The 1997 Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Championship was held at Bear Stadium in Boyertown, Pennsylvania from May 15 through 17. The double elimination tournament featured the top two regular-season finishers of each of the conference's six-team divisions. West Division second seed Virginia Tech defeated Massachusetts in the title game to win the tournament for the first time, earning the Atlantic 10's automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA tournament.
Seeding and format Each division's top teams, based on winning percentage in the 21-game regular season schedule, qualified for the field. In the opening round of the four-team double-elimination format, the East Division champion played the West Division runner-up, and vice versa.
Team W L Pct. GB Seed Massachusetts 17 4 Fordham 12 9 St. Bonaventure 9 12 Temple 9 12 Rhode Island 6 15 Saint Joseph's 4 17 Xavier 14 6 Virginia Tech 13 8 Dayton 12 9 Duquesne 12 9 George Washington 9 12 La Salle 8 12
Bracket
All-Tournament Team The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team. Virginia Tech catcher Barry Gauch, one of five Hokies selected, was named Most Outstanding Player.
Massachusetts's shortstop Brad Gorrie, who was also selected in 1996 was named to the team for the second time.
Pos. Name Team P Scott Barnsby Massachusetts OF Doug Clark Massachusetts C Barry Gauch Virginia Tech 1B David Giglio Massachusetts SS Brad Gorrie Massachusetts OF Matt Griswold Virginia Tech SS Kevin Kurilla Virginia Tech SS Tony Martelli Fordham 2B Randy Martin Virginia Tech P Denny Wagner Virginia Tech P Louie Witte Xavier
References