Williams Hosts Baseball Championship Beginning
Friday
Wesleyan Earns Playoff Berth for First Time Since 2005
All games were aired live on the Internet via TEAMLINE
or Purple Cowcast.
2009 NESCAC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Day 1 - Friday, May 8
Game 1 - Williams 18, Tufts 5 -- Box
Score
Game 2 - Trinity 13, Wesleyan 6 — Box Score
Day 2 - Saturday, May 9
Game 3 - Tufts 15, Wesleyan 10 -- Box Score
Game 4 - Trinity 8, Williams 3 -- Box
Score
Game 5 - Tufts 15, Williams 9 -- Box
Score
Day 3 - Sunday, May 10
Game 6 - Trinity 7, Tufts 3 -- Box Score
Trinity wins 2009 NESCAC Tournament Championship
May 10, 2009
Trinity comes from behind to capture second consecutive NESCAC title
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA- Sophomore reliever Connor O'Sullivan Pierce pitched out of a bases loaded jam one half inning after senior Sean Killeen hit a go ahead grand slam, as Trinity College (29-5) overcame eight errors to defeat Tufts University (19-19) 7-3 Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Bantams claimed their second consecutive New England Small College Athletic Conference baseball championship and became the first school to win three titles overall.
After winning two straight elimination games, Tufts came out fired up in the first. First year Sam Sager led off the game with a double off Trinity sophomore starter Andrew Janiga. Then with one out, sophomore David Leresche reached on an error, and Sager scored on an RBI groundout by junior Nate Bankoff. Sophomore Chase Rose came up next and scorched an RBI double, and just like that, the Jumbos led 2-0.
Senior ace Mike Stefaniak started for the Jumbos and held the NESCAC's leading offense scoreless over the first two frames. Sophomore Derek Miller came on in relief and was just as effective in two innings of work, allowing no runs while striking out one.
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| Connor O'Sullivan Pierce |
Sophomore pitcher Ed Bernstein took the mound for the Jumbos in the fifth and got into a jam with two outs. With sophomore Robert Martin at first, Bernstein walked junior Matt Sullivan and senior Sean Killeen to set up a bases loaded battle with the NESCAC's leading power hitter junior Kent Graham. Graham worked the count full, but with the runners moving Bernstein got him to swing and miss on a fastball for the third out.
After the huge strikeout, the Jumbos would carry the momentum into their half of the sixth. Rose chased Janiga with a leadoff double, and sophomore reliever Connor O'Sullivan Pierce booted a sacrifice bunt attempt by senior Kevin Casey to put runners on first and third with no outs. Junior Corey Pontes then reached on a fielder's choice that score the Jumbos third run.
The defending NESCAC champs finally got on the board in the sixth as Bernstein gave up a leadoff double, walk, and RBI single to end his day and make the score 3-1. Sophomore Pat O'Donnell came on in relief and got the pinch hitting sophomore Alexander Rokicki to line into a double play and then struck out junior Jack Abbott to end the threat.
Unfortunately for Tufts their magical run would succumb to Sean Killeen, who singlehandedly brought Trinity all the way back. After a long homerun to right centerfield to cut the deficit to one in the seventh, the senior captain came up with the bases loaded and 3-3 tie in the eighth.
What transpired next was one of the greatest swings in NESCAC tournament history, as Killen pulled a hanging breaking ball from O'Donnell down the right field line and over the fence for a go-ahead grand slam. First year Chris DeGotti would come in and relief and keep the deficit at four, but the damage was already done.
Pierce finished the game with four scoreless innings to pick up the win for the Bantams, as Killeen finished 4-4 with two runs and five RBI. For the Jumbos, Sager finished 2-5 with a run, while Rose went 2-4 with a run and an RBI.
The Bantams now await the announcement of their next game as they take the NESCAC's automatic bid into the Division 3 NCAA tournament. Trinity enter NCAA play as the defending national champion.
May 9-10, 2009
Tufts advances to championship game defeating Williams
15-9
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Williams College Ephs (25-12) and the
Tufts University Jumbos (19-18) resumed Game 5 of the NESCAC
playoffs this morning in the top of the seventh inning with one
out, resulting in a 15-9 Tufts victory. With the win, the Jumbos
eliminate Williams from the tournament and earn the chance to
challenge the defending NESCAC Champion Trinity Bantams, who they
will have to defeat twice to take the trophy.
Sophomore Pat O’Donnell was on the hill for the Jumbos when
the weather forced players off the field, and he remained on the
bump to start the seventh. The Ephs had runners on first and second
with one out and junior Al Mathews at the dish, the NESCAC leader
in batting average and RBIs. Before the first pitch was delivered,
junior Robin Allemand got caught leaning off second and was picked
off for the second out. After Mathews’s single moved senior
Barrett Allison to second, he too was nabbed at second base on a
close pickoff play to end the inning.
Senior southpaw Horowitz entered in the bottom of the frame to
finish the day on the hill for Williams. With runners on second and
third and two outs, senior Dave Katzman singled in the 14th Jumbo
run. Tufts would insure their lead further in the eighth when a
two-out error scored sophomore Dave LeResche to make it a 15-9
ballgame heading into the ninth.
Williams threatened in their half of the eighth, putting runners
on second and third with one out, but they could not get the big
clutch hit to put them back in contention. They failed to rally in
the top of the ninth as O’Donnell closed out the contest to
advance the Jumbos to the championship round.
Sophomore starter Derek Miller (4-2) was awarded the win, despite
allowing 6 earned runs off 8 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings of work.
Williams started rookie Harry Marino (3-1), who took the loss in
3.2 innings, surrendering 9 earned runs on 8 hits and 4 walks.
Sophomore Chase Rose boasted the best day at the plate for Tufts,
going 4 for 5 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs. Sophomore David Orlowitz also
had a big game, going 2 for 6 with two runs and 3 RBI. Freshman
Stephen Maier went 2 for 6 with 2 RBIs for Williams and fellow
rookie Cameron Susk also had 2 RBIs.
Scoring began yesterday in the bottom of the first, when freshman
leadoff hitter Sam Sager singled to start the inning for Tufts.
After Marino got the next two outs, junior Nate Bankoff and Rose
belted back-to-back RBI singles to give the Jumbos an early 2-0
advantage.
The Ephs got on the board in the third when junior Chad
Brown’s sacrifice fly brought in Maier to cut the deficit in
half. They struck for 4 more runs on 4 hits and 2 errors in the
fourth, highlighted by Maier’s 2-run homer to left
center.
But in the bottom of the frame, the Jumbos took the lead back and
then some, rallying for 9 runs on just 4 hits to make it an 11-2
ballgame. After Marino got two quick outs to start the inning,
Sager and Katzman reached base to set up a 2-run Orlowitz double.
Marino then walked the next four hitters before being pulled from
the mound of junior Thomas Coleman. The reliever would also exit
later in the same inning after 5 more runs crossed the plate.
Senior Zack Stone took the hill and finally got the elusive third
out. But the critical blow had been dealt, as Williams was unable
to overcome the 9-run hole and eventually lost 15-9, despite 7
Jumbo errors in the field.
Tufts and Trinity will battle at 10:30 a.m. on Bobby Coombs Field
this morning for Game 1 of the championship series. If Trinity
wins, they will have earned their second consecutive NESCAC title,
while Tufts will have to win back-to-back games today to dethrone
the Bantams.
May 9, 2009
Tufts explodes for 15 runs, stays alive at NESCACs
PITTSFIELD, MA- In the possible final game of the 2009 season for both teams, Tufts University (18-18) used ten runs in the sixth and seventh innings to defeat Wesleyan Saturday morning. The game, a 15-10 marathon, saw a combined 25 runs and 35 hits from both teams.
Wesleyan got on the board first as first year Alex Meadow hit a sacrifice fly off of first year pitcher Chris DeGotti. The Jumbos, however, would answer with runs in the second and third on RBI singles by juniors Corey Pontes and Nate Bankoff to take a 2-1 lead.
After Wesleyan tied it in the fourth on a bases loaded walk by senior starting pitcher Drew Dominguez, the Jumbos exploded for three runs and four hits all with two outs to take a 5-2 lead after four.
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| Kevin Casey |
It was 5-3 when the two teams combined to have one of the most exciting innings in NESCAC baseball history. Cardinal junior Brice Kelly doubled home two runs when sophomore centerfielder Ian Goldberg let the ball get by him on a diving attempt, and then senior Garrett Lamborn chased DeGotti with a towering two run homer to left to give the Cardinals an 8-5 lead.
In the bottom half, Dominguez would get the first two outs quickly but could not achieve that elusive third one. In a span of ten batters, the Jumbos would record four hits and be walked or hit by a pitch five times to score six runs.
After a scoreless seventh for the Cardinals, the Jumbos put the game away with four in the bottom half of the inning to take a 15-8 lead. Wesleyan would rally for two runs in the final two innings, but stranded a bases loaded situation in the ninth to end the game.
The top hitters for the Jumbos were Bankoff (4-6, 2 R, 2 RBI), senior Kevin Casey (3-5, 2 R, 3 RBI), sophomore Chase Rose (2-6, 2 R, 1 RBI), and first year Sam Sager (4-5, 2 R, 3 RBI). Sophomore Ed Bernstein pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief to pick up the win.
For Wesleyan, they end an impressive season with performances by Lamborn (2-3, 1 R, 2 RBI), Kelly (3-4, 1 R, 4 RBI), and sophomore Julian Sonnenfeld (3-6, 3 R).
Tufts now moves on to face Williams College in an elimination Game 5 later today in Williamstown.
May 9, 2009
Bayer leads Trinity over Williams 8-3 in winner's bracket game of NESCAC
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Trinity College Bantams (28-5) and
the Williams College Ephs (25-11), the East and West NESCAC
Division Champions respectively, faced off on Bobby Coombs Field
this morning, resulting in an 8-3 Trinity victory. The Ephs will
take on the winner of the Wesleyan-Tufts contest (still in progress
at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield) at Bobby Coombs with a projected
start time of 2:30PM this afternoon.
Junior ace Jeremiah Bayer (10-0) started for Trinity and went the
distance for his 4th complete game on the year. He allowed 3 runs
(0 earned) on 5 hits and 5 walks while striking out 6. Junior Paul
Burgdorf (3-2) began the game for Williams, giving up 5 runs (4
earned) on 5 hits and 3 walks.
Junior Matt Sullivan had the biggest day at the plate for the
Bantams, going 2 for 5 with a 3-run homerun just inside the left
field foul pole in the bottom of the second inning. Senior catcher
and team leader in hitting Sean Killeen went 2 for 5 with an RBI,
and junior James Wood and freshman Kevin Mortimer also had
multi-hit games. Freshman Cameron Susk and senior Taylor Mikell
each had two singles off Bayer for Williams.
Freshman Dan Grossman came in to relief Burgdorf in the third and
finished the game, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits with 4 strikeouts in
5.2 innings of work.
The defending NESCAC and Division III National Champion Bantams
will have to be defeated twice tomorrow if they are to be bounced
from this double elimination tournament. They will face the winner
of this afternoon’s 2:30 game tomorrow morning at 10AM in
Williamstown.
May 8th, 2009
Williams sets NESCAC Tournament hits and runs record in 18-5 win over Tufts
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — Senior Taylor Mikell
led a 23-hit attack Friday by going 4 for 4 and driving in five
runs as Williams College defeated Tufts University, 18-5, in Game 1
of the 2009 NESCAC Tournament at Bobby Coombs Field.
The hit and run totals for Williams set new conference tournament
records. The Ephs (25-10) advance to face defending NESCAC and
national champion Trinity (27-5) in a winner’s bracket game
Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in Williamstown.
Tufts (17-18) will play Wesleyan in an elimination game at 10:30
at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield Saturday. The loser of the
Trinity-Williams game and the winner of the Tufts-Wesleyan game
will meet at 2:30 p.m. in Willamstown in a second elimination
game.
Mikell reached safely all six times he batted Friday. In the first
he had an RBI-double that helped the Ephs erase a 2-0 Tufts lead.
He the third he singled and scored on a Zach Stone groundout to
make it 5-3 Williams.
But his biggest hit came in the fourth when he crushed a
bases-loaded triple off the right field wall for three runs and a
9-4 Williams lead. That shot missed being a grand slam by five
feet.
Mikell also had an RBI-single in a five-run fifth for the Ephs
that upped their advantage to 14-5. But he also had plenty of help.
Junior Chad Brown was 3 for 4 with four RBI, his big blow a
three-run home run to left field in the bottom of the seventh which
made it 17-5.
Williams lead-off hitter Stephen Maier hit 3 for 5 with two RBI
and two runs scored. Stone was 3 for 6 with three RBI and Robin
Allemand 3 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Mike Stefaniak (5-2) took the loss for Tufts, allowing nine hits
and six runs, all earned, while walking no one and fanning one in 2
1/3 innings. Williams senior Dan Benz (5-2) picked up the win,
going seven full and allowing seven hits and four walks while
striking out six.
Tufts finished with eight hits. Nate Bankoff was 2 for 4 with an
RBI for the Jumbos.
May 8, 2009
Trinity downs Wesleyan 13-6 to advance to winner's bracket
PITTSFIELD, MA- The Trinity College baseball team (27-5) used timely hitting and strong defense to grab Game 2 of the 2009 NESCAC Baseball Championship tournament Friday afternoon over Wesleyan. The game, a 13-6 victory at Pittsfield's Wahconah Park, saw the Bantams capitalize on several crucial Cardinal miscues in the first game of their conference championship defense.
The Bantams came out swinging against Cardinal senior pitcher Dusty Mones, who allowed six runs in the first two innings. Mones, however, would settle down and hold the high powered Bantam offense scoreless over the next three.
In the process, the Cardinals turned a potential blowout into a close game with three runs in the fourth on four consecutive hits and one run in the sixth off freshman starter James Ramsey. The sixth inning however, could have been so much more for Wesleyan, as a great Bantam defensive play and a Cardinal baserunning miscue limited the damage to only one run.
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| Ryan Piacentini |
With no outs in the sixth and a runner on first, first year Phil Rosenblum hit a hard line drive to the left center gap that potentially would have scored the runner from first, but junior centerfielder Matthew Sullivan made a fantastic diving grab to save a run.
Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, first year outfielder Brandyn Cooper sent a high flyball to the right field fence that looked like the second out, but the ball carried over the outfielder's head for a hit. One run scored easily, but junior Jeff Bizinkauskas was tagged out in a rundown between third and home after being forced to run home by the runner behind him.
The Cardinals would then strikeout to end the inning, and would not come any closer to catching the Bantams. In the bottom of the inning, the Bantams would chase Mones and put five runs on the board to put the game out of reach.
Top hitters for the Bantams were senior Sean Killeen (1-2, 3 R, 1 RBI), junior Kent Graham (4-5, 3 R, 5 RBI), and senior Ryan Piacentini (2-5, 1 R, 3 RBI). Ramsey finished allowing four earned runs over 5 2/3 innings to get his sixth win of the year, while junior Derek Anderson pitched 2 1/3 innings of strong relief.
For the Cardinals, Rosenblum (3-5, 1 RBI) and senior Garrett Lamborn (2-3, 3 R, 3 RBI) had strong days, while first year Mike Barsotti and sophomore James Hounsell held the Bantams to two earned runs over the final three innings.
Trinity will now face Williams tomorrow's Game 3 at 10:30 AM from Bobby Coombs Field. Wesleyan will stay at Wahconah Park to face Tufts in tomorrow's elimination Game 4 at 10:30 AM.
HADLEY, Mass. – After securing the top
seed in the West Division with an 8-5 win over rival Amherst on
Sunday, Williams College will host the 2009 NESCAC Baseball
Championship from May 8-10 in Williamstown, Mass. The Ephs, who
already have two conference crowns to their credit, will face Tufts
on Friday afternoon, while defending NESCAC and NCAA champion
Trinity will take on rival Wesleyan at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield,
Mass. The double-elimination tournament continues on Saturday, May
9 and concludes on Sunday, May 10 at 10:00 a.m.
Williams (24-10, 9-3 NESCAC West) knew heading into the final
weekend of the regular season that it had secured a spot in the
NESCAC Baseball Championship for the fourth year in a row, however
it needed a victory over Amherst on Sunday in order to lock up
hosting duties. The Ephs did just that, outlasting the Lord Jeffs
8-5 and earning the top seed in the West. Since falling in a
doubleheader against Amherst on April 11, Williams has posted a
13-3 record, going 4-2 in its last six games. The Ephs will look to
become the first team to win three league championships, as their
previous two titles came in 2001 and in 2007 - the last two times
Williams hosted the tournament. Williams made an early exit from
the playoffs at Trinity last year, falling to Tufts 1-0 before
losing a roller-coaster affair to Amherst in 10 innings, 9-8.
Against the field, the Ephs are 2-1, having only faced Wesleyan in
divisional play on April 25-26.
Meeting the Ephs in game one on Friday will be Tufts (17-17, 7-5
NESCAC East). Tufts tied Bowdoin in the East Division at 7-5 this
season, but the Jumbos were able to capture a playoff berth thanks
to a 2-1 record against the Polar Bears on April 17-18. The Jumbos
went 5-2 over their last seven games to close out the regular
season, splitting a series against Babson on Sunday with a 5-2
setback in game one before bouncing back with an 11-4 victory in
game two. Tufts joins Williams as having reached the tournament
more times than any other NESCAC team, appearing in seven of the
previous eight championships. The Jumbos’ only tournament
title came during a rain-shortened 2002 event, as they have
advanced to the conference final on four occasions in playoff
history. The only opponent in this year’s championship Tufts
has seen is Trinity. The Jumbos went 0-3 against the Bantams on
April 4-5 in Hartford, Conn., as they were out-scored by a 21-7
margin in the three-game series.
Trinity (26-5, 12-0 NESCAC East) picked up right where it left off
last season. After a record-setting 2008 campaign with a 45-1
overall mark, the defending NESCAC and NCAA champs went 8-2 over
spring break and rolled to a second consecutive 12-0 record in
conference play this year. Like the Ephs, the Bantams have a shot
at becoming the first team to win three league titles (2003, 2008)
and at first glance appear to have a good chance at completing the
feat. Trinity leads the conference in multiple statistical
categories, holding a league-leading .362 batting average and .466
on-base percentage while recording a league-low 3.42 ERA. After
missing out on the NESCAC championship for two-straight years, the
Bantams returned last spring and downed Amherst twice along with
Tufts once for the 2008 crown. Trinity battled both Tufts and
Wesleyan during the regular season slate, going 3-0 against the
Jumbos on April 4-5 before splitting a non-conference set against
the Cardinals on Sunday, winning the first game 9-5 before falling
7-6 in the second.
Looking to make it two-in-a-row against Trinity will be Wesleyan
(19-14, 7-5 NESCAC West), as the Cardinals will face the Bantams
for the third time in less than seven days. The pieces all fell
into place for the Cardinals during the final weekend of the
regular season. A 9-6 win at Middlebury in Saturday’s make-up
contest from an April 3 rain out combined with two Amherst losses
put Wesleyan into the tournament for the first time since 2005 due
to the Cardinals holding the head-to-head advantage over the Lord
Jeffs. Wesleyan enters the weekend at 4-1 over its last five games,
most recently earning the aforementioned split against Trinity on
Sunday in Hartford, Conn. Against the 2009 tournament teams, the
Cardinals are 2-3, going 1-2 against Williams on April 25-26 in
divisional play. Interestingly enough, Wesleyan has faced all three
of these teams in its only two appearances in the NESCAC
championship. The Cardinals are 1-0 against Tufts and Williams in
tournament competition while going 0-4 when facing Trinity, as the
Bantams eliminated Wesleyan in 2002 and again in 2005.
