The Belhaven baseball team capped off their greatest seasons in school history with a trip to the 2010 Avista NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. Like softball, it was the first ever appearance by a Blazer team in the World Series. Belhaven came close in 2009 when they made it to the championship game of NAIA National Tournament opening round, but Lee University spoiled their travel plans with a championship victory.

Belhaven got off to a good start this season and despite struggling somewhat down the stretch were able to hang on to a half game lead over LSU-Shreveport in the GCAC standings after the final regular season pitch was thrown. Belhaven had a half game lead going into the final weekend series at Loyola University essentially needing a three game sweep to secure the regular season conference championship. In fact, the Blazers came up big on the road and took all three contests from the Wolfpack to earn the conference championship and the number one seed in the conference tournament. Unfortunately, Belhaven stumbled a bit and were knocked out in three games allowing a hot LSU-Shreveport club to win the conference tournament championship. However, the Blazers owned a number 14 ranking in the final NAIA Top 25 Poll and earned and an at-large bid and a number two seed into the NAIA Opening Round tournament.

This year Belhaven was selected as one of the host sites for the opening round and took full advantage of the friendly confines of Smith-Wills Stadium. Belhaven won all three of their games posting wins over Brewton-Parker College, Missouri Baptist University, and edged Texas Wesleyan University 4-3 in the championship game to punch their ticket to Lewiston.

Belhaven's first opponent in the World Series was Point Loma Nazarene University and that first game went Point Loma's way as the Sea Lions racked up a 9-1 victory. Needing a win to stay alive, the Blazers faced defending national champion Lubbock Christian University the next day and pulled one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NAIA World Series with a 3-2 victory. It's the first time in the 54 year history of the World Series that a defending champion has been eliminated in two games. The Blazers, the number eight seed in the tournament, blasted three home runs to account for all their scoring in the contest. The win was the 44th of the season and tied the Belhaven record for most wins in a season. However, Belhaven could not maintain the momentum as Embry-Riddle University ended the Blazers season with an 8-4 win in the next round of the World Series.

Six Belhaven players earned GCAC All-Conference Honors and Blazer Head Coach Hill Denson was named the GCAC Coach of the Year. Craig Dean, Timmy Foster, Jimmy Gilford, Brandon Benton, Wade Broyles, and Brandt Hinton were all honored for their achievements during the 2010 season. Hinton was also named at the GCAC Player of the Year and Broyles went on to be name to the NAIA All-American Team.

Foster, a senior Natchez, MS, was named as an All Conference Infielder and garnered a Gold Glove award at first base. Foster hit .395 with 74 runs batted in during the 2010 season. Foster had 30 doubles on the year which was tops in the NAIA in that category and is a new Belhaven record for most doubles in a season. Foster has 45 doubles in his career putting him fifth on the Belhaven career doubles list. He also had a team high 10 home runs, five triples, and a team high 94 hits. The five triples by Foster this season added to five from a year ago giving him 10 for his career and places him in a tie for fifth in career triples at Belhaven. Home run wise, Foster is sixth all time in school history with 24 and in runs batted in he is fourth in school history with 135. And that's not all, Foster established new Belhaven single season records for hits, doubles, RBI's, and total bases (164).

Dean, a senior from Cold Water, MS, was named third base All Conference and batted at a .418 clip with nine home runs and 52 runs batted in. Dean collected 17 doubles and four triples and boasted a .668 slugging percentage.

Benton, who is a junior from Pearl, MS, was selected as the All Conference DH with a batting average of .286 including 14 doubles, one triple, three home runs and 41 RBI's. Gilford, a junior outfielder from Taneytown, MD, was an outfield All-Conference and Gold Glove winner this season. Gilford had seven home runs and 49 RBI's with a batting average of .351. Gilford had 10 doubles and six triples while recording a fielding percentage of 1.000 with 93 putouts and two assists in center field.

Hinton, a senior from Brookhaven, MS, was named All Conference Pitcher and Player of the year on the strength of outstanding numbers on the mound. Hinton anchored the starting rotation and was 12-1 on the season. He made a team high 23 appearances and logged 113.2 innings of work while compiling an ERA of 3.64. Hinton fanned 57 batters and tossed three complete games. Hinton along with Paul Faulkenberry are tied for fourth in career wins at Belhaven with each having 19. Faulkenberry went 8-2 this past season and picked up the win in relief against Lubbock Christian in the World Series. He struck out 34 and has 175 for his career which is fifth most in school history.

Broyles, a senior relief pitcher from Madison, MS, anchored the back end of the Blazers bullpen recording 14 saves during the 2010 season which ranked him second in the NAIA in that category. The 14 saves by Broyles is also a new Belhaven single season school record that was previously held by Kyle Medley who notched 13 saves in 2009. His save total is also tied for fourth best for a single season in NAIA history and ranks him second on the Belhaven career totals list. Broyles went 3-0 during the season and posted an ERA of 1.54 with 75 strikeouts in 41 innings of work. He allowed just seven earned runs all season and held opposing hitters to a .149 batting average.

Broyles was selected in the 40th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. He was the 1,211th overall pick in this year's draft which is conducted over a span of three days and is comprised of 50 rounds. Broyles is the third Blazer in the past two years to be drafted joining Chanse Cooper and Craig Westcott who were drafted last year.

“I'm proud of the accomplishments of Wade Broyles and being selected in the Major League Baseball Draft,” says Belhaven Head Coach Hill Denson. “Wade was one of the key components of our pitching staff this season which helped lead us to the NAIA World Series. He was nearly unhittable as a closer and was automatic out of the bullpen. It was a big day for him and we wish him the best of luck with this opportunity to pursue his professional baseball career.”

Other records of note from the 2010 season include Shawn Diehl and Drew Dillard collecting eight triples this past year. That puts them in a tie for second for most triples in a season in the history of the program. As a team, Belhaven led the nation with 40 triples in 2010.

“This was an amazing season for us and our program,” said Head Coach Hill Denson who surpassed 1,000 career coaching wins this season and now has 1,038. “We came close last year, but we were able to put the pieces in place this year to get the job done and make it to Lewiston for the World Series which has been our goal each year. We had some guys come up big for us this year both at the plate and on the mound. Timmy Foster anchored the middle part of our lineup and we had good hitting up and down the order. We also got solid pitching from Brandt Hinton and Chris Bennett, Riley Galloway, and Paul Faulkenberry all came on strong at the end of the season.”

Belhaven will bid farewell to the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference and this coming fall will begin competition in the Southern States Athletic Conference with the exception of football who will remain in the Mid-South Conference. Blazer athletics is hopeful and confident that the success's in 2009-10 will carry forward in the years to come.