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Bay State Esports Team Takes on St. Louis in League of Legends Invitational
July 23, 2021
Bay State College's League of Legends Esports team recently returned from competing in the first in-person collegiate Esports event of 2021. The Gateway Legends Collegiate Invitational, hosted in St. Louis, MO, boasted a $10,000 prize pool and included the Top 16 varsity League of Legends teams from various colleges across the nation.
Bay State's ten player roster consisted of Top Laner Gerardo "Bejjj" Leon, Junglers Victors "Devil deGray" Diz and Yong-min "Dragonminkim" Kim, Mid Laner Roodman "Seranok" Moron, Bot Laner Robert Clarence "Jurassiq" Mabansag, and Support Henri "Admirable Potato" Lefebvre as well as Coach Ashton "Drake" Newsome.
Traveling to St. Louis was a challenge for some players, as nationwide thunderstorms led to flight cancellations throughout the United States. Yet, they persevered and arrived at Gateway Legends, ready to give it their all.
Round 1 of the tournament was an intense back and forth between Bay State Bulldogs and Grand View University (GVU) Vikings of Des Moines, IA. Devil deGray in the jungle on Kindred countering the Vi and Galio combo was not enough to defeat GVU. The Vikings quickly struck back with comfort picks such as Xerath and Kai'sa for Seranok and Jurrassiq, respectively. The Bulldogs secured a Game 3 victory after a 30-minute battle to secure their spot in the finals with a 2-1 victory.
Bay State suffered a 0-2 Round 2 loss to Harrisburg University of Harrisburg, PA, after a tough match-up across all lanes. The qualification match for the playoffs saw a rematch of the first round, but GVU came out on top knocking Bay State out of the tournament.
Overall, the Bulldogs placed 9th-12th with some of the other top colleges in the country, including St. Louis University, Miami Ohio University, and Aquinas College (Grand Rapids, MI).
Student and Support Henri "Admirable Potato" Lefebvre stated that Gateway Legends was his first LAN (local area network) event and that he hopes it will not be his last. He was excited to finally meet both his teammates in peson, and some of the best League of Legends players in the collegiate esports scene from other schools. Additionally, he had a lot of fun at the event despite the team's loss and assured that they are committed to improving their skills.
Lefebvre also noted that many positive improvements since joining the Bay State College Esports team. The organization has grown considerably and now prides itself in having talented players and a dedicated staff. He enjoys developing with them and wants to "show everyone who's the best collegiate team."
With the Fall 2021 semester approaching and American colleges returning to in-person learning and student life, there will be endless opportunities for Bay State to show how far they have come since the team was first founded in 2019 as well as their potential to continuously grow. Student enrollment and involvement in the Esports team increased greatly over the past two years, with the integration of more staff, scholarships, and the plans for the programs future, there is no telling just what they will be capable of.