Ags face
Hoes at
Regional
By Nick Georgandis
The Battalion
Can lightning strike the
same place twice? The Texas
A&M men’s tennis team is bet
ting on it.
Last year, the Aggies upset
top-seeded Arkansas in the
NCAA Region VI Champi
onship, gaining a bid to the
NCAA Tournament. Now the
Razorbacks, the No.2 seed in
Region VI come to College Sta
tion to face the No.3-seeded Ag
gies on Saturday.
Texas A&M head coach
David Kent said homecourt ad
vantage will be a big factor in
Saturday’s match.
"We’ve never beaten them in
Fayetteville, but we’ve been re
ally tough on them outside of
there,” Kent said. “We are hap
py to be playing them because
they are a class bunch of guys.”
The two teams have already
met once this season, with the
Razorbacks taking a close 4-3 de
cision. Kent said the team real
izes how close they came in
Fayetteville and will be ready to
throw the first punch on Sunday.
“It was a very close match
that came down to them win
ning the doubles point,” Kent
said. “We desperately need to
come out and win that point to
get ahead of them 1-0 this time.”
The tournament will mark
the final home performances of
Aggie seniors Bernardo Mar
tinez and Rico Rodarte. Mar
tinez said this weekend will be
the time that he has waited his
whole career for.
“I’ve been waiting for this
moment since I was a fresh
man,” Martinez said. “It’s going
to be tough because I know it’s
my last match here, but I’ve
done a lot of work and I’ll let it
all hang out this weekend.
“I really owe a lot for all the
help I’ve received from my
coaches and my teammates.”
If the Aggies do advance past
the Razorbacks, the road to the
automatic bid still will not be
See Regionals, Page 11
Local product
works way back to A&M
Roger Haieh/TuE Battalion
Junior William Shifiett looks for the play from the pitching coach in Friday’s game against
the University of Texas.
□ William Shifiett was a junior
college All-Conference in 1994.
By Robert Rodriguez
The Battalion
Home.
Never has a word described a player as
well as it does Texas A&M’s William Shifiett.
He has lived near home his entire life and
when he takes the field, the Aggie catcher pro
tects home with all of his abilities.
Shifiett is a junior college transfer from
Blinn Junior College and played high school
baseball in Navasota. Even though he lived in
the Brazos Valley, Shifiett was not obsessed
with playing for the Aggies.
“I didn’t really care if I came to A&M or
not,” Shifiett said. “However, I ended up
here and I’m happy with it.”
Shifiett originally committed to A&M af
ter high school and attended school during
the 1992 fall semester. He said he trans
ferred for several reasons.
“The biggest reason why I transferred was
for playing time,” Shifiett said. “When I came
here, they had Rob Trimble and Rob Lewis
catching. When I came out of high school, I
needed to get better. Playing in JTJCO (junior
college) was a good experience for me.”
At Blinn, Shifiett lettered both years and
was named to the All-Conference team last
season. In 1994, Shifiett batted .315 and hit
five home runs.
Shifiett said there were some major dif
ferences between junior college baseball and
Division I baseball.
“The work ethics of the players are a lot
different,” Shifiett said. “The players work
a lot harder in Division I and the pitching
is a little bit tougher. You see better pitch
ing every day.”
This season, Shifiett is platooning at
catcher with freshman Matt Garrick. Shi
fiett said his goal at the beginning of the
season was just to get some playing time.
“I just wanted to get here and try to get
into the lineup,” Shifiett said. “I didn’t think I
was going to be a superstar and I’m not. I’ve
accomplished my goal of getting into the line
up and now, I just want to help the team out.”
At Navasota High School, Shifiett set the
career home run record with 21. He was a
three-year letterman and helped his team ad
vance to the Class 3A regional championship
game at Olsen Field in his senior season.
He also lettered three years in football
and was an All-State linebacker in Class
3A. Shifiett said no big schools offered him
a football scholarship despite his honors.
“I received some offers, but not from any
body from Division I,” Shifiett said. “I’m only
5-feet, 9-inches tall, so I knew I wasn’t going
to play football anywhere.”
It seems baseball is in his blood since two
of his brothers played college baseball and an
other brother. Matt, played in the Montreal
Expos and the Atlanta Braves organization.
Shifiett said his brothers have always influ
enced him when it comes to baseball.
“I listen to them because they know what
they’re talking about,” Shifiett said. “Matt is
a coach and another brother is a high school
coach, and they want to help me out. I listen
to them when I go home.”
Shifiett has set some lofty goals that he
wants to accomplish before he leaves A&M.
“Hopefully, we will win the Southwest
Conference tournament this year,” Shifiett
said. “My personal goals are to have a bigger
contribution to the team next year since this
will be my senior year.”
Johnson called Shifiett “a scrapper” and
that’s how the Aggie catcher wants to
be remembered.
“I want to be remembered as someone
who gave it all he had,” Shifiett said. “I
came up and did everything that I can do be
hind the plate. If the winning run was com
ing in, I would do everything in my power to
prevent him from scoring. I’m just a hard-
nose player." -
...And I’ll
see you at
the movies
Nick
Georgandis
Y ou know what summer
time means, don’t you?
Yes of course, a pletho
ra of new blockbuster
movies. Not just main
stream, comedy, romance
and action flicks though, for
this year filmmakers have
decided to delve into the
world of sports to make the
summer of 1995 the biggest
moneymaker ever.
Let’s sneak a peak into
the theater and see what’s in
store for the summer:
lire Sherminator: A
Boston Celtic point guard
travels back to the days
when he used to be a good
player, finds his game and
returns to the present to
combat the nearly unstop
pable Orlando Magic.
Grumpy-Dld Men II: The
Texas Rangers introduce
their starting rotation.
Stone Cold: Ken Burns-1
documentary on the condi-J
tion of former Seattle Sea-.'2
hawk Brian Bosworth’s act-L
ing career.
Village of the Damned:;
The Houston Oilers con^
verge on San Antonio fo£-
training camp.
The Shaw-Shaq Redemp :
tion: Orlando Magic sixth ;
man Brian Shaw keeps.
Shaquille O’Neal from going
crazy in mini-camp by*
teaching him how to shoot-
free throws.
While You Were Sleepingi
Grossly out of shaped;
See Georgandis, Page f l
The Tradition Continues...
We extend our congratulations to these students on the We also wish our future and former interns continued
completion of their college studies and look forward to the start academic success,
of their professional careers at Price Waterhouse LLP.
Dallas
Houston
Dallas
Houston
Tiffany Barnes
James Armstrong
Camille Betzen
Katrina Arnold
Stephanie Boudreau
Nicole Connors
Scott Koch
Gary Brauchle
Kathy Groff
Mary Dubberly
Mike McMullen
Nickie Cormack
Patrick Hudson
Todd Fry
Cherie Portele
Andrea Dahlke
Hema Polani
Tonya Gardenhi
Suzan Snider
Yvonne Martinez
Mike Tommack
David Kinnebrew
Tom Spivey
Laurie Miksch
Clint Whitlock
Tracy Tyler
Tim Vordenbaumen
York Richards
J.D. Young
New York
San Antonio
Fort Worth
Susan Sandford
Ashley Spear
Jason Strahan
Nam Bui
Joy Lopez
Paul Wallace
Brian Trauernicht
Teri Vivion
Mexico City
Karen Yanta
Camilo Silva
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