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| Josh Lopez has a lot to be excited about with the Beacons as the top seed in the Harwich Regional. Mass-Boston athletics photo |
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| Ben Palantino, the MASCAC rookie of the Year, will be a big part of a Worcester State offense in the Harwich Regional. Worcester athletics photo |
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By Joshua Kummins
for D3sports.com
New England has not seen a team advance to the Division III College World Series in each of the last two seasons. With five of the region’s conference champions among an eight-team regional tournament field that will play in Harwich, Mass., as well as three other teams split between the New York and Mid-Atlantic brackets, fans in New England are hoping the drought can end this spring.
All five regionally-based teams heading to picturesque Whitehouse Field won their league titles, and it was Mass-Boston using its first Little East championship since 2010 to vault into the tournament’s No. 1 seed. Arcadia and St. John Fisher are the next two seeds and join No. 8 Penn State-Berks as this year’s imports, looking to follow Keystone and Ramapo, who have punched World Series tickets out of New England in the last two seasons.
Salve Regina and Suffolk are repeat champions in the CCC and GNAC, respectively, while Babson carries a 12-game winning streak and its first NEWMAC crown of the decade into the postseason. Worcester State rounds out the field following a surprise MASCAC title.
Harwich Regional schedule
Thursday, May 18
Game 1: No. 4 Salve Regina (34-10) vs. No. 5 Babson (25-13), 9:30 a.m.
Game 2: No. 1 Mass-Boston (33-10) vs. No. 8 Penn State-Berks (20-19), 1:00
Game 3: No. 3 St. John Fisher (30-10) vs. No. 6 Suffolk (26-15), 4:30
Game 4: No. 2 Arcadia (32-11) vs. No. 7 Worcester State (20-20), 8:00
Friday, May 19
Game 5: Salve Regina vs. Penn State-Berks, 9:30 a.m.
Game 6: St. John Fisher vs. Worcester State, 1:00
Game 7: Babson vs. Mass-Boston, 4:30
Game 8: Suffolk vs. Arcadia, 8:00
Saturday, May 20
Game 9: St. John Fisher vs. Babson, 9:30
Game 10: Arcadia vs. Salve Regina, 1:00
Game 11: Mass-Boston vs. Suffolk, 4:30
Game 12: Babson vs. Salve Regina, 8:00
Sunday, May 21
Game 13: Babson vs. Suffolk, 12
Game 14: Mass-Boston vs. Game 13 winner, 4:00
Monday, May 22
Game 15: Game 14 rematch, if necessary
Favorite
Head coach Brendan Eygabroat has talked about his Mass-Boston team’s excellent pitching depth all season long. The Beacons used five starting pitchers over four days to win the Little East title, and the back-end duo of Bryan Kaufman and Bobby Tramondozzi is as good as it gets. It doesn’t stop on the mound as their everyday lineup includes five hitters with .300 averages. UMB has all the tools to make a run to Appleton.
Most likely to disappoint
Despite entering NCAAs with a No. 18 national ranking, St. John Fisher had to fight out of the Empire 8 loser’s bracket right from the start before falling to Ithaca in its third straight elimination game. The Cardinals can’t afford another letdown on Cape Cod, especially against a Suffolk team that handed them one of three losses during an early-March swing in Florida.
Cinderella
Worcester State was one of a few teams to show New England that it was not the best of years to be a favorite, as the Lancers won the MASCAC title as a No. 4 seed after going just .500 in regular-season conference play. Meanwhile, Arcadia won its first MAC Commonwealth title as a No. 2 seed, but had to beat top-seeded Alvernia twice in as many days to clinch it. These two teams are looking to continue impressive runs on the national tournament stage.
Players to Watch
C Jordan Draude, Arcadia (.336, 42 R, 46 H, 6 2B, 1 3B, 10 HR, 39 RBI)
C Christian Vargas, Salve Regina (.350, 43 R, 10 2B, 3 HR, 26 RBI, .486 SLG)
1B Scott Eisenmenger, St. John Fisher (.388, 46 R, 13 2B, 10 HR, 55 RBI, .680 SLG)
1B Chris Fowler, Mass-Boston (.385, 33 R, 60 H, 11 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 46 RBI)
1B Ben Palatino, Worcester State (.328, 35 R 11 2B, 2 HR, 24 RBI, .470 SLG)
2B Josh Lopez, Mass-Boston (.393, 34 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 18 RBI, .462 SLG)
2B John Militano, Salve Regina (.349, 34 R, 61 H, 13 2B, 1 3B, 29 RBI, 24 SB)
3B Kyle Boudrias, Mass-Boston (.408, 27 R, 16 2B, 32 RBI, .522 SLG)
3B Luke Hohenstein, Arcadia (.383, 35 R, 13 2B, 36 RBI, .481 SLG)
3B Toby Welk, Penn State-Berks (.404, 26 R, 15 2B, 4 HR, 46 RBI, .641 SLG)
SS Justin Chasmar, Arcadia (.352, 37 R, 51 H, 15 2B, 1 3B 2 HR, 34 RBI)
SS Brian McHale, Babson (.373, 30 R, 12 2B, 1 HR, 21 RBI, .485 SLG)
OF Adam Barry, Worcester State (.342, 24 R, 10 2B, 4 HR. 35 RBI, .510 SLG)
OF Bryan Gillen, Arcadia (.429, 44 R, 11 2B, 3 HR, 25 RBI, .583 SLG)
OF Brady Chant, Suffolk (.371, 46 R, 13 2B, 4 HR, 34 RBI, .646 SLG)
DH Ryan Arena, Babson (.346, 29 R, 12 2B, 12 HR, 30 RBI, .731 SLG)
UTL Dan Mantoni, Mass Boston (5-1, 4.94 ERA, 62.0 IP, 45 SO; .315, 18 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 39 RBI)
UTL Tyler Comport, Penn State-Berks (4-1, 2.23 ERA, 48.1 IP, 55 SO; .289, 13 RBI)
SP Joseph Warren, Arcadia (6-1, 4.26 ERA, 44.1 IP, 45 H, 58K, 22 BB, .268 AVE)
SP Anthony Brophy, St. John Fisher (9-0, 1.57 ERA, 1 CG, 63.0 IP, 60 H, 52 K, 12 BB, .248 AVE)
SP Patrick Maybach, Salve Regina (8-0, 1 SV, 3 CG, 53.2 IP, 40 H, 59 K, 9 BB, .212 AVE)
SP Michael Genaro, Babson (6-1, 2.88 ERA, 3 CG, 59.1 IP, 57 H, 37 K, 5 BB, .250 AVE)
SP Chuck Gibson, Suffolk (7-1, 4 CG, 2 SV, 62.1 IP, 58 H, 42 K, 17 BB, .251 AVE)
RP Kyle Chambers, St. John Fisher (1-2, 2.17 ERA, 5 SV, 27H, 36 K, 13 BB, .241 AVE)
RP Bobby Tramondozzi, Mass Boston (21 APP, 3-2, 6 SV, 2.43 ERA, 33.1 IP, 34 H, 9 BB, 38 SO)
RP Matt Cuneo, Babson (21 APP, 0-1, 9 SV, 6.33 ERA, 21.1 IP, 26 H, 6 BB, 21 SO