First round a reunion for former Central teammates

HATTIESBURG, Miss. --Murray State pitcher Craig Ringwald was watching the NCAA Tournament selection show a week ago when a familiar name flashed across the screen.

Ringwald did a double-take. Baylor?

"Of all the teams in the NCAA Tournament, I never thought we'd play Baylor," Ringwald said. "I just couldn't believe it."

Ringwald spent a season at Baylor and is a friend of Bears' designated hitter Ross Bennett. The two grew up together in Cape Girardeau, attended Central as the team's top two pitchers and arrived at Baylor as freshmen in the fall of 1998.

Baylor defeated Murray State at Hattiesburg, Miss., Friday. The Bears won the regional and advanced to play at LSU this week.

"I'm sure I know more about Murray State than anybody on our squad because I always see how Craig is doing on the Internet," Bennett said. "When we go back to Cape for Christmas, we still work out together. There's usually snow on the ground, so we go to my church's gym and throw as hard as we can from 100 feet."

Ringwald and Bennett have probably caught each other thousands of times over the years. They've known each other since pre-kindergarten and played youth league baseball together.

"Ross had a better arm than me when we were growing up," Ringwald said. "And he also had that natural lefty swing. He was always the biggest kid in the league. It seemed like he was two years ahead of everybody."

After Bennett attended a baseball camp at Baylor in the summer of 1997, assistant coach Mitch Thompson went to Cape Girardeau to see him play. Ringwald also caught Thompson's eye, and he signed with the Bears in 1998.

While Bennett stayed at Baylor and eventually became an all-Big 12 designated hitter, Ringwald decided to transfer to Three Rivers Community College following his first year. Ringwald finally pitched collegiately for the first time for Three Rivers in the 2001 season.

Murray State shocked everybody by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament after finishing fourth during the regular season.

"Realistically, I don't think anyone would have believed that we'd be here," Ringwald said. "But we got hot at the right time, and everything came together."