W&J earns 12th PAC baseball title
PAC Championship All-Tournament Team
WASHINGTON, Pa. (pacathletics.org)--Top-seeded Washington & Jefferson College claimed this year's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Baseball Championship Tournament Saturday afternoon with an 8-1 victory over No. 4 Bethany College.
The league's four-team, double-elimination championship tournament was held at W&J's Ross Memorial Park. This was W&J's third-straight year serving as the league's championship tournament host and eighth-straight season appearing in the championship tournament's title round.
Saturday marked the first championship tournament matchup between W&J (32-11) and Bethany (27-16) since the Presidents claimed elimination game wins over the Bison in 2005 and 2006. The appearance in this year's title round was Bethany's first since 2001.
W&J earned its spot in Saturday's title round with a 7-4 victory over No. 2 Grove City College (27-15) to open play Friday afternoon. Bethany posted a 12-9 win over No. 3 Waynesburg University (21-19) in the day's first elimination game before registering a 5-2 win over Grove City in Friday's second elimination game.
Bethany last appeared in the title round in 2001, when the top-seeded Bison were dealt a 7-4 loss by No. 2 Grove City. Bethany is playing for its seventh all-time PAC title and first since winning back-to-back league championships in 1999 and 2000.
The winner of this year's PAC Championship Tournament will be among the 40 conference champions to earn an automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Championship, with regional round play scheduled for Friday-Sunday, May 17-19. The Super Regionals are slated for Friday-Saturday, May 24-25. Teams and regional site selections for the Division III Championship are scheduled to be announced Monday, May 13.
| Saturday, May 11 • Game F |
| Washington, Pa. | Ross Memorial Park |
| (4) Bethany vs. (1) W&J |
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| W&J, designated the visiting team in Saturday's opener by virtue of Division III baseball's postseason home team formula, sent nine men to the plate in the top of the first, turning six hits into five runs. Senior James Artale (Chagrin Falls, Ohio | Kenston) had a two-run single in the fourth to push W&J's lead to 7-0. Bethany senior Neil Woods (Pittsburgh, Pa. | North Allegheny) delivered a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame, scoring sophomore Ethan Young (McMurray, Pa. | Peters Township) to get the Bison on the board. W&J added one more in the fifth on a two-out RBI single by senior Dante Dalesandro (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Mount Lebanon) to move the score to 8-1. Senior starter Santino Platt (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) was outstanding in Saturday's win, allowing one run (earned) on three hits with a pair of strikeouts and a walk in 7.0 innings. Sophomore third baseman Joey Bolick (Gibsonia, Pa. | Pine-Richland) finished 3-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base for W&J. Artale went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. |
| Friday, May 10 • Game E |
| Washington, Pa. | Ross Memorial Park |
| (4) Bethany vs. (2) Grove City |
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| Bethany is the championship tournament's first No. 4 seed to advance to title round since 2015, when fourth-seeded W&J registered a win in the if necessary game to secure its 10th league title. After two scoreless innings, Bethany plated one run in the third and another in the fourth to grab a 2-0 lead in the day's second elimination game. Sophomore Ethan Young (McMurray, Pa. | Peters Township) drew a two out, bases loaded walk in the sixth to stretch the lead to 3-0. Sophomore Tanner Orner (Carlisle, Pa. | Cumberland Valley) had a run-scoring single for Grove City to pull to within two, 3-1, in the bottom of the seventh. Junior Matt Dayton (Allison Park, Pa. | Hampton) had a RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to get the Wolverines to within one, 3-2. Senior Tyler Frazee (Markleysburg, Pa. | Uniontown) upped Bethany's lead to 5-2 with a two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth. Senior starter Nick Gross (Pittsburgh, Pa. | North Allegheny) was terrific in the win for the Bison, allowing two runs (1 earned) on five hits in 7.0 innings. He issued three walks and struck out one during his 91-pitch outing. Frazee posted his second save of the season afer logging throwing 2.0 scoreless innings. He also went 3-for-5 at the plate with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Sophomore Kyle Goodwin (Parkersburg, W.Va. | Parkersburg) finished 4-for-5 with a RBI. Orner led Grove City, going 3-for-4 with a double and a RBI. |
| Friday, May 10 • Game D |
| Washington, Pa. | Ross Memorial Park |
| (4) Bethany vs. (3) Waynesburg |
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| Friday's opening elimination game victory was Bethany's first win in the PAC Championship Tournament since its Game D victory over Waynesburg on May 13, 2005. Senior Mitch Nordstrom (Bethel Park, Pa. | Bethel Park) ripped an RBI triple down the right field line before freshman Tyler Woodrow (Gibsonia, Pa. | Pine-Richland) grounded out a batter later to score Nordstrom and push Waynesburg's lead to 2-0 in the top of the first. Bethany sent 10 men to the plate in the bottom of the inning, posting five runs on seven hits to quickly jump in front 5-2. Sophomore Kyle Goodwin (Parkersburg, W.Va. | Parkersburg) singled up the middle to score senior Tyler Frazee (Markleysburg, Pa. | Uniontown) and knock Waynesburg junior starter Jonny Kutchman (Johnstown, Pa. | Richland) out of the game after just 23 pitches. Junior Ryan Anselmino (North Huntingdon, Pa. | Serra Catholic) drilled a two-out, run-scoring single up the middle to give the Bison a 6-2 lead after two innings. Woodrow drilled a two-out RBI single to right center in the third for Waynesburg to cut the lead to three, 6-3. Godwin's two-out, run-scoring single in the fourth extended the Bethany lead to four, 7-3. Woods' two-run double in the fifth keyed the three-run frame and gave the Bison a 10-3 advantage. Waynesburg plated a pair of runs in the sixth to trim Bethany's lead to five, 10-5. Senior Jordan Kowalski's (Butler, Pa. | Knoch) two-out, two-run single keyed Waynesburg's four-run eighth inning, cutting Bethany's lead to just one, 10-9. The Bison used a pair hits and a Waynesburg error in the bottom of the frame to score twice and go up three, 12-9. Goodwin led the Bison at the plate in Friday's first elimination game, going 4-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Junior starter Isaac Wengert (Jonestown, Pa. | Northern Lebanon) went 6.0 innings for Bethany to earn the win. He allowed five runs (5 earned) on 12 hits and improved to 6-2 this season. Junior Tim Reinhard (Middle Island, N.Y. | Longwood) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to secure the save. It was his second of the season. Junior Justin Buberl (Westminster, Md. | Westminster) and senior Mitch Nordstrom (Bethel Park, Pa. | Bethel Park) each had four hits for the Bison in the loss. |
| Friday, May 10 • Game C |
| Washington, Pa. | Ross Memorial Park |
| (3) Waynesburg at (1) W&J |
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| Grove City plated three runs in the opening frame, scoring twice on fielder's choices by senior Micah Burke (Gilbert, Ariz. | East Valley Athletes for Christ) and junior Bobby Abbott (Westfield, N.J. | Westfield). In the third, senior Mullen Socha (Independence, Ohio | St. Ignatius) delivered a one out run-scoring single for W&J before senior James Artale (Chagrin Falls, Ohio | Kenston) doubled in Socha to cut the lead to one, 3-2. Sophomore Adam Moore (Olean, N.Y. | Archbishop Walsh) followed with a run-scoring single to tie the game at 3-3. W&J snagged a 4-3 lead in the fourth on a RBI single by senior Dante Dalesandro (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Mount Lebanon) and went up 5-3 on Artale's two-out RBI single. Moore's two-out, two-run triple in the sixth stretched W&J's lead to four, 7-3. Senior Shane Hammel (Fort Collins, Colo. | Fossil Ridge) drove in Grove City's fourth run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. After yielding three runs in the first, senior starter Garrett Harstine (New Philadelphia, Ohio | New Philadelphia) retired 11 of the next 12 Grove City batters before departing for sophomore Michael Zito (Nashville, Tenn. | Hume-Fogg) with one out in the fifth. Hartstine totaled 54 pitches in the no decision. Zito went 2.2 innings to secure his first victory of the season. Senior Clay Martin (Canonsburg, Pa. | Canon-McMillan) threw a scoreless ninth to earn his seventh save of the season. Artale finished 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Moore went 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs. Sophomore D.J. Newby (McKeesport, Pa. | McKeesport), making his first postseason start for Grove City, took the loss. He allowed five runs (5 earned) on five hits with five walks and four strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Auth went 2-for-4 with a double and two run scored. |
| Thursday, May 9 • Game B |
| Washington, Pa. | Ross Memorial Park |
| (3) Waynesburg vs. (2) Grove City |
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| Waynesburg struck first in the top of the second, grabbing a 2-0 lead on back-to-back RBIs singles from senior Mitch Nordstrom (Bethel Park, Pa. | Bethel Park) and senior Alec Fantaskey (Williamsport, Pa. | Williamsport). Junior Justin Buberl (Westminster, Md. | Westminster) pushed the lead to 3-0 with a run-scoring single before junior John Przybylinski's (Connellsville, Pa. | Connellsville) sacrifice fly scored Fantaskey to extend the lead to 4-0. Junior Jonny Kutchman (Johnstown, Pa. | Richmond) closed out the frame with a RBI single to go up 5-0. Fantaskey's two out, RBI single in the third pushed the Waynesburg lead to 6-0. Waynesburg would score on a failed pickoff attempt by Grove City in the fifth to go up 7-0. The Wolverines scratched out a pair of runs in the fifth, taking advantage of four free passes issues by junior starter Mason Miller (Bethel Park, Pa. | Bethel Park) to pull to within five, 7-2. Freshman Tyler Woodrow (Gibsonia, Pa. | Pine-Richland) delivered a two-out, two-run double down the right field line to extend Waynesburg's lead to 9-2. In the bottom of the seventh Grove City sent 14 men to the plate, using a combined six hits and three walks to score 10 runs and take a 12-9 lead. The Wolverines plated three more runs in the eighth to grab a 15-9 edge. Sophomore Joel Engstrom (Belle Vernon, Pa. | Belle Vernon) earned the win, allowing two runs (2 earned) on five hits with a pair of strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Sophomore Tanner Orner (Carlisle, Pa. | Cumberland Valley) went 2-for-2 with a triple, three RBIs and two runs scored. Junior Bobby Abbott (Westfield, N.J. | Westfield) finished 2-for-5 with a double, three RBIs and a pair of runs. Miller threw 110 pitches in his 6.0 innings of work, allowing four runs (4 earned) on one hit and nine walks. He struck out five in the no decision. Woodrow finished 4-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and a pair of runs scored. |
| Thursday, May 9 • Game A |
| Washington, Pa. | Ross Memorial Park |
| (4) Bethany at (1) W&J |
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| Thursday marked W&J's sixth win in its last seven championship tournament openers. The Presidents jumped on Bethany early, scoring once in the first on a RBI single by senior Josh Crummer (Great Falls, Va. | Flint Hill School) before plating five in the second. Senior James Artale (Chagrin Falls, Ohio | Kenston) keyed the five-run frame with a two-out grand slam to give W&J a 6-0 lead. Senior Spencer Howell (Oakwood, Ohio | Oakwood) followed with a solo home run in the third before senior Mullen Socha (Idependence, Ohio | St. Ignatius) drilled a two-out, run-scoring single in the fifth to push the W&J lead to 8-0. Howell roped a two-out, two-run single in the sixth to stretch the W&J lead to 10-0. Artale popped his second homer of the game leading off the eighth. Junior Ben Marsico (Bradford Woods, Pa. | North Allegheny) improved to 10-1 with Thursday's tournament-opening win. He totaled 7.0 shutout innings, allowing six hits while fanning three. Howell went 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and a pair of runs scored while Socha finished 3-for-5 with with a double, RBI and run scored. Senior Neil Woods (Pittsburgh, Pa. | North Allegheny) went 3-for-4 for the Bison. Senior Ken Ryan (Brownsville, Pa. | Brownsville) suffered the loss, giving up seven runs (7 earned) on six hits and four walks in 2.1 innings. |