REGIONAL WEBSITE
All recaps by Drew Karpen
GAME 15 - #1 La Roche 4, #2 Randolph-Macon 3
Since losing in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championship game a year ago, La Roche College was destined to get back to Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park for some unfinished business.
The No. 1 Redhawks (41-10) finished their business this year with a 4-3 come-from-behind win against No. 2 Randolph-Macon (35-8-1) in the if-necessary championship game to advance to the program’s first Division III College World Series in Appleton, Wis.
“It hasn’t really set in yet,” La Roche head coach Chase Rowe said. “My hats off to Randolph-Macon. Their coaching staff is first class. Ray (Hedrick) does a great job with that program and players. We believed all week. That is what you got out of us. I am proud of them and happy to be going to the World Series.”
In the past two weeks, the Redhawks went 7-for-7 in elimination games in the conference tournament and regional to become one of the last eight teams left standing in Division III.
“With this team, we don’t want to lose,” junior Ben Herstine said. “Every time we are in elimination games, we play our best baseball. I don’t see us losing. Everyone does their job.”
Herstine -- who was named the Mideast Regional Most Outstanding Player -- did his job, delivering the game-winning two-run single in the three-run seventh inning.
“I just wanted to get a hit for my team,” Herstine said. “I knew it was my turn and I wanted to step up for the seniors.”
Heading into the bottom of the seventh, La Roche trailed 3-1 and wasn’t able to piece anything together against Yellow Jackets ace, James Walsh. Fortunately for the Redhawks, Walsh was lifted after six innings. He allowed one run on six hits and struck out five on three days rest.
“James and I were talking since the fourth inning and how his body was feeling,” Randolph-Macon head coach Ray Hedrick said. “Obviously, James pitched on Wednesday so this is his shortest rest of the year. I felt like we needed to get five [innings] out of James. Once he got us through six I was happy. He gave it everything he had. He proved why he is one of the best pitchers in the South Region and maybe in the country.”
In the seventh, La Roche pieced together three runs on five hits against Yellow Jackets freshman reliever Patrick Solomita. All three runs came with two outs on a Luis Navedo double before Herstine’s go-ahead hit.
Senior Brady Hamer continued the string of stellar pitching performances in the regional for the Redhawks, allowing three runs (two earned) in seven innings. Hamer improved to 6-0 on the season.
“You can’t give enough credit to our pitching this whole tournament,” junior David Lemley said. “They all pitched incredible. They were probably the best I have ever seen. It was huge for us to limit their runs early on.”
Colin Williamson and Tyler Craig were the two seniors in La Roche’s starting lineup that turned their sting from last year’s result into triumph this year. Both seniors went 2-for-3 with a run scored in the championship game.
“The guys that played last year knows how it felt to be second,” Williamson said. “We weren’t taking anything for granted. I think everyone had that feeling. We put everything we had into it.”
La Roche moves on to face University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the first round of the Division III College World Series on Friday at 8:45 p.m.
“We are winning it all,” Lemley said. “That is what we are going for. That is our expectation going in. Even if we lose a game, we feel we are going to win it all. That’s how we feel.”
GAME 14 - #1 La Roche 7, #2 Randolph-Macon 2 (12 innings)
With their backs against the wall, the bat of Tyler Craig and arm of Ethan Lewis kept La Roche College alive in the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship with a 7-2 win in 12 innings against Randolph-Macon College at Washington and Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park.
The No. 1 Redhawks (40-10) and No. 2 Yellow Jackets (35-7-1) will play an if-necessary game at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.
“That was just a classic, beautiful college baseball game,” La Roche head coach Chase Rowe said. “I don’t know if I enjoyed [a game] more than that one in my years playing or coaching. That was two competitive teams full of competitive kids. The guys believed in themselves. I am not surprised.”
Senior Tyler Craig recorded the game-winning hit in the five-run 12th inning for the Redhawks. With the scored tied 2-2 with two outs, Craig knocked in Ian Velez to give La Roche a 3-2 lead. The Redhawks padded their lead with RBI hits from Corey Lazor, Luis Navedo and Ben Herstine.
“It felt great,” Craig said. “I was seeing the pitches well all night. It might not have looked like it. I had no clue what was coming and I think that played to my benefit, because all day I was looking fastball and rolled over a lot. I was just adjusting to the pitch there. I can’t be more excited right now. And you can’t say enough about the performance Ethan put on today.”
In his fifth start of the season, Lewis pitched like a seasoned veteran. After giving up a leadoff home run to Rick Spiers, Lewis settled in and allowed only one more run and struck out eight in his 10-plus innings of work.
“I was just trying to go out there and give it my best,” Lewis said. “I know my team has my back. It is just about going out there and having fun. I was ready to go and wanted the ball.”
The Yellow Jackets were poised to win their first regional championship from the get-go.
Spiers’ towering home run to lead off the game was just what Randolph-Macon was looking for. It was Spiers’ third of the season and second in as many games.
“I just wanted to get on base and get something going,” Spiers said. “I wasn’t necessarily looking for a home run. It was a great feeling and I was hoping it was going to jump start our offense.”
Randolph-Macon picked up another run in the bottom of the third but missed an opportunity to separate themselves. The Yellow Jackets loaded the bases on two singles and an error with no outs but were only able to push one run across the board after grounding into a double play.
“The bases-loaded situation was tough,” Randolph-Macon head coach Ray Hedrick said. “We put the ball in play and Christian hit it hard. They had us positioned well. In the end, they pitched and competed. Ethan did an excellent job of mixing his pitches. I am proud of my guys. We put together some tough at bats. Ethan was just better. Let’s give credit where credit is due.”
Everything was going right for the Yellow Jackets until the fifth inning when their defense let them down. With one out, Cody Scruggs reached first on an error by the first baseman. Scruggs came around to score the very next batter on a single by Velez. Scruggs was running on the pitch and scored from first when the ball went under the glove of the right fielder.
The big hit in the inning came off the bat of Shane Roebuck. Roebuck laced a double down the left-field line to tie the score, 2-2.
From there, Lewis and Randolph-Macon starter Nic Phelps controlled the pace of the game, matching zeroes until extra innings.
The Yellow Jackets had a chance to win it numerous times, but let one slip away in the bottom of the 11th. After a leadoff walk, Shane Emrich replaced Lewis on the mound. With the championship run on third and one out, Emrich got a come-backer to the mound and a strikeout to give the Redhawks their chance in the 12th.
Emrich (4-0) picked up the win in relief, allowing one hit in two innings.
Christian Cok (7-1) suffered the loss for the Yellow Jackets. Coke pitched 3.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits.
GAME 13 - #1 La Roche 13, #3 Wooster 0
La Roche College won the battle of the freshmen pitchers as the No. 1 Redhawks advanced to the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championship game with a 13-0 win against The College of Wooster at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park.
“It is always tough when you do these [interviews], especially after a loss,” Wooster head coach Tim Pettorini said. “We are not ashamed of anything, especially our effort. When you go in the loser’s bracket, especially when there are eight teams, it is really tough. We didn’t have enough pitching today. You have to give credit to La Roche. They played well.”
In his sixth start of the season, Nick Tunstall (4-0) went the distance, allowing three hits and struck out seven. Tunstall never allowed a runner to reach third base and allowed only one runner to reach second base.
“I think we were just struggling to piece hits together,” Gilmore said. “We couldn’t capitalize. He had his fastball working in and out and we weren’t ready for it. We could have done a better job going with it. He had our number today.”
For No. 3 Wooster (37-13), it was a rough start for Wyatt Linde. It was Linde’s second start of the season and it did not start how he envisioned. Linde gave up a leadoff triple to Colin Williamson, who scored on a groundout to give La Roche a 1-0 lead.
The Redhawks (39-10) tacked on another run in the first on an RBI single by David Lemley.
Lemley was just getting started. The junior hit a an RBI double in his next at-bat and finished his day with home runs in his final two at-bats. Lemley finished 4-for-5 with six RBI and three runs scored. Lemley now has 11 home runs on the season.
The inning that put the Fighting Scots away was the seven-run seventh for the Redhawks. Lemley led the charge in the inning with his three-run home run.
Eleven of the 13 runs for La Roche came off of the first two pitchers for Wooster, who happened to be freshmen with minimal experience this season.
“Wyatt did fine,” Pettorini said. “He didn’t have an easy assignment. We were in the losing bracket in our conference tournament so we went through pitching there. It is awfully tough to try and manage your pitching when you lose early in the tournament.”
The whole Wooster offense struggled, including slugger Jamie Lackner. Lackner had his NCAA Division III on-base streak record of 94 games snapped after going 0-for-4. The previous record was 60 games held by Damian Constantino of Salve Regina University (R.I.) from 2001-2003.
“It is pretty cool,” Lackner said. “When it was going on, I didn’t even know about it. I was shocked when I found out I broke the record. Now that it is over, I can get it out of my head and move forward for next year.”
GAME 12 - #3 Wooster 5, #4 TCNJ 3
It took a postponement and a three-hour rain delay but The College of Wooster and The College of New Jersey finally were able to get their elimination game in. The Fighting Scots survived with a 5-3 win to advance in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park.
After briefly giving up the lead, No. 3 Wooster (37-12) scored three runs in the seventh to take the lead for good.
“You can’t give good teams many chances,” TCNJ head coach Dean Glus said. “The inning they scored three runs we gave them four freebies. You can’t do that. Our guys fought hard. We fought all year. I am so proud of these guys. I can’t wait for next year. I am going to miss the seven seniors but I am so proud of them.”
The fourth-seeded Lions (32-12) stranded 12 runners on base, including four in the first three innings.
“If we get a quarter of those guys in, things are different throughout the course of the game,” Glus said. “That is one thing we did well this year. We got guys in. That is baseball. They threw a good pitcher against us. He kept us a little off balanced.”
It wasn’t all disappointment for the Lions. Senior John Rizzi broke the school record for career stolen bases with his 99th steal in the first inning.
“It is pretty cool because the player who previously held it, Scott Kelly, was a mentor to me,” Rizzi said. “He was a senior when I was a freshman. He really took me under his wings. He showed me all the tricks to the trade.”
Rizzi was a perfect 8-for-8 in stolen bases in the tournament.
Wooster held a 2-0 lead after three innings on two RBI singles by Jamie Lackner. Both hits came with two outs. Lackner finished the game 2-for-3.
The Fighting Scots starter Zach Woullard was dealing through the misty rain but ran into trouble in the sixth. Zach Shindler hit his third home run of the season and fourth extra base hit of the regional to cut the deficit in half.
The Fighting Scots pitching staff continued to struggle in the later innings as TCNJ took their first lead of the game in the seventh inning. Woullard came out of the game after back-to-back walks. Both runners came around to score against reliever James Usher. Facing his first batter, Usher uncorked a wild pitch that allowed the tying run to score. Patrick Roberts gave the Lions their first lead of the afternoon, 3-2, on a sacrifice fly. Both runs were charged to Woullard.
The Fighting Scots were able to get out of the inning only down a run after Hank Schlueter struck out Shindler with runners on second and third.
The missed opportunity to pad the lead came back to hurt TCNJ in the bottom of the inning. After two quick outs, Eric Teesdale allowed a hit, a runner to reach on an error and two walks before being lifted in the middle of the count against Drew Tornow. The new Lions pitcher, Matt Curry, couldn’t get out of the jam, allowing three runs to score on a walk, infield single and hit by pitch to give Wooster a 5-3 lead. All three runs in the inning were charged to Teesdale.
“It is always a risk, but his pitch count was up,” Glus said. “Curry has done a great job all year and I felt comfortable with him there. He just didn’t throw strikes. We shouldn’t have gotten to that situation. If I had to do it again, I would do it the same way.”
Right after Wooster took the lead, the rain began to increase, forcing the three-hour delay.
Wooster’s Michael Whitaker remained in the game after coming in before the delay and recorded the final three outs to end the game. The save was Whitaker’s fourth of the season.
Hank Schlueter (4-0) only pitched 0.2 of an inning but picked up the win.
TCNJ starter Teesdale (3-3) was hit with the loss after his inherited runners came around to score in the seventh.
“I didn’t really change my preparation,” Teesdale said about pitching in inclement weather. “My mindset is that I have a great defense behind me and I do what I can to attack the hitters. In the beginning, I was having some location problems. I was adjusting on the mound.”
GAME 11 - #2 Randolph-Macon 19, #1 La Roche 6
Coming into the tournament, Randolph-Macon College was in search of its first NCAA tournament win. Two days later, they find themselves in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championship after defeating top-seed La Roche College 19-6 in the winner’s bracket final at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park.
“Really proud of our team tonight,” Randolph-Macon head coach Ray Hedrick said, “Getting behind a quality team like La Roche, we could have folded it in. I thought Colin [Selby] competed and gave us a chance. We wore their pitcher [David Lemley] down. He is a two-way guy and that is to our advantage. We had a lot of quality at bats early on.”
The No. 2 Yellow Jackets (35-6-1) only scored in four innings all game, but made those innings count with six in the fifth, three in the sixth, six in the seventh and four in the ninth.
Randolph-Macon had eight players with multi-hit games led by Rick Spiers who went 4-for-6 with three runs, three RBI and his second home run of the season. Christian Sanderson, Nick Maiolo, Michael Trentham and Jordan Schmeer each recorded three hits.
“It starts with Rick,” Hedrick said. “Our lineup is significantly different without Rick in the lineup. We are fortunate to have some offensive options when he is pitching. Rick is a spark. Whether it is a double, drag bunt or home run, it makes our lineup much better.”
Rick was the spark to the comeback. With La Roche (38-10) leading 3-0 heading into the fifth, Spiers led off the inning with his second home run of the season.
“I’m the lead-off guy so I’m not necessarily there to hit home runs,” Spiers said. “It was nice that it happened. I knew we needed to get something going. I was just trying to get a hit and luckily it went out. I was trying to fire everyone else up. I knew we weren’t out of it.”
Spiers’ long ball was the first of three in the game for Randolph-Macon. Also going deep was senior Travis Lodge and senior Nick Maiolo. Lodge’s home run was his 13th of the season, a new school record. It also pushed his hitting streak to 19 games.
“It is great,” Lodge said. “I can finally stop swinging for it. I can tell you that. It is a good accomplishment but our goal is to win games and win the regional. I am glad it happened today though.”
For La Roche, Ben Herstine led the offense going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a home run. The Redhawks have been in this situation before, making its way through the loser’s bracket in their conference tournament.
“All the credit has to go to Randolph-Macon tonight,” La Roche head coach Chase Rowe said. “They were clearly the better team and played better baseball for nine innings. We jumped out to an early lead which we knew we needed to do.
“It is just about moving forward. These guys have been warriors all season. We have been playing tough teams and tough games. In the conference tournament, we had to come back and win four after losing the first game. We have been in this situation before. We needed to let them know that. They have responded well all year and I expect them to do the same.”
GAME 10 - #3 Wooster 16, #8 Widener 9
The College of Wooster erased a six run deficit and stormed to a 16-9 victory over Widener University in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional elimination round at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park on Friday afternoon.
The No. 3 Fighting Scots (36-12) advance to face No. 4 TCNJ in the nightcap.
“Definitely wasn’t the way we wanted to get started,” Wooster head coach Tim Pettorini said. “It was pretty ugly the first four innings. Tyler (Schuch) was battling so hard. He has been so good for us all year long. He was as tight as a drum. We couldn’t get him to relax. We got a big lift from Hank (Schlueter) and we started to swing the bats. We kind of relaxed and that was the key. We have a lot of work left to do.”
Widener (25-18-1), the No. 8 seed, got off to a hot start, scoring in each of the first four innings to build a 6-0 lead.
The Pride had a chance to open the game up in the second inning but Schuch was able to limit the bases loaded, no out damage to one run. After a leadoff double, Kyle Lowery scored on a fielder’s choice for a 3-0 Widener lead.
“We had runners on base,” Widener head coach Mike LaRosa said. “We had opportunities to separate a little bit and we didn’t. Being up six isn’t a comfortable lead when you face an offense like that.”
After only scoring one run in their loss to Randolph-Macon, Wooster continued to struggle through the first four innings against Widener. But that is where the slump ended.
The Fighting Scots got right back into the game, batting around in the fifth with four runs to make it 6-4. Wooster scored their first two runs on wild pitches, but the big hit in the inning was the two run triple by sophomore Jake Fling.
“This is just what we needed after struggling yesterday,” Fling said. “It gives our team a lot of power going forward.”
Wooster kept the momentum with their first scoreless inning in the bottom half of the inning by reliever Hank Schlueter.
“That was huge,” Pettorini said. “We just couldn’t stop them. We were holding on. They had six and it could have been 10 very easily. Hank has a calming effect on us. He is a senior and has been around. He throws it over and good things happen. No one hits those soft-tossing lefties. He gave us exactly what we needed in that situation.”
The Fighting Scots, who are ranked seventh in the country in runs scored, showed no deficit is too much to overcome. With six more runs in the sixth inning, Wooster took their first lead of the game. The big blow was a two run home run by sophomore Drew Tornow, his seventh of the season, tying the game 6-6.
“Everyone seemed a little uptight,” Tornow said. “We were struggling to score runs. I was looking for a pitch I could do something with and got enough of it.”
Wooster took its first lead of the game on a throwing error by Widener’s third basemen and tacked on three more on RBI hits by Joey Gilmore, Wielansky and Lackner. It was the second inning in a row the Fighting Scots batted around.
Widener finally found a way to get to Schlueter in the bottom of the inning. After loading the bases with no outs, Nicholas Enos delivered a two run double to cut the lead to 12-8. More importantly, it chased Schlueter from the game. The Pride tacked on another run on DeBellis’ second sacrifice fly of the game.
Wooster was able to get those three runs back and put the finishing touches on the game on one swing from Ryan Ostendorf in the eighth inning. Ostendorf belted a three run home run after coming into the game as a replacement.
Tornow led the Fighting Scots offense, going 3-for-6 with a home run, two RBI and three runs. Also recording a multi-hit game for Wooster was Fling, Wielansky, Lackman and Chandler Dippman.
Enos led Widener with a 3-for-4 performance and three RBI.
GAME NINE - #4 TCNJ 15, #7 St. Joseph's (L.I.) 5
The College of New Jersey used an 11-run fifth inning and a lot of patience at the plate to stay alive in the 2016 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional with a 15-5 win against St. Joseph’s College (L.I.) at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park.
The No. 4 Lions (32-11) will play the winner of No. 3 Wooster and No. 8 Widener in the nightcap, scheduled for 7:45 p.m.
“It was a good win for us today,” TCNJ head coach Dean Glus said. “After last night’s game, it was a tough game to come back. Their pitching was not up to par today. These guys were patient enough to take balls.
“We didn’t take advantage last night and we did today. It is hard for the hitters to be patient. It is hard for the umpires to be patient because they are all over the place. I give credit to our guys. Our guys followed our game plan.”
The No. 7 Golden Eagles (25-13) struggled all game with their command, using eight pitchers that combined for 14 walks, four hit by pitches and four wild pitches.
“It was a tough game pitching wise for us,” St. Joseph’s head coach Richard Garrett said. “Our guys came prepared, we just didn’t pound the zone. It was just a tough day for them. The heart of this team has always been the senior leadership. They battle every inning. They have quality at-bats. I am proud of them. I am proud of the season they had.”
Senior John Rizzi tied TCNJ’s school record with his 98th career stolen base in the first inning. Rizzi reached base with his fifth hit by pitch of the tournament. The stolen base was his seventh in three games at the regional. Rizzi came around to score on an RBI double by Patrick Roberts, who came around to score on a wild pitch by St. Joseph’s Steven Szobesky.
“I am kind of shocked, but I have been getting hit my whole life,” Rizzi said. “My approach as a leadoff [hitter] is to get on base and see pitches. My first at bat, I wanted to see what the pitcher had. Once I was on, I just wanted to get over for the big bats. That has been my approach all season and it has been working.”
Szobesky, coming off Tommy John surgery a year ago, could never find his command. The senior walked four batters in the second to bring home a run before being lifted for sophomore Nick Clemente.
Clemente was able to have two clean innings, but ran into trouble in the fifth.
The inning started with a home run by senior Garen Turner, his fifth of the season, followed by a Zach Shindler triple to chase Clemente from the game.
After that, the Golden Eagles lost full control of their command. The Lions scored 11 runs on five hits in the inning. For St. Joseph’s, they went through five pitchers and combined for six walks, two hit by pitches and two wild pitches before recording the third out.
Shindler provided two of the five hits in the inning with a pair of triples. His second was a bases clearing triple to make it 13-0.
“It was nerve racking,” Garrett said. “You are trying to look for someone to stop the bleeding. They tried to over do it instead of doing what they usually do. They gave it their all and I am proud of them.”
The Golden Eagles offense woke up in the seventh, scoring five runs. Junior Sean Balsam hit an RBI double for their first run of the game. Two more runs came around to score on a suicide squeeze and throwing error. Nick Girardi followed that up with his second homer of the season, a solo shot to straightaway center.
“We just battled all year,” Girardi said. “We had key hits and senior leadership. It shows that we were always going to battle.”
Also leading St. Joseph’s offense was senior Brendan Sullivan, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Both Sullivan and Girardi played high school baseball together, where Garrett was their coach.
“For both of us, we played high school and college together,” Girardi said. “It is amazing to do it with coach Garrett. He is like a second father to us. We are forever grateful for what he has done.”
GAME EIGHT - #2 Randolph-Macon 2, #3 Wooster 1
It took a perfect relay to remain undefeated in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional and that’s exactly what Randolph-Macon College got. With a 2-1 lead, Rick Spiers gave up what looked to be the game-tying double to Wooster’s Jake Fling down the left field corner.
With pinch runner Jake Stuursma rounding third and heading home, left fielder Cole Migliorini got the ball into second baseman Jordan Schmeer. Schmeer -- just into the game as a defensive replacement -- turned around and fired home where catcher Mitchell Keller was waiting for Stuursma to seal the 2-1 win and advance the Yellow Jackets into the winner’s bracket final tomorrow against La Roche.
“What an amazing game,” Yellow Jackets head coach Ray Hedrick. “The way that it ended and the fashion that it ended. I am a little bit speechless. [It showed] great determination by our program. That is a national championship [caliber] team that we beat. It was certainly a quality win.”
Both teams left nine men on base, but the Yellow Jackets were able to make one more key play behind Spiers.
“That was a tough one,” Wooster head coach Tim Pettorini said. “That was a great college baseball team. Two really good teams battled really hard. I give them credit. They made a couple of outstanding plays. We didn’t quite make the plays that we have been making. Nanak [Saran] pitched a great game.”
Spiers and Saran were locked in a pitchers’ duel, both giving up an earned run in the game. The difference came in the bottom of the sixth on an error by Wooster’s Michael Wielansky.
With the game tied 1-1 and a runner on third with one out, Migliorini hit a chopper to Wielansky who misplayed the ball, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
“I’m not sure if he lost it in the lights,” Pettorini said. “It was uncharacteristic. I don’t know if he jumped too soon. They weren’t sending the runner. We have a shot at getting out of that if he gloves it. He has made only eight errors all year as a freshman. It was just a tough chance.”
The Yellow Jackets had their leadoff hitter on in six of the first seven innings. A big part of that was freshman Jeffrey Butler. Butler was 2-for-2 with a double, single and two runs scored.
“I am not a rookie anymore,” Butler said. “I am part of the team and I do what I have to do like everyone else. I was looking for every fastball I could get. As the nine-hole hitter, I knew I would be getting a lot. I just wanted to get on base to help the team.”
Spiers (6-4) was in control the whole game, pitching his first nine inning complete game of the season. Spiers also recorded a season-high nine strikeouts.
“I think most of my pitches were working well today,” Spiers said. “There was nothing spectacular about my pitches. I got in a groove after the first inning, which is what usually happens. I started to feel comfortable. I was a little nervous in the ninth inning but adrenaline kicked in.”
Saran (5-3) took the loss for the Fighting Scots, going six innings, allowing two runs but only one earned.
Jamie Lackner led Wooster’s offense with a 3-for-4 performance and the lone RBI for the Fighting Scots.
GAME SEVEN - #1 La Roche 4, #4 TCNJ 3
La Roche College scored three of their four runs in the first inning and held off a late rally by The College of New Jersey as the top seed Redhawks advanced in the winner’s bracket of the NCAA Mideast Regional at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park with a 4-3 win over the fourth seed Lions.
“They were successful in the limited number of opportunities they had,” TCNJ head coach Dean Glus said. “To beat a good team, you need to take advantage of those chances. We didn’t and they did. We almost did enough but it wasn’t. We didn’t execute our game plan. When you plan against a really good team, you need to execute every opportunity.”
It looked like it was going to be an uneventful first inning for TCNJ starter Brandon Zachary, but back-to-back walks with two outs came back to hurt him. David Lemley made Zachary pay with a book-rule double, which was followed by a two RBI single by the game one hero, Joe Professori.
“In the first inning, [Zachary] looked real sharp,” Lemley said. “We took a different approach. We were going to try and drive it the other way. Whenever we got our chance, I was thinking we needed to capitalize and get ahead for [starting pitcher] Reg[is Sauer].”
The Lions were able to get one of those runs back right away in the bottom of the first. John Rizzi reached on an infield single. Rizzi then stole second, advanced to third on another infield single and scored on a fielder’s choice.
Unfortunately for Zachary, walks continued to hurt him. A leadoff walk to Professori came around to score on an RBI single by Tyler Craig. The two-out hit extended the Redhawks lead to 4-1.
Three of the Redhawks four runs came directly from walks by Zachary.
“Walking is more frustrating than allowing hits because that is on me more than my defense,” Zachary said. “After I walk a guy, I just try to focus in and bear down. I take a walk or a hit the same. I just have to focus on the next hitter.”
The Lions had a few opportunities to cut into or take the lead, including having runners on first and second with one out in the seventh. Sauer put Rizzi on base via hitting him for the second time in the game. Rizzi, the number one base stealer in the country, stole his third base of the game but was stranded on third to end the inning. Rizzi had four stolen bases in the game, pushing his career total to 97, one shy of the school record.
“Rizzi is a phenomenal player,” La Roche head coach Chase Rowe said. “He is like the Ricky Henderson of Division III. Our initial goal was to keep him off base. Instead we hit him twice. We let him get on base and let him chase his records. He is the best base stealer I have seen in 10 years.”
TCNJ scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth but grounded out to second with the tying run on first.
Both pitchers in the game proved to be bulldogs. Zachary (6-3) picked up the tough luck loss, pitching 8.1 innings, giving up four runs on 135 pitches. Sauer matched him, going the full nine, ending with 154 pitches to improve to 9-0.
“That is not the most I have ever thrown,” Sauer said. “I have thrown a lot more in high school. At the beginning of the game, I didn’t really have my off-speed so I was throwing fastballs. I was able to adjust as the game went along.”
Rizzi led the Lions offense, going 3-for-3 with four stolen bases, two runs and an RBI.
For La Roche, Lemley went 2-for-4 with a run and RBI.
GAME SIX - #7 St. Joseph's (L.I.) 3, Johns Hopkins 0
For the second time in the 2016 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional, a program picked up its first NCAA tournament win. St. Joseph’s College (L.I.) accomplished this by defeating Johns Hopkins University 3-0 at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park.
The No. 7 Golden Eagles survived and advanced to Friday, while No. 6 Johns Hopkins were the second team eliminated.
“It was a much better day than yesterday,” Golden Eagles head coach Richard Garrett said. “Ryan (Aloise) has been our ace all year. He gave us nine strong innings. Our defense was tight and we had timely hitting. It is nice to see we are back on track after a little bump yesterday.”
Aloise (8-2) put his name into the mix of the best pitching performances of the regional after going the distance, allowing no runs on five hits and struck out three.
“My mindset is the same every game,” Aloise said. “It is to get ahead early in the count and pound the zone. Being an elimination game didn’t matter. It is the same as every game, you want to win. I know the guys behind me are going to make plays.”
Aloise and Blue Jays starter Jake Enterlin matched each other pitch for pitch for the first four innings of the game. The Golden Eagles were able to break through in the fifth against Enterlin, who has not been 100 percent all season due to an arm injury.
St. Joseph’s tagged Enterlin for three runs in the frame, which turned out to be all the runs they would need. With two outs, Anthony Bonilla laced a two out, two run double to give the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead. Bonilla would score the very next batter on Brendan Sullivan’s RBI single.
“I was just trying to throw strikes the whole game and have my defense do the work behind me like they always do,” Enterlin said. “I just left a couple of 0-2 sliders up and the eventual triple was just a fastball up that they took advantage of.”
Enterlin (6-1) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings.
The Blue Jays have been in this situation before, losing in the first round of the regional the past five appearances. This is the first time they didn’t come back with a win in that span.
“Clearly it is taxing,” Johns Hopkins head coach Bob Babb said. “It is a challenge awaiting you. One of our strengths has been our pitching depth, so we felt we could handle it better than most teams. It is really hard.”
This is also the first time St. Joseph’s defeated Johns Hopkins in their fourth head-to-head meeting.
GAME FIVE - #8 Widener 9, #5 Ohio Wesleyan 0
It was a rough couple of days for Ohio Wesleyan University at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park.
The No. 5 Battling Bishops (27-16) were the first team eliminated after a 9-0 defeat to No. 8 Widener (25-17-1). In the two games, Ohio Wesleyan was outscored 19-0.
“We will have nine months to think about why we didn’t play well down the stretch,” Ohio Wesleyan head coach Tyler Mott said. “We need to see what we can do better as coaches. The teams we played were better and that is a big part of it. This was not our best two weeks but I am proud of these guys. Our expectations is to play meaningful games at this time of the season and we did.”
Widener will survive another day thanks to the pitching performance from senior Joe Santone. Santone (4-3) pitched a complete-game shutout, scattering four hits and striking out a season-high eight batters.
“Coach got us in the right mindset entering the game,” Santone said. “I just wanted to attack them and I wanted to keep moving once we got the lead. I wanted to match what our offense was doing. I wanted to get them back in the dugout to hit. They are a fun offense to watch.”
Ohio Wesleyan’s Pete Munger was able to match Santone through the first three innings, but that’s when things got shaky for the senior.
After not recording a base runner through the first three innings, Widener touched up Munger with two runs on three doubles in the fourth. Michael Elfreth led off the inning with a hustle double and came around to score on a double by Bob Barnett. On the next pitch, Justin Healey one-hopped the left-center field wall, scoring Barnett for a 2-0 lead.
“We just settled in,” Healey said. “The second time through, we made some adjustments. We were a little tentative to start. We started to be aggressive in our zones.”
Widener continued to get to Munger in the fifth inning, scoring four runs to pad the lead to 6-0. Kyle Lowery led off the inning with a triple that landed just fair and out of the reach of the right fielder. With runners on second and third, Elfreth hit an innocent pop up behind third base. The shortstop, third baseman and left fielder all converged on the ball but allowed it to drop for a 3-0 Widener lead.
Munger had a chance to limit the damage, but back-to-back walks to Barnett and Healey forced in the fourth run and chased Munger from the game. Kevin Zullo took over for Munger, inheriting a bases loaded situation. Zullo could not get the Battling Bishops out of the jam, giving up a two run single to Nicholas Enos.
Enos’ hit finished Munger’s line a 4.2 innings, allowing six runs on four hits. The loss brought Munger’s record to 7-4.
“Second time through [the lineup], they made some adjustments but it was also my fault for leaving some pitches up,” Munger said.
Santone continued to cruise along, retiring 13 batters in a row at one point. Ohio Wesleyan put some pressure on Santone in the bottom of the seventh, but was unable to crack the scoreboard. The Battling Bishops loaded the bases on two walks and an error but Santone got out of the inning unscathed with his seventh strikeout of the game.
“As a senior captain, Joe put the team on his back today,” Widener head coach Mike LaRosa said. “The team bounced back, especially after the emotional loss yesterday. It shows a lot about the character of this team and resiliency.
“I just want them to enjoy this moment. I don’t want them to look beyond staying in the moment. We need to stick to our process and routine. We just needed to stay in attack mode. From this point on, every team that we play is going to be in the same position. We don’t want to play not to lose. The guys did a great job with that today.”
GAME FOUR - #2 Randolph-Macon College 8, #7 St. Joseph's College (L.I.) 0
Unlike the first three games in the opening round of the NCAA Mideast Regional, the nightcap was highlighted by pitching. More specifically, the performance by Randolph-Macon’s James Walsh.
From the very first pitch, Walsh was in the zone, lifting No. 2 Randolph-Macon to an 8-0 opening round win against No. 7 St. Joseph’s (L.I) in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park.
Walsh pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out 15 batters and only allowing three hits while improving his record to 10-0. The 15 strikeouts is a career-high for Walsh and his 10th win of the season is the school record for most wins in a season by a pitcher.
“I felt really good in my bullpen,” Walsh said. “It translated over into the game. I got the nerves out of me in the first inning and I felt like I was in the zone early in the second inning.”
The win was also the first NCAA regional win in program history for the Yellow Jackets.
“This is a proud night for our program,” Randolph-Macon head coach Ray Hedrick said. “It has been 39 years since Randolph-Macon made the first appearance in the NCAA regionals and it is our first win at that level. I am proud to do this for all the coaches and players that wore a Randolph-Macon uniform. I am proud of this group for doing it. It is just another notch in their belt.”
With already a 3-0 lead, Walsh didn’t allow his first base runner of the game until two outs in the fifth on a single by Joseph Lynn. Lynn had one of the three hits for the Golden Eagles but knows all he could do is tip his cap to Walsh’s performance.
“We haven’t seen anyone quite like him this year,” Lynn said. “I have to tip my cap to him. He hit all his spots.”
The defense was St. Joseph’s weak spot tonight, committing four errors and two that directly resulted in runs.
“We haven’t had a game like tonight all season,” St. Joseph’s head coach Richard Garrett said. “I can’t put my finger on what happened tonight. A lot of routine plays we missed. Our defense has been on key the whole season. I don’t know if it was the game itself or something with focus tonight.”
Offensively, Nick Maiolo led the Yellow Jackets. Maiolo went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored.
Brandon Lubrano (4-3) suffered the loss, going 5.1 innings allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits while striking out five.
GAME THREE - #3 College of Wooster 8, #6 Johns Hopkins University 5
Just like the first two games of the tournament, offense ruled the headlines in game three. After a slow start by both teams, No. 3 Wooster out-slugged No. 6 Johns Hopkins, advancing to the winner’s bracket with an 8-5 victory in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park.
“I thought it was a great college baseball game by two good teams. Johns Hopkins has great arms,” Wooster head coach Tim Pettorini. “We knew they had power coming in. Our guys battled and I really thought we had a great defensive effort. We had a couple big knocks in there too. We showed great heart.
“It is so hard, especially when you have an eight team region. We were tested in our conference tournament. Michael [Houdak] pitched a phenomenal game. I didn’t have his name in the lineup card until the last minute. [Assistant] coach [Barry] Craddock said he was ready and we made a change.”
Running on fumes, Houdak (10-2) got through five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, while striking out three and walking three.
“The entire game was tough to get through,” Houdak said. “I got out of a jam in the first inning and my defense picked me up well. I just cruised from there.”
Wooster held a 2-0 lead entering the fifth inning when the scoring picked up.
Johns Hopkins scored three runs in the frame to take a 3-2 lead. The Blue Jays got on the scoreboard with a solo home run from Alex Darwiche to make it 2-1. Conor Reynolds then tied the game on a bloop single to centerfield. The Blue Jays took their first lead of the game after the runner on first got caught in a rundown, allowing the go-ahead run to cross the plate.
The lead would be short lived as the Fighting Scots plated four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to take 6-3 lead. Michael Wielansky scored two runs to take the lead on a single and error by the center fielder. Wooster tacked on two more with RBI hits from Jamie Lackner and Ryan Ostendorf.
“We have a chart we go over every game,” Johns Hopkins head coach Bob Babb said. “We have 15 goals and one of the goals is to have a shutdown inning after we score and we didn’t do that. It is discouraging.”
After chasing Blue Jays starter Carter Burns, the Fighting Scots continued to pad their lead. Joey Gilmore got into the act with an RBI single, scoring Chandler Dippman on the play.
Burns (6-4) suffered the loss, going 4.2 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on five hits.
“Second time through the lineup, I was trying to throw more off-speed pitches,” Burns said. “They were able to make the adjustments to it.”
Zach Woullard came into the game for Wooster in the sixth and earned the four-inning save, his first. Woullard was able to pitch out of some trouble, including a bases loaded jam in the ninth inning to end it.
“Zach was outstanding,” Pettorini said. “Woully has been our No. 4 starter all year. He really pitched well for us. He was around the zone and popping it in there good. We will give Michael tomorrow off and but Woully won’t get tomorrow off. He will probably throw at some point.”
Leading Wooster offensively was Drew Tornow going 3-for-4 and Jamie Lackner going 2-for 3 including a home run and three RBI. The home run was the seventh of the season for Lackner.
“They were pounding me inside the whole game,” Lackner said. “I was ready for it and I knew it was gone when I hit it. It was a pretty good feeling.”
GAME TWO - #1 La Roche College 7, #8 Widener University 6
You had to be here to believe it. Down by one run entering the ninth inning, La Roche’s Ben Herstine hit a one-out double, putting the tying run in scoring position. But it took a couple of reversals for the double to stand. Widener head coach Mike LaRosa challenged that the pine tar on Herstine’s bat exceeded the 18-inch mark, which he believed to be an automatic out. After review, Herstine was ruled out, until another review ruled that Herstine would receive a warning, according to the rulebook.
“That was an interesting one,” LaRosa said. “[Herstine] hit the double. We noticed the pine tar on the bat was past the 18-inch mark. I went out and called it to the umpire’s attention and they called him out. The umpire-in-chief for the tournament overturned it. In that situation, the player is warned and the bat is removed from the game. It was interesting. That was tough. That was a pretty big emotional swing.”
Herstine wound up coming around to score the tying run before Joe Proffesori delivered the walk-off double to propel top seed La Roche College to a 7-6 come-from-behind win against No. 8 seed Widener College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park.
“I thought their starter did a phenomenal job,” La Roche head coach Chase Rowe said. “We knew we had our hands full. I really believed in our guys. They maintained their confidence.”
Widener jumped out to an early 6-2 lead after three innings, but was unable to capitalize on numerous opportunities. The Pride finished the game with 13 men left on base.
Widener took advantage in the second inning after the Redhawks ace Tanner Wilt exited the game with an apparent shoulder injury.
“Anytime you lose your number one [pitcher] after one inning, it is very easy to panic,” Rowe said. “We just tried to do our best. Brady (Hamer) gave us five strong [innings], which is more than what we expected. He did a great job.”
Hamer went five innings in relief surrendering only one run to allow the potent La Roche offense to catch up.
The Redhawks finally got to Widener starter Josh Lafferty in the eighth inning, scoring two runs to make it a 6-5 game.
“I came in with the approach that I needed to prepare for the pitches to come,” La Roche’s Colin Williamson said. “I knew he was a good pitcher. I stayed pitch-to-pitch and saw the ball right out of his hand. It worked.”
Williamson saw the ball well all night, going a perfect 5-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI.
With Lafferty out of the game in the ninth inning, the Redhawks completed the comeback, started by the aforementioned Herstine double.
“I was struggling and needed to pick it up,” Herstine said. “I was happy I was able to help the team.”
Widener will need to regroup fast as they play Ohio Wesleyan in the first elimination game tomorrow, Thursday, May 19 at 10 a.m.
“I just want to congratulate La Roche,” LaRosa said. “Really impressive comeback there. It is obviously a tough one for us. It is what you would expect from the opening round of the regional.”
GAME ONE - #4 The College of New Jersey 10, Ohio Wesleyan University 0
It was an early start, but also a fast one for The College of New Jersey at the 2016 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park. The No. 4 seed Lions advanced to the winner’s bracket with a 10-0 win against No. 5 Ohio Wesleyan.
“It was a good win for us,” TCNJ head coach Dean Glus said. “We haven’t played in 10 days. We didn’t know what we were going to receive. These guys came out and hit the ball very well.”
TCNJ’s offense started quick, scoring four runs in the first inning off of Ohio Wesleyan starter Ryan Moss. Garen Turner got things started with a two-run double down the third base line to open the scoring.
The Lions also received a pair of two-out RBI hits from Alex Christian and Mike Follet.
TCNJ tacked on two more in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Patrick Roberts, who then came around to score from second base on an error by the pitcher.
Ohio Wesleyan had its first threat of the day in the third inning. The Battling Bishops loaded the bases with one out on three singles but TCNJ starter Steven Volpe escaped the jam, striking out back-to-back batters to end the threat.
“That was our chance to get back in the game,” Ohio Wesleyan head coach Tyler Mott said. “Credit to Steven (Volpe), their pitcher. He kept us off balance. I have all the faith with my guys. We just need to find our rhythm.”
After escaping the jam in the top half, the Lions bats continue to be active, scoring two more runs to make it 8-0. Roberts picked up his second RBI of the game while Turner drove in his third.
The Lions offense continued to strike in the sixth, scoring two runs off of Ohio Wesleyan reliever Will Clyne. Roberts scored his first run of the game on a fielder’s choice and CJ Gearhart doubled in his first run of the game for a 10-0 lead.
For the Lions, Volpe (8-1) picked up the win, going eight scoreless innings. Volpe allowed 10 hits, walked one, and tied a career-high with seven strikeouts.
“They are definitely a very good offensive team,” Volpe said about Ohio Wesleyan. “My mindset is if they get a couple hits in a row, I have to continue to trust my stuff and my teammates.”
Offensively, Turner led the Lions with a 2-for-3 performance, with two runs and three RBI.
“When you capitalize on walks and singles and turn them into doubles and triples, it makes it really easy to score runs,” Turner said. “We put the ball in play every time we had runners in scoring position and were able to bring them in.”
Moss (8-3) took the loss for the Battling Bishops, going four innings, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits.
“My fastball was up throughout the whole game,” Moss said. “They timed my leg kick and were able to steal on me. I just didn’t have a good game today.”
TCNJ picked up its first regional victory since 2009.
“They haven’t been here,” Glus said about his current players. “I have been here before. I try to explain to them what it is about. We should be excited but trust each other. Playing in the New Jersey Athletic Conference helps us. We are playing the best teams in the country in our conference.”
