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| Alvernia averages just under 7.5 runs per game. Alvernia athletics photo |
Follow this regional |
By Jim Dixon
D3baseball.com
Kean has been at the top of the rankings all year long and it is not a surprise to see the Cougars with the top regional ranking.
The road out of the regional will not be easy. Regional rivals Alvernia and Johns Hopkins will have their designs on a regional win and face Catholic and Misericordia out of the box on Wednesday. The Johns Hopkins-Misericordia game is the best matchup on opening day and getting win one early will be key to advancing in a tough regional.
Salisbury should not look past Mitchell as the Mariners are expecting to make a name for themselves this week after beating Eastern Connecticut in last year's regional opener and going 32-5 this season. Penn State-Berks is coming off a loss in its conference tournament but Penn College, the NEAC winner, is not eligible for the postseason and the second place Nittany Lions were given the pass into the regional round.
There are a lot of programs with big names in this regional, and after a season in which a Mideast team beat a New England team to win the Mid-Atlantic Regional, look for the region to try to bounce back.
York Regional schedule
Wednesday, May 13
Game 1 - No. 4 Salisbury (29-4-1) vs. No. 5 Mitchell (32-5), 10 a.m.
Game 2 - No. 1 Kean (34-10) vs. No. 8 Penn State-Berks (20-17-1), 1:15 p.m.
Game 3 - No. 3 Johns Hopkins (27-11-1) vs. No. 6 Misericordia (29-11), 4:30 p.m.
Game 4 - No. 2 Alvernia (32-12) vs. No. 7 Catholic (27-14-1), 7:45 p.m.
Thursday, May 14
Game 5 - Mitchell vs. Kean, 10 a.m.
Game 6 - Johns Hopkins vs. Catholic, 1:15 p.m.
Game 7 - Penn State-Berks vs. Salisbury, 4:30 p.m.
Game 8 - Misericordia vs. Alvernia, 7:45 p.m.
Friday, May 15
Game 9 - Johns Hopkins vs. Penn State-Berks, 10 a.m.
Game 10 - Kean vs. Misericordia, 1:15 p.m.
Game 11 - Salisbury vs. Alvernia, 4:30 p.m.
Game 12 - Johns Hopkins vs.Misericordia, 7:45 p.m.
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Saturday, May 16
Game 13 - Alvernia vs. Johns Hopkins, 12 p.m.
Game 14 - Salisbury vs. Alvernia, 2:30 p.m.
Favorite
In the Mid-Atlantic region preview at the start of the season, we noted that the NJAC championship would go through Kean. Sure enough, the Cougars claimed their sixth conference crown despite a second-place finish in the rugged NJAC. And just as with the NJAC, the road to Appleton should go through Kean. The Cougars have won six regional championships in the last eight years.
Most likely to disappoint
The Sea Gulls opened the season with an 18-0 record and climbed to the top of the national rankings. Salisbury failed in its conference tournament and had to sit at the bottom of the regional rankings for three consecutive weeks waiting for an at-large selection. Will we see the early-season dominance or the 3-4 stretch at the end of the conference schedule? Signs of that glory have been seen but anything less than a World Series appearance would be a disappointment for first year coach Troy Brohawn's team.
Cinderella
Mitchell is ready to be fitted for glass slippers. The Mariners have been quietly putting together one of the best seasons in their program history with all phases of the game working for them. They showed no quit when they lost an early game in their conference tournament and grabbed the NECC automatic bid, facing elimination three times on the final day. Coming in with all the confidence in the world, the Mariners are a dangerous team, looking for the upset win.
Players to Watch
C Ryan Goodwin, Mitchell (.374, 42 RBI, 49 H, 29 R, 17 DBL)
1B Salvatore Taormina, Kean (.384, 2 HR, 38 RBI, 61 H, 29 R, 22 BB, 8 SB)
2B Craig Hoezler, Johns Hopkins (.414, 4 HR, 47 RBI, 63 H, 34 R, 11 DBL, 18 BB)
SS Pete Grasso, Salisbury (.341, 5 HR, 37 RBI, 45 H, 47 R, 12 BB, 12 HBP, 7 SB)
3B Tom Grablewski, Penn State-Berks (.366, 19 RBI, 45 H, 30 R, 19 BB, 9 SB)
OF Ben Sawyer, Alvernia (.404, 10 HR, 58 RBI, 65 H, 49 R, 19 DBL, 4 TRP, 22 BB)
OF Stefan Poggioli, Catholic (.381, 4 HR, 31 RBI, 53 H, 36 R, 4 TRP, 17 BB, 12 SB)
OF Jordan Gowe, Salisbury (.367, 1 HR, 43 RBI, 51 H, 30 R, 12 SB)
OF Mike Comerford, Misericordia (.333, 2 HR, 42 RBI, 43 H, 18 DBL, 28 R)
SP Charles Thielmann, Kean (7-2, 2.89 ERA, 84.0 IP, 7 CG, 67 K)
SP Jacob Enterlin, Johns Hopkins (6-3, 1.96 ERA, 69.0 IP, 57 K, 6 BB)
SP Al Jordan Johnson, Mitchell (10-0, 1.11 ERA, 1 SV, 56.2 IP, 56 K)
SP Cory Vogli, Misericordia (8-0, 1.11 ERA, 57.0 IP, 52 K)
RP Louis Marotta, Alvernia (9-0, 1.62 ERA, 1 SV, 22 APP, 44.1 IP, 30 K, 7 BB)
RP Kevin Becker-Menditto, Alvernia (1-2, 0.37 ERA, 14 SV, 23 APP, 24.1 IP, 19 K, 1 BB)