1961 Western Michigan Broncos baseball team

1961 Western Michigan Broncos baseball
1961 Western Michigan Broncos baseball
Mid-American Conference champions; District IV champions
College World Series, T-5th
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	19–8 (11–0 MAC)
Head coach	Charlie Maher (23rd season);
Assistant coach	Bill Chambers (1st season)
Home stadium	Hyames Field
	Seasons ← 1960 1962 →

1961 Mid-American Conference baseball standings
v t e	Conf						Overall
Team	W		L		T	PCT	W		L		T	PCT
No. 5 Western Michigan ‍†‍‍^y	11	–	0	–	0	1.000	19	–	8	–	0	.704
Kent State ‍‍‍	9	–	2	–	0	.818	12	–	7	–	0	.632
Ohio ‍‍‍	7	–	3	–	0	.700	13	–	6	–	0	.684
Miami (OH) ‍‍‍	3	–	6	–	0	.333	5	–	11	–	1	.324
Bowling Green ‍‍‍	2	–	7	–	0	.222	6	–	12	–	1	.342
Marshall ‍‍‍	2	–	8	–	0	.200	8	–	12	–	1	.405
Toledo ‍‍‍	1	–	9	–	0	.100	2	–	16	–	0	.111

† – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1961^[1] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

The 1961 Western Michigan Broncos baseball team represented Western Michigan College in the 1961 NCAA University Division baseball season. The Broncos played their home games at Hyames Field. The team was coached by Charlie Maher in his 23rd year at Western Michigan.

The Broncos won the District IV playoff to advanced to the College World Series, where they were defeated by the Syracuse Orangemen.

Roster[edit]

1961 Western Michigan Broncos baseball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	Name	Bats/throws	Height	Weight	Year	Home town
C	Jerry Austry	/	—	—	So	Chicago, Illinois
	Pat Bidelman	/	—	—
	Les Cochran	/	—	—
	Gene Cooley	/	—	—
	John Cruse	/	—	—
C	Charles Dodge	/	—	—
	Bill Donahue	/	—	—
	Al Erickson	/	—	—
OF	Mike Gatza	/	—	—	So
	Bob Hamet	/	—	—
INF	Bill Ihne	/	—	—
	Ray Larned	/	—	—
P	Ken Larsen	/	—	—
INF	Fred Michalski	/	—	—	So
LHP	Bill Ortlieb	/L	—	—	Jr
	Ken Palmateer	/	—	—
INF	Frank Quilici	/	—	—	Sr
LHP	Lee Salo	/L	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—
	Ken Scodeller	/	—	—
	Gary Seamon	/	—	—
	Paul Tagliola	/	—	—
	Roger Theder	/	—	—	So
	Bill Tomb	/	—	—
LHP	Gary Wallman	/L	—	—	Sr

Bill Chambers

1961 Western Michigan Broncos baseball game log

Regular season

April (7–3)

#	Date	Opponent	Site/stadium	Score	Overall record	MAC record
1	April 1	vs Duke	Seminole Field • Tallahassee, Florida	3–10	0–1	–
2	April 2	vs Florida	Seminole Field • Tallahassee, Florida	6–7	0–2	–
3	April 4	at Florida State	Seminole Field • Tallahassee, Florida	10–3	1–2	–
4	April 4	at Florida State	Seminole Field • Tallahassee, Florida	6–7	1–3	–
5	April 7	at Toledo	Unknown • Toledo, Ohio	14–2	2–3	1–0
6	April 8	at Toledo	Unknown • Toledo, Ohio	2–0	3–3	2–0
7	April 14	Miami (OH)	Hyames Field • Kalamazoo, Michigan	15–0	4–3	3–0
8	April 15	Miami (OH)	Hyames Field • Kalamazoo, Michigan	11–8	5–3	4–0
9	April 21	Kent State	Hyames Field • Kalamazoo, Michigan	4–1	6–3	5–0
10	April 29	at Notre Dame	Cartier Field • Notre Dame, Indiana	7–4	7–3	5–0

May (8–3)

#	Date	Opponent	Site/stadium	Score	Overall record	MAC record
11	May 2	Ohio State	Hyames Field • Kalamazoo, Michigan	10–6	8–3	5–0
12	May 2	Ohio State	Hyames Field • Kalamazoo, Michigan	2–3	8–4	5–0
13	May 5	Ohio	Hyames Field • Kalamazoo, Michigan	4–1	9–4	6–0
14	May 6	Ohio	Hyames Field • Kalamazoo, Michigan	2–1	10–4	7–0
15	May 12	at Marshall	Unknown • Huntington, West Virginia	13–4	11–4	8–0
16	May 13	at Marshall	Unknown • Huntington, West Virginia	12–3	12–4	9–0
17	May 15	Wisconsin	Hyames Field • Kalamazoo, Michigan	8–10	12–5	9–0
18	May 16	Wisconsin	Hyames Field • Kalamazoo, Michigan	1–3	12–6	9–0
19	May 19	at Bowling Green	Unknown • Bowling Green, Ohio	14–3	13–6	10–0
20	May 20	at Bowling Green	Unknown • Bowling Green, Ohio	9–1	14–6	11–0
21	May 23	Michigan	Hyames Field • Kalamazoo, Michigan	7–5	15–6	11–0

Postseason

District IV Playoff (3–0)

#	Date	Opponent	Site/stadium	Score	Overall record	MAC record
22	May 29	vs Detroit	Ray Fisher Stadium • Ann Arbor, Michigan	3–1	16–6	11–0
23	May 31	vs Cincinnati	Ray Fisher Stadium • Ann Arbor, Michigan	8–1	17–6	11–0
24	June 3	at Michigan	Ray Fisher Stadium • Ann Arbor, Michigan	4–3	18–6	11–0

College World Series (1–2)

#	Date	Opponent	Site/stadium	Score	Overall record	MAC record
25	June 10	vs Boston College	Omaha Municipal Stadium • Omaha, Nebraska	2–3	18–7	11–0
26	June 11	vs Texas	Omaha Municipal Stadium • Omaha, Nebraska	8–2	19–7	11–0
27	June 12	vs Syracuse	Omaha Municipal Stadium • Omaha, Nebraska	0–6	19–8	11–0

^ "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1961". Boyds World. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
^ "Mid-American Conference Award Winners". www.wmubroncos.com. Western Michigan University. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
^ "All-Americans and All-Region Honoreess". www.wmubroncos.com. Western Michigan University. Retrieved November 25, 2020.

v t e Western Michigan Broncos baseball
Venues	Hyames Field (1939–present)
People	Notable players
Seasons	1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National Championships in bold; College World Series appearances in italics