Demorest, GA - As a part of a record number of host sites being announced for NCAA Championship sites over the next four years, Piedmont College has learned that its very own Loudermilk Field will serve as a the host for the 2014 South Regional in baseball this coming May.  The NCAA on Wednesday announced 523 sites have been awarded as hosts for 82 of its 89 championships for the 2014-18 seasons, making it the largest collection of host site announcements in association history.

"We really want to thank everyone who put in a bid," said Mark Lewis, NCAA executive vice president of championships and alliances. "The competitiveness of the bids made it extremely difficult for the sport committees to select sites as there just weren't spots for all of the great bids we received. Ultimately the sites that were selected will provide our student-athletes, coaches and fans the best experience possible."

The new NCAA championship bid process creates the largest host site announcement ever, spanning 82 championships across a four-year cycle. Previously, selection announcements varied by sport. This process now gives the NCAA and host sites more time to plan each championship experience.

"We are very happy to showcase Piedmont College and Loudermilk Stadium as the site of the 2014 D3 baseball South Regional," said Director of Intercollegiate Athletics John Dzik earlier today after the historic announcement from the NCAA. "We look forward to exciting baseball in May on our campus and hope our Piedmont Lions will be part of the action."

Bidding for 82 of 89 NCAA championships began in July and 1,984 bid applications were ultimately submitted. Each sport committee, per division, selected the host sites it believed would provide the ultimate experience for the respective student-athletes, resulting in 523 total championship event sites awarded. The seven championships not included in the process due to preexisting site arrangements are: Division I baseball, Division I men's basketball, Division I football, Division I men's and women's golf, Division I softball and Division III women's ice hockey.

The selected cities represent 39 states across the United States. Florida led the way as the state with the most championship site selections with 42 sites, while the state of Pennsylvania had 34 selections and Texas finished with 30. California and North Carolina rounded out the top five with 29 each.

Loudermilk Field will host the teams selected for the 2014 South Regional in baseball during the month of May though the official dates have not yet been released.  This is the first time that any Piedmont facility has been named as the host site of a NCAA Championship event as the college only became a full-fledged Division III member during the 2003-04 school year ending its long-time affiliation with the NAIA.

"It is a momentous day for Piedmont College Athletics to host our first ever NCAA regional championship in any sport since moving the athletic program into NCAA Division III," said Piedmont Head Baseball Coach Jim Peeples.  "We are very grateful to the institution and also to Mr. Charlie Loudermilk and his family who gave so generously 10 years ago to provide us with one of the finest facilities in all of Division III Baseball.  It will be a privilege to host the best the south region has to offer in baseball come May."

Named in honor of Charles Loudermilk, a former Piedmont board member who was instrumental in the stadium's construction, Loudermilk Field serves as the home of the Piedmont College baseball program. Consistent with the storied history of the PC baseball program, Loudermilk Field itself was opened in 2005 and dedicated in historic fashion as former Atlanta Braves greats Phil Neikro and Steve Bedrosian were on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitches.

The stadium, which led all of NCAA Division-III in total attendance during the stadium's first full year of existence in 2006, includes covered chair-back seating in addition to old-fashioned bleachers for 600 plus spectators. Designed to remind fans of the classic ballparks from baseball's golden age during the 1930s and '40s, the facility upgrade also includes a concession stand area, press box facility, and locker rooms.

Down the leftfield line lies an Indoor Facility, a fully-functional indoor practice facility that includes an astro turf area, batting cages, and an annex of the Johnny Mize Baseball Museum. The indoor complex also houses the Lions' locker room with player lockers, a laundry facility, team restrooms, and showers. Located on Georgia Street of the Demorest campus, the stadium is nestled just below Burgen Tennis Courts.

As one of the premier facilities in all of NCAA Division III, Loudermilk Field has continued to improve and stay atop the list of most desired college facilities with the latest renovation coming just this fall as Crane Materials International, a member of the Crane group and based out of Atlanta, is currently completing the installation of a new outfield wall at the complex.  Dubbed MonsterWall, the material is constructed with over 90% of recycled products and features interlocking vinyl panels that creates a sturdy athletic wall which gives during impact.  Designed by CMI, a company owned by the Crane group in business since 1947, the product will add a modern touch of class to one of the most classic ballparks in the entire nation.

Piedmont is not short of baseball history with the namesake of its athletic center being non other than Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize, a Demorest native and Piedmont baseball player discovered by former Lions Coach H.B. Forester.  Then a 15-year-old bat boy for the team, Mize would be recruited by Forrester to play for the Lions before moving on to spend 15 years in the majors becoming known around the professional ranks as the "The Big Cat" for his hitting prowess and ability to field bad hops at first base.  Mize is reported to have hit a ball from Haldeman Field, over the hill where Daniel Hall is today, and across Highway 441, where it put a sizeable dent in the door to the Woman's Club building.

Following his Piedmont days, Mize went on to a Hall of Fame career as a slugger for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants and the New York Yankees where he helped the Yanks win five straight World Series titles from 1949 to 1953.  Given the Babe Ruth Award as the Most Outstanding Player of the 1952 World Series, Mize homered in three straight games of that season's Fall Classic to win the award in a series for the ages that went seven games against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

"The Big Cat" shared the field with some of the game's greatest players in one of baseball's most golden eras shining amongst names like Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Jackie Robinson, and Ted Williams.  Mize is the only player in baseball history, however, to have hit 50 or more home runs and strike out less than 50 times doing so during the 1947 season.

Mize finished his MLB career with 359 home runs and perhaps may have crested the 400 or even 500 barrier had he not demonstrated a great commitment to country taking three years away from his professional baseball career to serve in the United States military during World War II missing the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons. Having grown up in a home adjacent to Piedmont College in the town of Demorest, Mize's trophies and baseball memorabilia are now on display in the Johnny Mize Athletic Center and Baseball Museum here at Piedmont.

For more information on all of the NCAA championship sites awarded, log on to www.ncaa.com/site-selections. While on the selections page, fans can watch selection shows featuring the 523 location site announcements as well as access championship information across all three Divisions of the NCAA.