Omaha or Bust for Several Players with Local Ties

Three baseball players who played seasons in Liberal are competing in the College World Series in Omaha this week. Former Saint Tomas Cruz and former BJ’s Jeffrey Jones and Raoul Torrez are playing in college baseball’s grandest event.

The former Seward pitcher Cruz has three saves for Clemson. The Amarillo native pitched during the 2007 and 2008 seasons at Seward and was an All American and won 11 games with a 2.22 ERA in 2008.

Arizona State’s Raoul Torrez played for the Liberal Bee Jays in 2007. The Phoenix native was 1-3 with a run scored in the 6-3 loss to Clemson on Monday. He is batting .273 with three homers and 45 RBI’s. Torrez played for coach Drew Keehn in Liberal.

South Carolina’s Jeffrey Jones was the BJ player of the year in 2007. The Fort Worth, Texas native is hitting .300 with eight homers and 29 RBI’s.