West Lawn, PA - If you weren't at Messiah's 2-1 win over Alvernia University on Saturday, let's just say you missed out on a heart-pounding game from a Falcons' team that absolutely refused to lose. Behind a gutsy performance on the mound from senior captain Wes Hollenbach, the Falcons (19-23) knocked off the No. 1 seeded Alvernia Crusaders (30-12-1) by a 2-1 score, capturing the program's second consecutive Commonwealth Conference championship.
 
The win puts the Falcons' playoff record at an unblemished 6-0 under head coach Steve DeRiggs, and this championship came with the Falcons defeating No. 1 seeded Alvernia not once, but twice in the tournament.
 
“It just shows that Messiah student athletes are gifted with determination and they have a skill set that thrives on challenges. This should bode well for them in their future endeavors,” DeRiggs said. “I feel blessed to have been associated with Messiah for all five years I've been here, and it will always have a special place in my heart.”
 
After winning its first two playoff games, Messiah entered the day needing to win just one of its next two contests against top-seeded Alvernia, a team that had swept the Falcons in a three-game conference series back in the regular season.
 
The Falcons and the Crusaders locked in a pitcher's duel early, as left-handers Wes Hollenbach and Mike Weinhold both proved their value to their teams by working out of a slew of early jams.
 
Hollenbach put the first two Alvernia hitters of the game on base, but bore down and induced a fly out, a strikeout, and a ground ball to escape the jam. He again got out of a two-on situation in the second inning and did the same in the third inning, although Alvernia was able to push across a run on a sacrifice fly from conference Rookie of the Year Richie Ricciardi.
 
Messiah bounced right back with a run of its own in the bottom of the third inning, as the Falcons fought for a hard-earned run against Weinhold, putting four consecutive runners on base with two outs. Junior Paul Mellinger started the rally with his second hit of the night before pulling his hamstring advancing to second base on senior Ryan Brown's walk. At that point, Mellinger was 2-for-2 at the while the rest of his teammates were 0-for-7.
 
“Losing Paul, who had been our only offensive threat at that point in the game hurt a lot,” DeRiggs said. “He uses his bat so well to all fields in the number two slot. He is such a consistent glove man, but the other kids picked us up, and we missed him a lot, but it got us going and woke us up. It was an example of everyone picking up everyone else.”
 
Freshman Zach Brubaker pinch-ran and advanced to third when Hollenbach worked a walk of his own. With the bases loaded, senior John Brubaker was hit by a pitch, forcing in the tying run. Freshman Derek Drake's line drive to center field looked as if it might add two more to the scoreboard but a diving catch ended the frame.
 
Hollenbach continued to give up a fair share of base runners, but showed a knack for escaping the jams over and over again. Meanwhile, the Falcons' offense struggled to pick up hits, but the defense kept the game close.
 
Brown turned a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play in the second inning. Sophomore Jon Lapp made a nice catch on a failed bunt attempt in the fourth inning and Hollenbach turned a double play when he snared a line drive to end the inning. Hollenbach worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning and he was backed by a highlight reel catch of a pop up from sophomore first baseman Jake Sprengle in the seventh inning.
 
“When you don't give teams extra outs and play great defense, you minimize their opportunities and you maximize your chances,” DeRiggs said. “Early in the year we were not doing that. I think it comes down to how we have responded to pressure in the playoffs. The offense and defense were both really focused.”
 
Messiah finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh when Lapp led off with a single, advanced to second base on junior Matt Turman's sacrifice bunt, and scored when senior Sam Tajiri doubled to right center field.
 
With his team finally in the lead, Hollenbach was removed with two men on base and two outs in the eighth inning after throwing 131 pitches. The senior captain, who was pitching with a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm, lasted 7.2 innings against the top team in the conference, giving up just one run. Crusaders hitters went just 1-for-12 against him with men on base, a testament to Hollenbach's phenomenal ability at working out of jams.
 
Hollenbach (4-1) got the win, as the senior's fourth victory tied him for the club lead in wins, despite his appearing on the mound just five times.
 
“We knew we were up for a challenge this series with our shortage of starters,” DeRiggs said. “We needed a big outing from Wes. We were hoping for four or five innings, and he responded extremely well. His heart is so huge and he just wanted the ball. It was tough to take him out of the game, and he just absolutely willed us to a championship. As a captain, he knows his role and he has done it perfectly.”
 
Junior walk-on Galen Halteman entered the game and struck out leadoff man Cody Younker to get out of the pickle, putting Messiah just three outs from a second straight title. A ground ball to Lapp was the first out in the ninth inning, followed by a strikeout looking. After giving up a base hit to center field – and with the go-ahead run at the plate – Halteman bore down and induced a ground ball to shortstop J. Brubaker that secured the victory.
 
“Galen has been such an integral part of the team, and he's been a pleasant surprise,” DeRiggs said. “The fact that he is a walk-on should encourage others to walk on and know that they have a fair chance to be a contributing member of the team. I couldn't be happier about his attitude or his performance.”
 
Tajiri was named the MVP of the tournament, as the senior leadoff hitter led the Falcons with six hits in the playoffs, including a four-hit game against E-Town in yesterday's 11-5 win.
 
“Sam Tajiri kick starts our offense,” DeRiggs said. “When Sam gets on, everything is alive. He puts so much pressure on the catcher and the pitcher. He is infectious when he gets on. His ability to pressure the defense helps the whole offense, and when Sam goes, the team goes. He's just a catalyst, and he was very deserving of the tournament MVP award. He has been a wonderful player on both offense and defense.”
 
As a whole, the senior class played a tremendous role in hitting their way to a miraculous turnaround for Messiah down the stretch.
 
Brown – a two-time First-Team All-Conference catcher – led the conference with seven home runs and collected five hits and three walks in the tournament. Brubaker, who won last year's playoff MVP award, led all Falcons with five RBIs in this year's series. Hollenbach scored three runs while drawing four walks in the playoffs.
 
“The seniors were instrumental in our mental turnaround over the last three or four weeks,” DeRiggs said. “Statistically, we had a lot of underclassmen step up, but the seniors stepped up and decided we were still champions and they rallied us to another title.”
 
In this contest, the Falcons forced Weinhold to throw a plethora of early pitches, but couldn't buy a hit with men on base against the lefty, whom Messiah had knocked out in the second inning earlier in the season. Finally, Tajiri's double that drove in Lapp broke the ice, and although Messiah went just 1-for-8 with men on base, it was a huge hit by Tajiri to score the game-winning run and gave the Falcons a win despite being outhit 10-5 in the game.
 
Not to be overshadowed from the playoff series was the fine play of the bullpen, a unit led by Halteman and senior Davin Okerblom. The duo combined for 5.1 scoreless innings over the final two games, giving up just two hits.
 
The conference championship capped off a phenomenal final month to the season for a Messiah team that was left for dead twice during the season – first after a 2-7 conference start to the season and then after a heartbreaking doubleheader loss at the hands of the E-Town Blue Jays just one week ago.
 
The Falcons responded the only way they know how: by just winning games.
 
From the slow conference start, the won seven straight conference games to clinch a playoff spot, and from the doubleheader loss that pitted Messiah against top-ranked Alvernia, the Falcons gutted out a win, then another, and then another to come away with a repeat championship title. It was fitting that after going 1-7 in one-run games during the regular season, the Falcons won the championship on a game decided by one run.
 
Messiah will advance to its second straight season of regional playoffs. Game times and opponents for the upcoming tournament will be announced. Stay tuned to GoMessiah.com for more details.