| Freedom Conference pitcher of
the year Ryan Dorosh has five complete-game wins in
2014. Misericordia athletics photo |
Follow this regional
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By Shawn Spence
D3baseball.com
In the preseason, D3baseball.com told readers of the consolidation of power in this region, of the rising powers in some of the previously lesser-regarded conferences.
Well, Moravian helped make us look good. Their reward for the top spot in the bracket is facing arguably the top pitcher in the region in the first round, but hey, we didn’t make the brackets.
The New Jersey Athletic Conference flexed its muscles as usual – sending three teams to the NCAA tournament, though Rowan will be in Moosic, Pa. – and while some struggled along the way, most of the teams expected to be here from the “other leagues” have made it.
Keystone shook off a 3-9 start down south and the Giants won the Colonial States with relative ease. Misericordia started its season 7-6, got going but then got all it wanted from Manhattanville in the MAC Freedom tournament. A 13-inning win avenged an early loss to the aptly named Valiants, forced a rematch and the Cougars were on their way to a third straight regional.
Perhaps no one had more tribulation on the road from preseason darling (while not necessarily a solid favorite) to postseason qualifier than Haverford. The Fords looked like Edsels much of the season and watched Gettysburg roar to the Centennial regular season title. Haverford lost its first round game in the conference tournament but battled through the loser’s bracket and bit the Bullets twice to capture the bid.
The one surprise package is Susquehanna, which threatened to derail Moravian’s bid for the top seed with its first-ever Landmark Conference championship, beating Moravian in the championship. The Crusaders’ title might well have been justice done, as Susquehanna lost two extra-inning games at Moravian in the regular season to go with a lopsided victory. SU plays a lot of close games, with 13 decided by one run or in extra innings.
Two teams join from other regions; Baldwin-Wallace comes through the Ohio meat grinder as one of four OAC regional entrants – the most from any conference – and Wesleyan comes in from New England after winning the NESCAC’s automatic bid.
Moosic Regional schedule
Wednesday, May 14
Game 1 - No. 4 Baldwin Wallace (25-18) vs. No. 5 Misericordia
(29-13-1), 9:30 pm
Game 2 - No. 1 Moravian (32-10) vs. No. 8 Haverford (22-18), 1
pm
Game 3 - No. 3 Susquehanna (28-12) vs. No. 6 Keystone (27-12),
4:30 pm
Game 4 - No. 2 Rowan (32-10) vs. No. 7 Wesleyan (27-11), 8 pm
Thursday, May 15
Game 5 - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 9:30 am
Game 6 - Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 1 pm
Game 7 - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 4:30 pm
Game 8 - Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 8 pm
Friday, May 16
Game 9 - Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 7, 9:30 am
Game 10 - Winner of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 8, 1 pm
Game 11 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8, 4:30 pm
Game 12 - Winner of game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10, 8 pm
Saturday, May 17
Game 13 - Loser of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 12, 12 pm
Game 14 - Winner of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 13, 4 pm
Sunday, May 18
Game 15 - Winner of Game 14 vs Loser of Game 14, 1 pm (if necessary)
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Favorite
Rowan. In spite of the seedings, the Profs are probably the team that it would be a surprise to see fall out of the bracket. There are a lot of teams in this regional that have been in too many of them, and Keystone is the only one in the bracket to win a regional besides Rowan. Add in that Moravian probably has a diabolical first-round date with Haverford ace Tommy Bergjans, and Rowan seems to have the better shot of the teams that have swapped the top spot in the regional rankings a couple of times this season.
Most likely to disappoint
Moravian. This is more a matter of circumstance than an indictment of talent, and more a matter of risk assessment than firm prediction. Moravian and Baldwin Wallace both draw opponents with All-American quality aces; Moravian probably gets the aforementioned Bergjans and BW faces Misericordia and likely starter Ryan Dorosh (16-1 career). If both lose, they’d play each other to stay alive. Even with a win, it would be a long road back to the championship round. Beating Bergjans (presumably he’ll start for the Fords) still leaves a tough next couple of games.
Cinderella
Misericordia. If you’re paying close attention, you may have already figured out what was coming here. Again, it’s a matter of the bracket. Seed upsets by the statistical top two pitchers in the field puts Misericordia needing a win over Haverford to be guaranteed a spot in the final three teams. Misericordia is also, statistically speaking, the best fielding team in the tournament at .965 fielding percentage.
Players to Watch
3B Lymbel Guerrero, Keystone (.396, 35 R, 54 H, 11 2B, 5 HR, 46
RBI)
OF Donnie Cimino, Wesleyan (.333, 39 R, 49 H, 6 2B, 21 RBI)
1B Kyle Chontos, Baldwin Wallace (.381, 41 R, 64 H, 17 2B, 5 HR,
43 RBI, 10 SB)
OF Ryan Pavlik, Rowan (.386, .444 OBP, 45 R)
RP Chris Soltys, Moravian (6-1, 4 SV, 0.90, 12 BB, 47 K, .168
opp. avg.)
SP Tommy Berjans, Haverford (8-2, 1.10, 1 CG, 26 BB, 83 K, .147
opp. avg.)
SP Ryan Dorosh, Misericordia (10-0, 1 Sv, 1.554, 5 CG, 14 BB, 82
K, .187 opp. avg.)
SP Casey Hood, Susquehanna (8-1, 2.71, 3 CG, 5 BB, 50 K, .228 opp.
avg.)
OF Matt Hanson, Moravian (.397, 3 HR, 47 RBI, 13-13 SB, 52
R)