| John Carroll advances to the
NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1984. John Carroll athletics photo |
It has been 30 years since the John Carroll University baseball
team has made the NCAA Tournament. John Carroll had also never won
an OAC title. John Carroll had the title in its grasp in the first
game. Baldwin Wallace came back. Junior Mark Huddle and
freshman Mark Materise made sure that would not happen
in the second game.
Down to the winner-take-all game Huddle put JCU in front with a
2-run, 2-out double in the fourth inning of the second game while
Materise pitched into the sixth inning giving JCU a much-needed
performance with arms at a premium for both teams.
"Each day we talked about a certain thing that was going to help
us win," said head coach Marc Thibeault. "Today that was
maturity. We talked about how far we've come. We went 4-5 down in
Florida. The thing that's helped us get to this point is we've
matured as a baseball team and as individuals. Maturity was going
to be one of the things I think that was going to be an underlying
factor that would help us."
With the 6-3 win in the second game John Carroll advances to its
first NCAA Tournament since 1984.
"This is about the kids," said Thibeault. "The kids earned it and
battled for everything. They created their opportunities and had
the midset and focus.
"It is (also) a very special feeling because I've worn number five
(at JCU) since I was 18-years-old. To be able to do it at my alma
mater is such an extrodinary feeling. This group is very special
and past groups were very special. To make it on the 30th
anniversary of the 1984 team is icing on the cake. "It's an honor
to be in the program as a player and as a coach and to be able to
be one of the pieces that helped accomplish this goal."
Game One
John Carroll was two outs away advancing to its first NCAA
Tournament since 1984. Senior Kevin Rosinski forced the
Baldwin Wallace groundout but John Carroll was unable to get the
double play.
Given new life after the 2 hour and 25 minute rain delay, the
Yellow Jackets seized the opportunity. Pinch hitter Cole Nieto drew
a bases-loaded walk to tie the score. Alex Green rocketed his third
RBI base hit of the game to put BW up 11-9, the final score by
which Baldwin Wallace would win by.
Entering the ninth inning the Blue Streaks quickly recorded the
first out. Racing against the weather the Yellow Jackets' next two
batters reached base sending the tarp onto the field in Don Schaly
Stadium.
John Carroll took the 9-7 lead when Tyler Gentile
rocked his second 3-run homer of the OAC Tournament over the left
field fence in the seventh inning.
The third baseman was named the MVP of the OAC Tournament
finishing 9-for-18 with two homers and nine RBIs.
"I saw the ball and got my hands through it on the swing," said
Gentile. "We stepped up in the second game after dropping the first
game. We showed a lot of heart today."
The Blue Streaks gained the momentum in the sixth inning. In
no-man's land, Jimmy Spagna appeared to be picked off of
third base after leading off the inning with a double. BW shortstop
Eric Murphy sailed the throw wide allowing Spagna to scoot in to
score.
John Carroll extended the inning when David Lykens
reached on an error allowing Gentile to cross with ease making it a
7-5 game. Robby Cifelli legged out an infield single to
make it a 7-6 game.
Still with runners on the corners it was BW's turn to make a play
to escape out of the jam. Cifelli advanced to second on an
attempted steal. The Yellow Jackets were able to get out of the
inning when Mitchell Herringshaw strayed too far down
the line and was thrown out at the plate.
Baldwin Wallace jumped out to a 6-0 lead through the top of the
fourth inning. The Yellow Jackets had back-to-back singles in the
second inning to get on the board first. BW made it a 3-0 lead in
the third on a wild pitch and added three runs in the fourth with
the main damage coming on a Brandon Maddern error.
John Carroll finally broke through offensively in the fourth
inning. Bobby Sabatino started the rally with a leadoff
single up the middle. Turning on an inside pitch Chet
Lauer muscled a 2-run homer for his team-leading fifth homer
of the season.
BW answered right back with Green's second RBI hit of the day to
make it a 7-2 BW lead in the fifth inning.
Kevin Rosinski was charged with the loss falling to 0-2
on the season. Gentile, Sabatino and Spagna all finished with three
hits for JCU.
Game Two
Faced with a winner-take-all game the Blue Streaks started off
slow at the plate just like the first game. Materise made sure he
kept his team in the game.
The freshman righty fired a strong 5 2/3 innings only allowing two
runs on six hits pitching his way onto the all-tournament team.
Said Thibeault, "He did a great job. He located his fastball
extremely well and had his slider working. He commanded both sides
of the plate. Mark did a good job and gave us a lift even though we
went down 2-0. Mark was able to battle and get a couple of key outs
especially with guys in scoring position. He gave us a big lift
when we needed it."
John Carroll strung together one hit through the first three
innings off of BW starter Cory Waite. In the fourth inning it all
changed.
Sabatino and Lauer reached on back-to-back singles to start the
fourth. Finally breaking through on the scoreboard, Spagna drove in
JCU's first run of the game scooting a single through the left
side. Mark Huddle delivered with a 2-out, 2-run double
to give the Blue and Gold a 3-2 lead.
The Yellow Jackets found success in the first game bunting and
turned right back to small ball in the top of the second inning.
After a 1-out single Baldwin Wallace had the next two hitters reach
on bunts to load the bases. BW struck with a fielder's choice and a
sacrifice fly to push the game's first two runs across the
plate.
John Carroll extended its lead to 4-2 with Lauer coming in to
score on a Baldwin Wallace error in the bottom of the fifth
inning.
Aggressive base running paid dividends for JCU in the seventh
inning. Lauer beat out a throw on Spagna's fielder's choice pushing
the lead to 5-3. Two batters later David Crowley put JCU
up by three with a 1-out single through the right side.
Sophomore Aaron Lapaglia, on in relief, ran into a big
jam in the eighth inning allowing the first two Yellow Jackets to
reach base. The righty received help from his defense with Spagna
digging out a bouncer from Sabatino capping the 4-3 double play.
Green, the BW hero from game one looked to extend the inning with a
slow chopper up the middle but Huddle cut off the grounder in time
for the play.
Lapaglia fired 3 1/3 innings of relief to pick up the save. The
sophomore capped the win getting a comebacker to the mound.
"I've never brought a kid back on that short of rest," said
Thibeault. "Aaron woke up this morning after doing a great job
yesterday flushing any soreness out. He said to us that he wanted
the ball. I was thinking maybe the last three innings. Materise's
pitch count got up there a little bit and we know he was pretty
much good for 80-85 pitches and then starts to struggle. Lapaglia
has been a great pitcher for us all year and we were going to run
him out there."
Joining Gentile and Materise on the all-tournament team were
Lauer, Sabatino and Spagna.
John Carroll's record now stands at 24-15 while Baldwin Wallace
fell to 25-18.
John Carroll awaits the NCAA Tournament selections. The field will
be unveiled at 12 a.m. on Monday, May 12.