YORK, PA – The York College baseball team captured the 2021 Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth baseball tournament championship Saturday with a sweep of second-seeded Lebanon Valley at Jaquet Field. The Spartans won game one 7-3 and captured the championship with a dramatic 5-4 win in game two.
The conference championship is the fourth title in school history and first MAC Commonwealth Baseball championships. The previous titles were Capital Athletic Conference crowns and came in 1991, 1996, and 1999. The win ends a 21-year conference title drought for the Green and White. The title also earns York their 12th NCAA Tournament trip and their first since 2010.
Senior closer Conor Miller was named the MAC Commonwealth Tournament MVP.
York improves to 28-6 overall as they have won five straight. Lebanon Valley sees their strong season come to an end at 21-12.
Game One
Hits: York 13, LVC 7
Errors: York 1, LVC 3
2B: York 3, LVC 4
3B: York 0, LVC 0
HR: York 2, LVC 0
LOB: York 8, LVC 7
WP: Brandon Haggerty (10-0) LP: Kyle Kingsbury (6-3) Save: Conor Miller (9)
How it Happened
• The Dutchmen could not have gotten off to a better start to the day as they got to Spartan ace Brandon Haggerty for three runs in the opening frame. The inning started with a Spartan defensive miscue. Chris DeClerico then doubled down the left field line to put Dutchmen at second and third. Michael Leri then doubled to right center to plate a pair. Later in the inning, Nico Santoro scored Leri with a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 3-0. It could have been worse as Spartan centerfielder Jayden Cowan tripped in catching the sacrifice fly but was able to snag the ball before falling to the ground.
• The Spartans got one run back in the second as Jimmy Wiegers walked and moved to third on a Luke Turner rocket double off the left field wall. Brandon White then singled home Wiegers for a Spartan run. White's single looked like it was going to be a sacrifice fly but the third base umpire ruled that the left field Ryan Murphy trapped the ball, allowing Wiegers to score and White to be safe at first. LVC starter Kyle Kingsbury minimized the damage as he rolled a double play and got out of the inning without any further scoring for York.
• York got another run in the third as Jack Barry jacked a solo bomb deep to right for his 17th round tripper of the year.
• The Spartans got on top in the sixth as Barry struck again. Austin Denlinger reached on an error and Barry followed with a two-run blast to left field as he muscled the ball out of the park for his 18th home run, tops in all of Division III baseball. Joe Capobianco and Wiegers then had back-to-back singles but Kingsbury buckled down and struck out the side to prevent any further Spartan damage.
• York added three huge insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Wiegers opened the inning with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. He scored when Turner ripped another double down the left field line to make it 5-3. Turner moved to third on a wild pitch and scored when the Dutchmen attempted a pick off on Brian Jakubek at second. Turner broke home and he was going to be out but the Dutchmen threw the ball away, allowing Turner to come home and Jakubek to move to third. Cowan capped the scoring with an RBI single to center.
• The Dutchmen made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth off closer Conor Miller. Miller opened the frame with a strikeout followed by a walk. Connor Smith singled up the middle followed by an Ethan Hurd pinch hit walk to load the bases. Miller got a strikeout and then coaxed Bryan Towers into a ground out to third to end the game. The save was Miller's league-leading ninth of the year.
Spartan Leaders
Senior Brandon Haggerty was again brilliant as the MAC Commonwealth Pitcher of the Year tossed seven innings, allowing three runs, one earned, on five hits with 10 strikeouts and zero walks as he improved to 10-0 … Conor Miller picked up his ninth save of the year as he registered a six-out save ... he allowed two hits with two hits and two strikeouts … MAC Commonwealth Player of the Year Jack Barry continued his unbelievable year with two more home runs as he was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI .. Luke Turner had three hits, a run scored and an RBI as two of his hits were doubles, his eighth and ninth two-baggers of the year … Jayden Cowan, Austin Denlinger, and Jimmy Wiegers each added two hits … Cowan added an RBI while Wiegers scored twice and Denlinger scored once for York.
Game Two
Hits: York 10, LVC8
Errors: York 2, LVC 4
2B: York 1, LVC 2
3B: York 0, LVC 0
HR: York 0, LVC 0
LOB: York 7, LVC 10
WP: Conor Miller (1-1) LP: Hunter Tipton (2-2)
How It Happened
• The Spartans opened the scoring off hard throwing Tanner Rock. York's Joe Capobianco opened the second by reaching on a Dutchman error. Capobianco moved to second on a ground out to first. He came around to score on a big two-out single to center from senior Brandon White.
• York tacked on three runs in the third as Brian Jakubek singled to open the frame. Jayden Cowan singled through the right side to put runners and first and second. After a strikeout, Jack Barry smoked a single to right to score Jakubek with York's second run. After another Rock strikeout, Wiegers ripped a double to left center to score a pair to put York up 4-0.
• The Dutchmen nicked Robert Chaney for an unearned run in the fourth as Chris DeClerico drew a lead-off walk. Chaney got two quick outs but DeClerico advanced to second on a wild pitch. That proved to be a big 90 feet as a Spartan error allowed DeClerico to score an unearned run.
• LVC got another run in the top of the seventh as they recorded a pair of infield hits with one out. DeClarico singled a run, cutting the Spartan lead to 4-2. A Spartan error loaded the bases and York called on set up man Tim Halasnik. The veteran right hander got a shallow fly out to right and a strikeout to get the Spartans to the bottom of the seventh.
• The eighth inning was a bizarre display of things you usually don't see at a game. The Dutchmen opened the inning with a pair of foul outs as Halasnik looked like he was going to cruise through the frame. A Ryan Murphy single through the left side followed by a walk put runners at first and second. A passed ball moved the runners up 90 feet each. That was big as Bryan Towers hit what looked like an easy, routine grounder to first that took a terrible hop past first baseman Jack Barry allowing the two runs to score, tying the game at four.
• The bottom half of the inning was equally bizarre as Luke Turner reached second on a throwing error with one out. Sophomore George Mendoza pinch ran for Turner and three pitches later would score as White hit a ball off the end of the bat to second base. The ball squirted through second baseman's Connor Smith, allowing Mendoza to score the championshiop clinching run.
• Closer Conor Miller mowed through the deflated Dutchmen in the ninth to earn the win. Miller threw eight pitches to secure the championship for York.
Spartan Leaders
Senior Jimmy Wiegers was again outstanding as he was 2-for-4 with two RBI … Jack Barry banged out three hits with an RBI and a run scored … Jayden Cowan added two hits and a run scored … Brandon Whitewas 1-for-4 with an RBI … Austin Denlinger was 1-for-4 as he extended his current hit streak to 14 games … Robert Chaney got the start and threw five solid innings as he allowed one unearned run on three hits with seven strikeouts and three walks … Conor Miller earned his first win of the year in relief as he allowed one hit with one strikeout.
Notes
The Spartans improve to 4-0 against the Dutchmen this year and are now 24-7 all-time against LVC … York has won five straight in the series … the Spartans winning percentage of .824 (28-6) is the highest winning percentage in school history, the previous best winning percentage was .778 (21-6) set in 1975 … the Spartans have reached 28 wins for the seventh time in school history (1991, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014) … senior Brandon Haggerty now sits second on the single-season wins list with 10, one back of Mike Franklin who won 11 games in 1991 … senior Conor Miller has moved into a tie for second on the single-season saves list with his ninth on Saturday … Miller is tied with Brandon Ullom who notched his nine saves in 2012 … junior Austin Denlinger now has 131 total bases in his 34 games, he is two total bases short of tying Mike Welch's school record of 133 set in 2004 … Jack Barry now has 114 total bases which is fifth on the single-season list … Barry now has 51 RBI which is four short of cracking the single-season top five … Barry's two home runs in game one gives him back the team lead and the single-season school record as he has 18, passing Denlinger for the lead on the team and in all of Division III … the Spartans continue to build on the single-season home run record as they now have 52 in 34 games, shattering the previous record of 43 set in 49 games in 2002 … the Spartans head into the NCAA Tournament hitting .340 as they are averaging 8.7 runs per game.
Up Next
The Spartans will now wait until next Sunday, May 23 to find out where they will be going for the NCAA Division III Tournament as the field will be announced by the NCAA. Please follow us at www.ycpspartans.com for full coverage.