Story by Don Williams, Avalanche-Journal

Karl Seiter has only good things to say about his first year playing baseball at Lubbock Christian University.

“This team here, I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to be with,” the Chaparrals’ first baseman said. “The coaching staff, everbody. There’s a lot of integrity on this team, a lot of loyalty, hard work. The coaching staff pushes everybody.”

That compliment might carry more weight coming from Seiter then it would from just any athlete. While other college baseball players spent the last few years pursuing, well, baseball, Seiter spent six months in Afghanistan and two years in Iraq with combat units.

As a U.S. Army Ranger, part of a highly trained, elite force, he was right in the middle of the war on terror. Seiter returned from Afghanistan in the spring of 2007 and deployed to Iraq a month later as part of the troop surge requested by former President George W. Bush. He landed in the “Triangle of Death,” the hostile area south of Baghdad.

“Over in Iraq, the surge was very hostile and very demanding,” he said. “It was a combat zone pretty much. Every day, it’s a grind. Two, three weeks at a time, a mission, mission, mission.”

This week, Seiter’s mind is on trying to reach the NAIA World Series. The first baseman has eight home runs and 43 runs batted in for LCU, which hosts the National Tournament Opening Round Lubbock bracket Tuesday through Monday at Hays Field. The ninth-ranked Chapparals played their opener today.

Winning the regional is a worthwhile mission but the stakes pale in comparison to what Seiter has experienced…click here to read complete story and watch video.