise
- Junior Infelder Jared Schweitzer
* "Human" by Metallica
Freshman Infielder John Allman
"Na-Nana-Na" by Nelly
Freshman Infielder Ryne Price
"My Town" by Montgomery Gentry
♦ Freshman Infielder Erik Morrison
"We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billv Joel
Price said he could never predict the song selections.
"The one that cracks me up is Baty's," he said. "It has the 'jing a ling a lings.' I don't even think it relates to baseball, but heck, it obviously works for him because he's one of the best players in the country."
SEE BEAT ON PAGE 3B
INTRAMURALS
Thomas Koep, Edina, Minn., senior races the ball toward first base as Joshua Stities, Shawnee junior, stretches out his arm for the ball Sunday during an intramural softball game at the Lawrence High School softball field, 19th and Mississippi streets. Stities' team, Title IX, defeated Koep's team, Kentucky Gentlemen, 5-0. Title IX has won two consecutive games this season.
Rachel Sevmour/KANSAN
Victor not 'gentle'
Title IX offense too much for Kentucky Gentlemen
BY MICHAEL PHILIPS
mphillips@kansan.com
KANKSAN SWITCHER
The Kentucky Gentlemen brought peanuts, Title IX brought assorted candies and Josh Bender brought the offense.
Bender, St. Louis freshman, had a run and a RBI as Title IX stayed undefeated with a 5-0 shutout victory Sunday afternoon.
It was the second game of the CoRec intramural softball season for both teams.
It was a tough day for the Kentucky Gentlemen, who notched six hits but were unable to bring any of the runners home.
Title IX has players from the Stephenson and Watkins scholarship halls.
Its players wasted no time making a statement. David Shoemaker, Overland Park senior, took advantage of defensive confusion and scored an inside-the-park home run on the first pitch of the game.
Name
Jill Lock, Chanute freshman, singled on the next pitch; then Josh Bender hit a ball deep into the outfield. Bender ran past second base, not realizing that Lock had been held up at third.
SEE VICTOR ON PAGE 3B
Title IX
David Shoemaker
Jill Lock
Joshua Bender
Megan Stites
Blake Cripps
Megan Vaniman
Joshua Stites
Michaela Ayers
Clark Kebodeaux
Lindsay White
ROSTERS
Hometown/year
Kentucky Gentlemen
Kentucky Gentlemen
Tim Morrell
Anne Glavinich
Jeffrey Reese
Suzanne Petersen
Michael Kramer
Jessica Forman
Jordan Brown
Ashleigh Dyck
Jeffrey Valentino
James Quinn
Thomas Koep
Overland Park senior 4 2 1
Chanute freshman 3 2 1
St. Louis freshman 3 2 1
Shawnee freshman 3 2 1
Topeka sophomore 3 2 0
Kensal, N.D., freshman 2 0 0
Shawnee junior 3 0 0
Omaha, Neb., freshman 3 0 0
Olathe freshman 3 1 1
Kansas City, Mo., freshman 3 1 0
St. Louis senior 3 0 0
Shawnee senior 3 1 0
Lawrence senior 2 1 0
Rolla, Mo., senior 3 1 0
Omaha, Neb., senior 3 1 0
Chicago senior 2 1 0
Whitefish Bay, Wisc., senior 2 1 0
Hays senior 2 0 0
St. Louis senior 2 0 0
Lawrence senior 1 0 0
Edina, Minn., senior 1 0 0
Source: Team sign-in
PROFILE
Bowler leaves legacy of leadership
Kelly Zapf, of Rochester, N.Y., is in a league of her own on the KU women's bowling team — she's the only senior. In her time at the University of Kansas, Zapf has received an honorable mention All-American in 2004. Zapf works at the Jaybowl in the Kansas Union.
Stephanie Farlev/KANSAN
BY JASON ELMQUIST
jelmquist@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIVER
The lone senior on the KU women's bowling team, Kelly Zapf, has been building her resume. She's received an All-American honorable mention in 2004, and she was a member of fourth and fifth finishing bowling teams at the past two Intercollegiate Bowling Championships. She'll soon add to that a trip to her third" championship this April.
Zapf, a Rochester, N.Y., native, has been a member of the women's varsity team four years. She chose to come to the University of Kansas because her best friend, Marc D'Errico, a former KU bowler who won nationals last year, recruited her to join the bowling team.
"He and coach Mike Fine gave me a call on the phone, and I came out to visit and fell in love with the place." Zapf said.
She said being the only bowler on the team who had not been to nationals every year had helped her with how she approached the come went from having the potential to make it to nationals to 'when is the season going to be over with?' type of mentality."
"We went from
Kelly Zapf Women's bowling team member
petition. In her freshman year, the team suffered from injuries and academic concerns that kept the team from going to the championship.
"We went from having the potential to make it to nationals to 'when is the season going to be over with?' type of mentality," Zapf said. Though a national championship has eluded Zapf, she said her favorite memory in the past four years was when the men's team won the title last year.
"It just proved that Wichita State is not the only team in Kansas that
has a great bowling program," Zapf said.
When Zapf leaves at the end of the year, the team will have a hole at the anchor position. She took on the role last year and has contributed to the team's success.
"The last two years, that's what has gotten us as far as we have gone," junior Sarah Roenfeldt said. "There is a lot of pressure on you when you are in that position."
Losing Zapf's knowledge of different tournaments and lane conditions will be difficult for the team, freshman Nikki Iohannes said.
Zapf will stay at the University for a fifth year to finish her social welfare degree, and will still be a presence on the bowling team. She plans to help the team with the transition to a new coach and also recruit for the women's team.
Aside from working with the team, she also looks forward to bowling in outside tournaments. She was not able to compete in many tournaments because of school, work and KU bowling.
Edited by Laura Francoviglia
CLARIFICATION
A column in Friday's University Daily Kansan needs clarification. The column "Points system bad for football" stated that Gordon Myers said in order to maintain his football seats, he would need to donate a couple thousand more dollars.
Associate athletics director Jim Marchiony said because Myers had held season tickets for a number of years he had accumulated some points and that if he donated $100 to the Williams Fund, he should be able to maintain seats similar to or the same as his current ones.
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