Jasper Adams is finally healthy again and pitching like the No. 1 starter he was slated to be before getting hurt.  Photo by Larry Radloff for Ithaca athletics

By Pat Coleman
D3sports.com

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. – Ithaca got a third consecutive strong pitching performance from senior pitcher Jasper Adams, who combined with reliever Jimmy Wagner to shut down Kean on five hits and defeat the Cougars 3-1.

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The loss eliminates Kean from the 2013 Division III baseball World Series. Ithaca will face Linfield on Tuesday at a time to be determined.

Only two runners got as far as second base off of Adams, as the Cougars (39-13) manufactured a run in the sixth and threatened again in the seventh before Wagner came on to shut the door.

For Adams, it was yet another sign he was finally back on track after Tommy John surgery in October 2011 cost him all of last season.

“I think a lot of it with Jasper is the unknown and the caution sometimes when you’re pitching,” said Ithaca coach George Valesente. “I think that once he got over that and felt the arm was good and he was ready to roll, he could start to get back to where he was.

“Literally, had he not had that he’d have been our No. 1 guy this year. But it’s great to have my No. 3 guy as my possible No. 1 guy.”

Adams threw eight shutout innings against Montclair State to end the regular season and followed that with a four-hit outing over seven innings in a win against Amherst in the regionals. He has an 0.82 ERA in the past three games.

“I’m feeling great,” he said. “I think like coach said it was mainly kind of a mental hurdle to get over and once I started just going out and throwing the ball and I got over that the results have been much better.”

Once again, it was Tim Locastro who started things off for Ithaca, as he singled to center field in the first inning, stole second and third easily and came in when Colby Gee lashed a double into the left field corner. Corey Caswell followed with a single to center to score Gee and stake the Bombers to an early 2-0 lead.

Gee was particularly excited about Ithaca’s early start.

“The only thing I was worried about was that we get too pumped up and settle in and don’t do the job that we’re supposed to as we go along,” Valesente said. “I’m laughing at Colby because he was screaming at second base after hitting that double and I’m happy about that but we still had a lot of game to go.”

“I was pretty amped,” Gee said sheepishly. “It was nice to start the game with some runs. It makes Jasper more comfortable, makes the whole team more comfortable. With Kean beating us back in California, I really wanted to beat them today. I hit that double and scored and I was just the happiest kid on the team, I think.”

Kean, which struggled during the regular season when trailing, even after just the first inning, felt those two runs all afternoon.

“I think being down 2-0 all game put tremendous pressure on us,” said Cougars coach Neil Ioviero. “For us, it’s about keeping the score manageable and down and getting a run here and a run there. We needed three to win, and then when we scored, we needed another three.”

Ithaca added a run in the fifth when Andrew Turner reached on a fielder’s choice and scored when Christian Brown laced a ball into the left field corner. Brown was headed for third base all the way and stood up with a triple when Joe O’Connor threw behind him at second base. Kean then walked Locastro intentionally and avoided further damage when Dan Hansen got Tim Henry swinging and made a nice stab of a ball Gee hit back through the box.

The Cougars scratched out their lone run in the sixth inning. Catcher D.J. Ross  led things off with a single up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice. Tyler Smarslok got him to third with a single to right and Ryan Reitmeyer brought Ross in on a sac fly to right.

The Bomber defense picked itself up in the seventh inning. After an error by second baseman Tim Henry on a ground ball allowed Joe O’Connor to reach base, Jasper Adams got consecutive infield foul pop-ups. With two down, O’Connor stole second to get into scoring position and center fielder Shane Alvarez lined a single into right field. Brown fielded the ball on the run and came up throwing to Corey Caswell at the plate. Caswell blocked the plate, forcing O’Connor to slide to the outside, where he missed the plate attempting to tag it with his trailing hand. Caswell tagged him out to end the inning.

Kean’s defense did its job in the third inning, keeping the game within reach. Locastro was on first base with one out after an infield single when Gee hit a smash up the middle. However, Smarslok dove to his right, gloved the ball and shoveled it with his glove hand to Nick Ramagli, who barehanded it and threw to first for the double play.

Adams improved to 7-0 while Wagner picked up his sixth save. Dan Hansen went the distance for Kean and allowed three runs on eight hits, finishing the season 3-3.

Ithaca news conference

Kean news conference