Huntingdon's Kris Bennett has had an up and down season with the Tennessee Vols, one of eight teams who have qualified for the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska June 8-16. The Vols gained the spot by winning two straight games over East Carolina in Kinston, North Carolina over the weekend in the NCAA Super Regional.
Bennett suffered a shoulder injury in late March that limited his throwing ability. At the time, he was the Vols second leading batter with a .361 average and playing second base. He was taken out of the lineup and then served as a designated hitter for a couple of weeks before returning to the lineup in the second of three Alabama games on April 14. He turned in a fine performance in the field, including a diving stop and a long throw from behind the bag. The following day, he had three hits and three RBI's in the Vols 8-7 victory.
Bennett was thrilled to regain a playing position and was quoted at the time as saying, "DH is hard. You sit over there. You get your time at bat and then you have to wait nine more batters. For me, playing in the field, it keeps me mentally more in the game than it does watching."
At the time, his coach Rod Delmonico believed that many players would have continued rehabilitation a bit longer and that Bennett was playing in pain. However, the infielder loves the game and has performed well both in the field and at the plate since his return.
Bennett played for the Huntingdon Mustangs in high school and then began his collegiate career at Jackson State Community College. While at JSCC, he was a two-time all region, all state and all district choice. He hit .395 with 14 homeruns, 89 RBI's and had 25 stolen bases. He transferred to University of Tennessee at Knoxville as a junior in the fall of 1999 and was instantly a key player, starting all 62 of the Vols games throughout 1999-2000. He played third base for 59 of those games and shortstop for three. He led the Vols with 60 RBI's during his junior season while batting .326 which ranked him fourth on the team. He finished the season second in hits with 78. He also tied for the team lead with 17 multiple RBI games, collected a tie for second place with 23 multiple hit games and recorded the fourth longest hitting streak in school history with 20 games from February 20 to March 21, 2000. Kris was also one of four Vols to steal at least 20 bases during the year.
Kris was instrumental in the Vols two game, extra-inning wins over Vanderbilt in mid-May when in the second game of the series, he hit a single (in the 11th inning) to score two runs for the 5-3 win. Bennett also scored two of the remaining three runs, also on singles, the first in the fifth and the second in the sixth innings. The Vols finished the regular leason with a 41-15 overall record and a 18-12 SEC record.
Despite the shoulder injury and missing games in the field, Bennett was one of six Vols to make the Regional All Tournament Team, joining teammates Javi Herrera (catcher), Dan Wilson (outfield), Chris Burke (DH), and Allen Wyatt and Patrick Hicklen (pitchers). Wyatt picked up MVP honors. Wake Forrest had four players to make the team while Tennessee Tech had one.
In regional tournament action, the Vols had a 2-1 first round victory over Middle Tennessee and then defeated Tennessee Tech 11-0 to advance to the championship series. Bennett picked up four hits against Tech. Wake Forrest took the opening game 10-3, but the Vols came back in the final game to win 6-3 for the title. 
Advancing to the Super Regional in North Carolina, the Vols faced Eastern Carolina University. In the first game, they had a four-run rally in the top of the ninth to win the first game 13-10. Sunday, June 3, the Vols won 6-3 on Stevie Daniel's grand slam to advance to the World Series. 
Previous appearances at the World Series were in 1951 when they placed second and 1995 when they finished third. The Vols will open against Miami on Friday or Saturday, June 7 or June 8 in the double elimination College World Series. Other teams will be USC, Cal State at Fullerton, Tulane, Nebraska, Stanford and the winner fo the Florida State, Georgia game.
Bennett is the son of Mike and Linda Bennett of Huntingdon. His sister, Kacy, has signed to play softball for Tennessee Tech this fall.