Cooke helps lead Dana to title

Staff Reports

Douglas High graduate Chad Cooke played a key role in helping the Dana College baseball team clinch its second straight regular season Great Plains Athletic Conference title.

The NAIA school in Nebraska recently swept Midland Lutheran 3-2 and 7-2 to finish 16-8 in the GPAC. Dana became the first baseball team to win back-to-back GPAC titles.

"We knew all along that we had the talent and experience to top the conference," Dano coach Chad Gorman said. "Our team batting average is .338 and we have 15 seniors. A fifth place pick in the preseason poll was all the motivation we needed."

In one of the wins against Midland, Cooke, a senior second baseman, went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Also playing key roles this season for Dana have been Douglas graduates Tommy Bond and Kenny Nicoll.

Dana opens the NAIA Region IV playoffs today as the No. 6 seed against top-seeded Bellevue.