Normally, the summer is the best time of the year. No -- or less -- school, free time and fun in the sun. One thing the season is not known for, however, is sports.
But thanks to a great run of performances by Sun Devil athletes, 2005 was as memorable a summer as the school has ever seen, sporting wise.
Let's review. We said goodbye to the best basketball player to ever don the maroon and gold, bid adieu to a long-time coach, hired a replacement with plenty of promise, watched one the best female amateur golfers in the world turn pro, heard about a world-class diver continue to impress, saw four sprinters blaze to a high finish, had our best hardball player drafted, and of course, witnessed one of the most exciting postseason runs by a baseball team at an level, ever.
So grab a beverage, read on, and reminisce with us. We hope you enjoyed the summer's as much we did.
10. Buck drafted by Oakland: Travis Buck headed into the 2005 baseball season with some lofty expectations thrust upon him. Not only were fans counting on him to try and help the Sun Devils reach the College World Series for the first time in six years, but scouts were eager to see if he could build on a terrific 2004 season.
Buck passed all his tests with flying colors, helping the team reach Omaha by leading the Sun Devils in several offensive categories. He was rewarded on June 7 when the Oakland A's made him the 36th overall selection in the MLB draft.
Buck wasted no time getting acquainted with professional baseball, hitting a home run in his third at-bat for the minor-league Vancouver Canadians. He was hitting .355 with two home runs and eight RBIs through July 30.
Other ASU players drafted in 2005 were Jeff Larish, Tuffy Gosewisch, Jason Urquidez, Erik Averill, Joey Hooft and Brett Bordes.
-- Kyle Odegard
9. Puhakka competes at Worlds: Joona Puhakka showed he has what it takes to compete against the best divers in the world when the ASU senior narrowly missed a bronze medal in the 1-meter springboard competition in the FINA World Diving Championships in Montreal, Canada on July 21.
Puhakka placed fourth in the competition with a final score of 441.78. He was in third place heading into his final dive, but was edged out of medal consideration by China's Feng Wang.
"Joona had a good day diving, it just came down to some degree of difficulty and he just missed getting a medal," ASU head diving coach Mark Bradshaw said. "It was a very close contest and he did well enough to win a medal, it just didn't happen."
Puhakka finished in ninth place of the 3-meter event two days prior.
-- Kyle Odegard
8. Men's relay finishes second at NCAA's: The ASU men's 4 x 100 meter relay team didn't take home the national championship during the final day of the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 11, but they didn't miss it by much.
The four-member team made up of Rich Allen, Seth Amoo, Domenik Peterson and Lewis Banda finished second in the nation with a time of 3:00.57, good enough to set a new ASU record.
National Champion LSU broke the national collegiate record with a time of 2:59.59.
ASU's previous best was recorded at the 2004 Pac-10 championships in Tucson, when the Sun Devils clocked a time of 3:01.26. The championships were held at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento, Calif. All four ASU relay members earned All-American honors at the meet.
- Jeremy Cluff
7. Baseball sweeps Tempe Regional: From day one, the ASU baseball team held steadfast to the fact it was saving its best baseball for the NCAA Tournament. They weren't kidding, either.
After looking pedestrian in its prior three series, the Sun Devils came out with a vengeance in the Tempe Regional June 4-6, sweeping three straight games to advance to the Super Regional.
ASU opened it up with a 9-6 win over East Carolina in which Jeff Larish hit a pair of home runs and Jason Urquidez went six strong innings.
Tuffy Gosewisch won the Sun Devils' second game almost single-handedly, going 3-for-5 with a career-high seven RBIs as ASU cruised to an 11-3 win over Coastal Carolina.
The Sun Devils finished up its romp with another win over Coastal Carolina, 9-5, and advanced to the Super Regional in Fullerton, Calif.
-- Kyle Odegard
6. Wells coaches last game: The ASU softball team's 2-1 NCAA Regional loss to Hofstra on May 21 didn't just mark the end of the Sun Devils season; it was also the end of Coach Linda Wells collegiate coaching career.
Wells retired from coaching at the end of her 16th season at ASU with a school record 563 victories. She guided ASU to two Women's College World Series appearances, finishing seventh in 1999 and third in 2002.
"I was so proud that we got into Regionals," Wells said. "It was very rewarding to end my career in a postseason tournament."
ASU went 30-26 in Wells' final season, rising as high as No. 17 in the national rankings. The Sun Devils sprung upsets against national powers -- Stanford, Cal, Oregon and Oregon State -- during the season, all while battling injuries, inexperience and one of the nation's most difficult schedules.
- Jeremy Cluff
5. Stahle named NCAA Golfer of the Year: Although she only played one season of golf at ASU, Louise Stahle made that season count.
On May 26, the ASU freshman was recognized with the 2005 National Golf Coaches Association Eleanor Dudley Division I Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards.
Stahle, who was also a first team NCGA All-American this past season, became the fifth Sun Devil to win the NCGA Player of the Year award. She won the Pac-10 individual championship as well as two other tournaments last season.
Stahle was also named the Pac-10's Golfer and Freshman of the Year. She finished in the top five in all but two of the 10 events in which she participated. Her 71.77 stroke average led the nation.
Stahle will not return to ASU for her sophomore season, instead opting to join the women's professional ranks.
- Jeremy Cluff
4. Myers hired as new softball coach: ASU wanted to find someone with experience to take over the softball team after Linda Wells' retirement. One of its own fit the job description perfectly.
Clint Myers, who played on the ASU baseball team from 1970-1973, was hired as the school's third head softball coach on June 29.
During the past 10 seasons Myers accumulated a 406-192 record as the head baseball coach at Central Arizona College, winning the National Junior College Athletic Association championship in 2002. He posted a 481-43 record in nine seasons as Central Arizona's softball coach before that, winning six NJCAA national championships.
"We will play with a new philosophy and go out and compete with a certain amount of knowledge of how the game is played," Myers said. "I expect the winning ways ASU is accustomed to will continue in the upcoming years, as well as down the road."
- Jeremy Cluff
3. Diogu drafted No. 9 by Warriors: After dominating opponents during his three seasons at ASU, former forward Ike Diogu decided to take his talents to the next level.
The Golden State Warriors didn't waste any time selecting him, snatching the Pac-10 Player of the Year and consensus second team All-American with the ninth overall pick of the June 28 draft. Diogu had been projected to go late in the first round.
Diogu led the Pac-10 in points, rebounds and blocks per game during his final season. He scored at least 10 points in all 91 of his collegiate games.
"Playing in a Sun Devil uniform has been awesome, and honestly, I thought this decision was going to be a lot easier than it really was," Diogu said. "In the end I had to do the best thing for me and my family."
Diogu ended his career third on the ASU career-scoring list.
- Jeremy Cluff
2. Baseball rises from dead at Fullerton Regional: The fat lady was warming up her vocal chords, and the naysayers were preparing for another offseason of bashing the ASU baseball team's inability to reach the College World Series.
On June 12 the Sun Devils found themselves trailing 7-2 in the deciding game of its Super Regional against Cal State Fullerton -- where the winner would advance to Omaha and the loser would go home.
But the players never lost hope, and a solo homer by Joe Persichina punctuated a seven-run rally as ASU held on for an improbable 9-8 victory that sent them to the CWS for the first time since 1998.
The game had numerous heroes, from Urquidez stepping into pitch off of one day's rest, to unlikely home runs by Persichina and Andrew Romine, to improbable defense behind the plate by Tuffy Gosewisch.
-- Kyle Odegard
1. Larish crushes three homers at CWS: General managers throughout major league baseball had to be kicking themselves after watching one of the best individual performances in College World Series history on June 21.
Two weeks after falling to the fifth round of the MLB draft, Jeff Larish showed the nation his worth, hitting three home runs to help lead ASU over Nebraska in an 11-inning elimination-game thriller.
Larish led off the game with an opposite field home run, and followed it up with a home run to right field in the third. But he saved his best for last, hitting a solo shot to dead center field with two outs in the ninth inning to push the game to extra innings.
A bloop single by J.J. Sferra eventually gave ASU an 8-7 victory.
ASU coach Pat Murphy said it was the best performance he had ever seen in a game of that magnitude. The Sun Devils went on to win one more game in Omaha, falling one victory short of an appearance in the national championship series.
-- Kyle Odegard
