Bill Text: MS HC74 | 2015 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: 2014 Ole Miss Rebels baseball team; commend and congratulate for SEC West Title and CWS appearance.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 5-1)
Status: (Passed) 2015-03-06 - Enrolled Bill Signed [HC74 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2015-HC74-Enrolled.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2015 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Representatives Mayo, Bain, Beckett, Holland, Nelson, Patterson
House Concurrent Resolution 74
(As Adopted by House and Senate)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND CONGRATULATING THE 2014 OLE MISS REBELS BASEBALL TEAM AND HEAD COACH MIKE BIANCO FOR THEIR OUTSTANDING SEC WEST TITLE REGULAR SEASON, THEIR REGIONAL AND SUPER-REGIONAL POSTSEASON VICTORIES, AND FOR THEIR FINAL-FOUR TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE IN THE NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES.
WHEREAS, the 2014 Ole Miss Rebels baseball season lived a long and full life, longer than any Rebel season before it, filled with 48 thrilling wins, 21 heartbreaking losses, an outright SEC West Title, and the deepest postseason run seen in Oxford in over four decades; and
WHEREAS, highlights of the 2014 Ole Miss baseball season include Auston Bousfield's grand slam against South Carolina; four consecutive walk-off wins in late April; hosting and winning a NCAA Regional for the first time in five years; the drenched celebration in right field after each victory; Josh Laxer's three-inning masterpiece to close out the NCAA Super Regional; Josh Gatlin's pinch-hit walk-off hit in Omaha; Holt Predzock's clutch hit in Game 3 of the Lafayette Super Regional that gave Rebels fans the feeling for the first time since 1972 that the Rebels might really be on their way to the College World Series; the mad dash by the entire team into the right field student section upon winning the Oxford Regional, where they collided with an ecstatic student body in a special moment for both students and the team; and
WHEREAS, above all, the 2014 Ole Miss baseball season will be remembered for Omaha, when for the first time in 42 years and perhaps even more significantly, for the first time in Mike Bianco's tenure as Head Coach, Ole Miss broke through to the College World Series after so many times his teams had been so close; and
WHEREAS, this season was different, and not only did the Rebels get to Omaha, they won two games there before sadly, the 2014 baseball season ended Saturday, June 28, 2014, in a 4-1 loss to Virginia just two wins shy of the National Championship series; and
WHEREAS, the City of Omaha, Nebraska, loved the Rebels and Ole Miss fans who flocked in droves to the Cornhusker State, and many fans and Omaha residents noted that the Rebels fans likely outnumbered all seven other teams' fans combined, with thousands of fans spending all or a portion of the nine days the Rebels were alive in Omaha from the opening ceremonies until the Rebels were eliminated on the second Saturday of the tournament; and
WHEREAS, Will Allen with his indomitable spirit and genial personality was the heart and soul of this Rebels team, lending both poise and leadership and pacing the team with a .339 average and 64 RBIs and finished second in the lineup with seven homers and was named one of three semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award, which goes to the nation's best catcher; and
WHEREAS, Sikes Orvis hammered 53 RBIs and slapped 14 dingers, good for second in the SEC, and his slugging percentage increased .220 from the 2013 season, finishing at a team-leading .540; and
WHEREAS, Starting Pitcher Christian Trent was a JUCO transfer that had the biggest impact among the new arrivals this season, emerging as a great SEC pitcher in his first season as a Rebel, and as the most consistent pitcher on the team, the lefty finished with a pristine 9-0 record, a 2.05 ERA and allowed just one earned run over 21-1/3 NCAA postseason innings; and
WHEREAS, the House of Representatives is especially proud of Relief Pitcher Matt Denny, the grandson of Representative Bill Denny, who has been outstanding out of the bullpen in 33 total appearances thus far in his Rebels career; and
WHEREAS, the 2014 Ole Miss Baseball Roster is: J.B. Woodman, Aaron Greenwood, Jeremy Massie, Austin Knight, Cameron Dishon, John Gatlin, Dalton Dulin, Matt Denny, Josh Laxer, Colby Bortles, Wyatt Short, Cheyne Bickel, Scott Weathersby, Will Allen, Sikes Orvis, Auston Bousfield, Will Jamison, Preston Overbey, Braxton Lee, Austin Anderson, Christian Trent, Errol Robinson, Chris Ellis, Sam Smith, Brantley Bell, Preston Tarkington, Hawtin Buchanan, Holt Perdzock, Jacob Waguespack, Austin Blunt, Scott Ashford, Evan Anderson, Henri Lartigue, Kyle Toth and Peyton Attaway; and
WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to commend such outstanding university athletes and coaches who have brought honor to their university, their community and to the State of Mississippi:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize and congratulate the 2014 Ole Miss Rebels Baseball Team and Head Coach Mike Bianco for their outstanding SEC West Title Regular Season, their Regional and Super-Regional Postseason Victories, and for their Final-Four Tournament Appearance in the NCAA College World Series, and extend best wishes for continued success to the team, coaches and fans on this auspicious occasion.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be furnished to Coach Bianco and the members of the 2014 Ole Miss Rebels Baseball Team, forwarded to University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones and the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.
