Despite an impressive resume, Dallas Baptist was on the outside looking in when Regional invites were handed out last season. Look for Austin Knight and the Patriots to remove any doubt this year and play late into the spring. You can follow Austin and his teammates' quest throughout the season by checking out his blog here.
Ping!Baseball Spotlight Interview Ryan Langlais North Dakota State Bison
On June 1st, the North Dakota State University Bison, along
with the IPFW Mastodons and South Dakota State University
Jackrabbits, made the transition from Independent teams to
the Summit League (formerly the Mid-Continent Conference).
While the move from perennial Division II powerhouse to Division
I hasn't been as seemless as the Thundering Herd may have
hoped; however when the weather forces more snowballs than
curveballs to be thrown in February and March, no one thought
the transition would be easy. Nonetheless, optimism for the
future is abound, just as Bison once proudly roamed the North
Dakota prairie.
Leading NDSU in their inaugural Summit League campaign will
be senior to be Ryan Langlais. Langlais was recently named
a co-Most Valuable Player at the Division I independent baseball
tournament after batting .722 (13-for-18) in four games. The
Bison infielder had seven extra-base hits including four home
runs, 14 RBI and was errorless in 17 defensive chances.
PING!:
During the Division I Independent baseball tournament you
hit .722 in four games with seven extra base hits, including
four home runs and hit for the cycle in the last contest to
rally the Bison past NJIT. How do you explain your prolific
offensive outburst? Langlais: I’m not really sure, I just
felt really comfortable at the plate, saw the ball really
well and every time I hit the ball, I made solid contact and
the ball just found the holes. It was like someone else was
controlling my body.
PING!: With
your statistics and experience, you’ll be looked upon
to be a leader for NDSU in 2008, especially with a new coaching
staff. Is that a role you’ll embrace your senior season?
Langlais: I will do my best being a leader for this
team. But I’m more of a lead-by-example kind of guy.
We will have about 10 or more seniors on the team next season,
so I wouldn’t consider myself as the only leader on
the team. Each one will provide a lot of baseball experience
to our younger players and produce for next year’s team.
PING!: Do you
see the North Dakota State’s move to the new Summit
League conference as a step forward as the program as the
university finishes its transition to Division I? Langlais: I do see it as a step forward for
NDSU, because it gives us and our other sports an opportunity
to come in and compete right away. I see us being in the top
half of the conference in each sport.
PING!: The
Bison were able to stay relatively close to home last year,
however with the NDSU’s new conference affiliation in
2008, the Bison will have to make a number of long road trips.
How do you like to spend time when you’re on the road
traveling to and from games and between contests while you’re
away? Langlais: On the road a lot of us like to
play cards, mostly the card game Spades. Jeff Kyllo and I
rarely lose. We also watch a lot of movies, some movies way
to many times over the years. I’m pretty sure we have
seen ‘Miracle’ about 10 times on the bus the past
three years. I also try to get a lot of sleep to make the
bus ride go by a little faster. In the hotel we play a lot
of video games, and do the school work that we are missing
for being on the road. We have great parents that come to
a lot of our games, so since we don’t get to see them
that often during the school year, it’s fun to go to
dinner with them after the games.
PING!: Fargo
is notorious for its cold weather, requiring the Bison to
spend the preseason indoors. How hard is it for NDSU baseball
to prepare for a Division I baseball season when you can’t
play on natural grass? Langlais: The weather is a definite disadvantage
for all sports at NDSU. We are just one of the sports that
have to practice inside, so we have to share the Bison Sports
Arena. So some days we won’t have practice until 9 p.m.
because it is the only time we can get in to practice that
day. The surface we practice on is a hard rubber floor, and
the ground balls bounce a lot differently then they would
on grass. So the first time our coaches hit us ground balls
on real grass is the day of, or the day before our first game
of the season.
PING!: North
Dakota is an outdoor sportsman’s paradise with hunting
and fishing opportunities abound. Do like to get outside and
trade your glove and spikes for a hunting vest and decoy? Langlais: Well, I’m not much of a
hunter, but I love to fish and just being on the lake. I’m
from Minnesota, so there is nothing better then going to your
lake cabin in summer with your friends and family. We do have
a lot of guys on the team that love the outdoors and love
hunting and fishing. Many of them will take a weekend and
go hunting and fishing together.
PING!: Former
single season homerun champion Roger Maris was from Fargo.
Considering the allegations of steroid use and banned supplements,
is the North Dakota native still the rightful record holder
in your opinion? Langlais: In my opinion, I have no idea
what to think. You would like to believe that since Bonds
has never tested positive for steroids, that he has never
taken them. It is just hard to believe that a guy at age 37,
hits 73 home runs and has his best season of his career, without
using a performance enhancer. So, until it’s proven
that Bonds has taken performance enhancers, he should be the
rightful record holder.
PING!: Do you
follow the college baseball postseason through out the College
World Series? Ever consider making the trip down to Omaha
to catch some of the games? Langlais: I do follow the college baseball
postseason for the most part. I watch the Super Regional and
World Series games when they have them on ESPN each year.
I think it would be a blast to go down with some friends to
watch the games. We play Creighton every year and drive by
the stadium all the time. It looks like a great place to play
and watch baseball.”
PING!:
During the Division I Independent baseball tournament you
hit .722 in four games with seven extra base hits, including
four home runs and hit for the cycle in the last contest to
rally the Bison past NJIT. How do you explain your prolific
offensive outburst? 
