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Marietta is repeat baseball champions. |
By Nate Woelfel for D3sports.com
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- For the first time since 1979 the NCAA Division III World Series has a repeat champion. Marietta downed Wheaton (Mass.) 7-2 to claim the 2012 Division III national championship at Fox Cities Stadium.
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Aaron Hopper got the scoring started with an RBI single to left-center to put Marietta up 1-0.
The Pioneers went right back to work in the second. Run-scoring singles from Bryan Gregorich and Kirby Becker coupled with a sacrifice fly from Hopper put Marietta up by four after two.
Marietta head coach Brian Brewer knew the importance of jumping out to an early lead. “They like to hit and run. They like to steal bases and when you’re down it’s a lot tougher to do that,” Brewer said. “Getting a lead early is important all the time, but especially against a quality opponent like [Wheaton].”
The Lyons broke through in the fifth courtesy of an RBI double from Dan Gusovsky that cut the deficit to three.
Marietta bounced back with one run in its half of the frame. A two-out single from Evan Brockmeier pushed the Pioneers' advantage back to four.
The hit proved to be the end of the line for Lyons starter Alec Palioca who suffered his first loss of the season after tossing 4.2 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits. He struck out one and walked one.
It was Hopper who tacked on another for the Pioneers with his RBI single to left in the sixth. He finished the game 2-4 with three RBI.
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Fun facts from the Division III World Series record book Marietta has won back-to-back championships for the first time. The last time this happened was in 1979 when Glassboro State (now known as Rowan) did the trick. |
The Lyons pulled back within four when Dan Gusovsky came around to score on a groundout in the seventh.
Once again, the Pioneers had an answer. This time Gregorich plated a run with a single to make it 7-2 in favor of Marietta.
Wheaton loaded the bases with one away in the eighth, but Marietta starter Brian Gasser pitched his way out of trouble by striking out Apolinar De la Cruz.
“Anytime you get the bases loaded, you want to try and minimize and not give up any runs,” Gasser said. “I got the big strikeout ... and I thought that was probably the best changeup that I threw all day.”
After a lengthy battle with two down, Gasser was able to get Gusovsky to fly out to center to end the threat.
“I was just thinking to myself that I had to switch it up,” Gasser said. “So I threw the curveball and luckily he kind of hit it off the end of the bat. Luckily, hit right to Hopper in center.”
To Wheaton head coach Eric Podbleski, the end of the inning was one of the breaks that his team needed, but did not get.
“Gusovsky has a great at-bat, fouls some pitches off, hits a ball on the screws but, right at their centerfielder,” Podbleski said. “You don’t want to accept that, but that’s what happened.”
Logan Lewis pitched a perfect ninth to secure the victory for the Pioneers and their sixth national title in program history.
Gasser picked up the win for Marietta. He pitched eight innings allowing just two runs on eight hits, struck out six and walked two.
“Wheaton is a great team. I am not going to take anything away from them, but I was just able to finally have my command back” Gasser said. “It’s a great feeling because I was just kind of lacking it at some points this year.”
In their second trip to the national championship game and first since 2006, the Lyons once again came up short against Marietta with a title on the line.
“As much as you don’t want to say it, today was Marietta’s day,” Podbleski said. “They’re a very good baseball team. I have respect for what they’ve accomplished. I have respect for how they played today. I have respect for how they carry themselves.”
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NCAA All Tournament Team Evan Brockmeier, Marietta *Most Outstanding Player |
Podbleski was pleased with the effort his team displayed just 24 hours after losing to the Pioneers.
“I’m proud of our guys beyond belief,” Podbleski said. “[We] just ran into a team that was very good and played the game as well as you can play it today. They earned the win.”
Podbleski knows that his team will stay hungry and continue to work toward the crown that has continued to elude them.
“Any coach or players goal is to always get better,” Podbleski said. “We’ve been pretty consistent year in, year out within our conference, within our region. In the couple opportunities we’ve had to come the national tournament I think we’ve made a pretty good run, but as competitor, player coach, whatever, you never strive for anything less than all you can get. The quest continues.”
Though they may have been the favorites, Brewer and his squad were well aware that the odds were stacked against them in the quest to repeat as the best Division III team in the land. Losing their second game meant that the Pioneers would need to win four straight games to claim the championship.
“Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports,” Brewer said. “Winning back-to-back national championships is probably a close second.”
The road to repeat was a treacherous one. Brewer credits his team’s work ethic with producing historic results.
“I don’t know that many groups that could have done it,” Brewer said. “It goes back to the preparation. You are able to do this because of, physically, the work they put in leading into it in the weight room, the conditioning sessions and in fall baseball. That’s why we do those things and it certainly paid off for us this year.”