Elizabethtown College Baseball News 
Back to top 5/22/2009 Adam Hartzell named ABCA third-team All-America FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, May 22, 2009 Adam Hartzell Named ABCA Third-Team All-America Hartzell, a first-team All-Mid-Atlantic Region selection, is Elizabethtown's first All-America selection since Brad Duppstadt was a second-team pick in 2004. Hartzell went 9-3 with a 2.07 earned run average in 14 appearances (10 starts), leading the Commonwealth Conference in ERA and tying for the league lead in victories with teammate Matt Vinagro. Hartzell struck out 65 batters in 78 1/3 innings and allowed just 13 walks while holding opponents to a .208 batting average. In three years, Hartzell has a 13-6 record with a 2.93 earned run average in 27 appearances (20 starts) with 106 strikeouts and 30 walks in 138 1/3 innings of work. The Blue Jays finished 29-15 overall and 12-3 in the Commonwealth Conference, winning the conference regular-season and postseason championships and advancing to the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional where they finished fourth out of eight teams. Back to top 5/18/2009 Baseball places three on ABCA Mid-Atlantic All-Region Team FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, May 18, 2009 Blue Jays Place Three on ABCA Mid-Atlantic All-Region Team Junior Adam Hartzell (Spring City, PA/Owen J. Roberts) was a first-team selection at pitcher while senior Adam Sheibley (Landisburg, PA/West Perry) was a second-team outfielder and senior Sam Heaps (Landenberg, PA/Avon Grove) was a second-team utility player. The trio led the Blue Jays to a 29-15 overall record, the Commonwealth Conference tournament championship and two victories in the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional. Hartzell went 9-3 with a 2.07 earned run average in 14 appearances (10 starts), leading the Commonwealth Conference in ERA and tying for the league lead in victories with teammate Matt Vinagro. Hartzell struck out 65 batters in 78 1/3 innings and allowed just 13 walks while holding opponents to a .208 batting average. In three years, Hartzell has a 13-6 record with a 2.93 earned run average in 27 appearances (20 starts) with 106 strikeouts and 30 walks in 138 1/3 innings of work. Sheibley, the Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year, hit .317 with four home runs and 40 runs batted in while leading Division III in stolen bases with 51. In addition to steals, he led the Commonwealth Conference in runs scored with 53 and ranked second in RBI despite batting leadoff in all 44 games. Sheibley graduates as Elizabethtown's career leader in runs (162), triples (23), stolen bases (95), games played (158) and at-bats (568) while ranking second in runs batted in (115) and hits (178). He posted a career average of .313 with 27 doubles, 10 home runs and 94 walks. Heaps excelled both on the mound and at the plate, earning Commonwealth Conference Pitcher of the Year honors for the second straight year after going 6-3 with a 2.95 earned run average in 11 starts. In 73 1/3 innings, Heaps led the Commonwealth Conference with 87 strikeouts and issued just 15 walks, while allowing just six extra-base hits in 262 opponent at-bats. At the plate, Heaps hit .390 with 16 doubles, five triples and 38 runs batted in to go with a team-high 33 walks and 20 stolen bases. Heaps ranked fourth in the conference in batting average and second in on-base percentage (.495) while leading in total bases (86) and tying for the league lead in walks. Heaps finished his career with a 24-11 record and a 3.06 earned run average in 46 games (40 starts), with 246 strikeouts in a school-record 264 2/3 innings pitched. At the plate, he hit .362 with two home runs and 87 runs batted in along with 121 hits, 89 runs scored, 63 walks and 28 stolen bases. Back to top 5/15/2009 Baseball's season ends in 5-3 loss to TCNJ ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE BASEBALL Saturday, May 16, 2009 College of New Jersey 5, Elizabethtown 3
Click here for the box score LAKEWOOD, N.J. --- The College of New Jersey scored runs in the seventh and eighth innings to break a 3-3 tie and defeat Elizabethtown College 5-3 in an fog-delayed elimination game at the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament at FirstEnergy Park on Saturday morning. The Lions (27-17-1) advance to play Keystone College in an elimination game later Saturday afternoon, whie the Blue Jays (29-15) saw their season come to an end. The game had been suspended due to fog in the top of the sixth inning on Friday night with the Lions ahead 3-2, but the Blue Jays tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out RBI double by Eric Luff. College of New Jersey went ahead for good in the seventh on an RBI single by Jeff Toth, and added an insurance run in the eighth on a two-out RBI double by Adam Tussey. Pat Johnson (3-0) struck out five in four innings of relief to earn the win for the Lions, while Adam Hartzell (9-3) gave up five hits and two runs in 2 2/3 innings to take the loss for the Blue Jays. The Lions took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a pair of unearned runs, as Vince Mazzaccaro knocked home both runs with a two-out single. Elizabethtown answered with a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Brian Kiernan, and tied the game at 2-2 in the third on an RBI groundout by Tom Semanek. TCNJ went back on top 3-2 in the top of the fifth as Mazzaccaro doubled home a run with two outs. Matt Kutz started for Elizabethtown and allowed five hits and three runs (one earned) in 5 1/3 innings with two strikeouts, while Dan Anderson yielded six hits and two runs (one earned) in five innings while whiffing three. Toth, Esperon and Mazzaccaro all went 2-for-5 for the Lions as part of an 11-hit attack, while Francis led the Blue Jays by going 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Luff and Anthony Heaps each went 2-for-4 for Elizabethtown, which finished with 10 hits as a team. NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional at Lakewood, N.J. Coll. of New Jersey 5, Elizabethtown Coll. 3 ------------------------------------------- Coll. of New Jersey. 200 010 110 - 5 11 2 Elizabethtown Coll.. 101 001 00x - 3 10 2 ------------------------------------------- Dan Anderson, Pat Johnson (6) and Mike Galeotafiore; Matt Kutz, Adam Hartzell (6), Dan Lauletta (9) and Tom Semanek. WP-Johnson (3-0). LP-Hartzell (9-3). SO-BB: Anderson 3-2, Johnson 5-0; Kutz 2-0, Hartzell 1-0, Lauletta 0-0. Back to top 5/15/2009 Baseball stays alive with 9-2 win over Penn State Berks ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE BASEBALL Friday, May 15, 2009 Elizabethtown 9, Penn State Berks 2
Click here for the box score LAKEWOOD, N.J. --- Elizabethtown College defeated Penn State Berks 9-2 in an elimination game at the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament on Friday afternoon. The Blue Jays (29-14) advance to play in an elimination game on Friday at 7:45 p.m. against The College of New Jersey, which defeated Alvernia College 8-2 in the opening game on Friday. That game will follow the winner's bracket final between top-seeded Kean University and second-seeded Keystone College at 5:15 p.m. Rodney Francis went 3-for-5 with two runs batted in and Ben Yeager finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored for the Blue Jays, who scored five runs in the fourth inning to overcome a 2-1 deficit. Matt Vinagro (9-1) allowed seven hits and two runs and struck out six while throwing 114 pitches in a complete-game effort for the Blue Jays, his third complete game in as many postseason starts. Elizabethtown took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Yeager was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, but Penn State Berks (22-23-1) came back with two in the third on a wild pitch and an RBI single by Seth Shultz. In the fourth, the Blue Jays broke loose for five runs on an RBI double by Francis, a two-run single by Adam Sheibley, an RBI double by Sam Heaps and an RBI single by Tom Semanek to take a 6-2 lead. The Blue Jays added a run in the seventh on an RBI single by Francis, and tacked on two more in the eighth on a two-run double by Yeager. Shultz and Kevin Heilman each went 2-for-4 for the Lions, while starting pitcher Brad Swavely fell to 6-2 on the year after allowing eight hits and six runs (three earned) in 3 2/3 innings of work. Heaps went 2-for-4 and scored a pair of runs for the Blue Jays, while Brian Kiernan finished 2-for-4 with a run scored. Sheibley stole his NCAA all-divisions leading 51st base during the Blue Jays' five-run fourth inning. Elizabethtown Coll. 9, Penn State Berks 2 ------------------------------------------- Elizabethtown Coll.. 100 500 120 - 9 12 2 Penn State Berks.... 002 000 000 - 2 7 2 ------------------------------------------- Matt Vinagro and Tom Semanek; Brad Swavely, Matt Emrick (4), John Pastal (8), Chad Magee (9) and Aaron Klaptosky. WP-Vinagro (9-1). LP-Swavely (6-2). SO-BB: Vinagro 6-1; Swavely 4-2, Emrick 1-2, Pastal 0-1, Magee 0-0. Back to top 5/15/2009 Baseball rally comes up shy in 10-8 loss to Keystone ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE BASEBALL Thursday, May 14, 2009 Keystone 10, Elizabethtown 8
Click here for the box score LAKEWOOD, N.J. --- Eric Groff went 4-for-5 with four runs scored, three runs batted in and three stolen bases and Ryan Smyth hit a grand slam as Keystone College defeated Elizabethtown College 10-8 in a winners bracket game at the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional at FirstEnergy Park on Thursday night. The second-seeded Giants (39-4), who won their 27th consecutive game and are ranked eighth in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25 poll, finished with 15 hits as a team and advance to face top-seeded and 13th-ranked Kean University in a winners' bracket final on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Sixth-seeded Elizabethtown (28-14), which saw a five-game postseason win streak come to an end, battles eighth-seeded Penn State Berks in an elimination game on Friday at 1:15 p.m. The winner will face the winner of Friday's 10 a.m. elimination game between Alvernia University and College of New Jersey at 7:45 p.m. on Friday. Ben Fish went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in while Kyle Conrad finished 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored for the Giants. Sean Murphy (9-0) allowed two earned runs on 10 hits over eight innings while striking out eight to earn the victory for Keystone, which made five errors as a team including four by outfielders. Five different players finished with two hits for the Blue Jays, as Adam Sheibley and Brian Kiernan each went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Rodney Francis, Ben Yeager and Anthony Heaps all went 2-for-5. Keystone jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning off Blue Jay starter Sam Heaps as Groff hit his 13th home run of the season to deep right field. The Giants added three runs in the third to take a 4-0 lead on an RBI single by Groff and a two-run single by Ben Fish. The Blue Jays got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the fourth on RBI singles by Kiernan and Anthony Heaps. Keystone came back with a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Fish, but Elizabethtown responded in the bottom of the inning as Sheibley tripled and scored on a single by Francis to pull within 5-3. In the sixth, Groff singled for his third run batted in of the game to give Keystone a 6-3 lead, and two batters later Smyth hammered his eighth home run over the fence in deep left-center to boost the Giant lead to 10-3. Elizabethtown tacked on a run in the seventh on a groundout by Sam Heaps and two more in the eighth on a dropped fly ball and an RBI double by Sheibley to cut the Giant lead to 10-6. The Blue Jays rallied again in the ninth, scoring on an RBI single by Yeager and a fielder's choice to pull within 10-8 before a fly out ended the contest. Sam Heaps (6-3) worked four-plus innings for the Blue Jays, allowing 10 hits and five earned runs while striking out six. Todd Leister came on in the sixth after the Giants scored their five runs, and held Keystone to no runs and one hit over the final 3 2/3 innings. In other action on Thursday, Penn State Berks eliminated Penn State Behrend with an 8-5 victory, Alvernia defeated Montclair State University 10-1 to knock out the Red Hawks, and Kean scored twice in the ninth to defeat College of New Jersey 7-5. Keystone College 10, Elizabethtown Coll. 8 ------------------------------------------- Keystone College.... 103 015 000 - 10 15 5 Elizabethtown Coll.. 000 210 122 - 8 12 1 ------------------------------------------- Sean Murphy, Brett Repard (9) and Jimmy Ferraro; Sam Heaps, Kurt Smith (5), Todd Leister (6) and Tom Semanek. WP-Murphy (9-0). LP-S. Heaps (6-3). SO-BB: Murphy 8-3, Repard 1-1; S. Heaps 6-0, Smith 1-3, Leister 2-1. HR-Eric Groff (K), Ryan Smyth (K). Penn State Berks 8, Penn State Behrend 5 Alvernia 10, Montclair State 1 Kean 7, College of New Jersey 5 Back to top 5/13/2009 Baseball opens NCAA regionals with 5-2 win over Montclair State ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE BASEBALL Wednesday, May 13, 2009 Elizabethtown 5, Montclair State 2
Click here for the box score LAKEWOOD, N.J. --- A two-out error in the top of the eighth inning broke a 2-2 tie and helped Elizabethtown College to a 5-2 victory over Montclair State University in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament at FirstEnergy Park on Wednesday evening. Adam Hartzell (9-2) worked into the ninth inning to earn the victory for the sixth-seeded Blue Jays (28-13), who advance to play on Thursday at 7:45 p.m. against Keystone College, which defeated Alvernia University 2-1 in Wednesday's late game with a run in the bottom of the ninth. The third-seeded Red Hawks (26-18) overcame a 2-0 deficit with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but left runners on third base in the fifth, sixth and eighth to fall into the loser's bracket, where they will face Alvernia on Thursday at 1:15 in an elimination game. "We got some timely hits tonight, and were very aggressive on the basepaths," said Elizabethtown head coach Cliff Smith. "We made the plays we needed to make, and didn't shoot ourselves in the foot. Adam Hartzell showed too why he's one of the best in the region with his performance on the mound against a quality opponent." Sam Heaps went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in for the Blue Jays, who won their NCAA tournament opener for just the third time in 10 all-time appearances. Rodney Francis stole two bases and scored a pair of runs for Elizabethtown, while Adam Sheibley scored twice and swiped three bags to boost his season total to 50, which leads all divisions of the NCAA. Jay Bionde and Scott Evangelist had RBI singles for the Red Hawks while Zachary Brown went 4-for-4 for Montclair State, which finished with 11 hits as a team but left nine runners on base. With the game tied 2-2 in the eighth, the Blue Jays had runners at second and third with two outs for Matt Vinagro, whose grounder to short was bobbled by Bionde to allow Brian Kiernan to cross the plate with the go-ahead run. Elizabethtown added two insurance runs in the ninth on an RBI single by Tom Semanek and a bases-loaded walk to Kiernan to take a 5-2 lead. Hartzell issued his first walk of the night to lead off the bottom of the ninth, and was removed after 123 pitches in favor of Vinagro. After a single and a forceout, Vinagro struck out Bionde and Michael Boggi to end the game and earn his first save of the season. The Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning as Francis reached on a two-base error by Red Hawk left fielder Ed Kloepping and scored on a single to left by Heaps. Elizabethtown extended its lead to 2-0 in the fifth as Sheibley drew a leadoff walk, stole second and third and came home on a sacrifice fly by Heaps. Montclair State loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fifth on three consecutive singles, but Hartzell induced a force out at the plate and a popup to avoid damage. The Red Hawks got on the board in the bottom of the sixth as Boggi led off with a double and came home on a single by Evangelist, and knotted the game in the seventh as Brown singled with one out, moved to second on a groundout and scored on a single to right by Bionde. Michael Streaman started for Montclair State and allowed four hits and two runs (one earned) in 4 1/3 innings of work while striking out six. John Masklee (5-5), the second of five pitchers for the Red Hawks, took the loss after giving up an unearned run on one hit in three innings. In all, the Red Hawk staff struck out 12 batters on the night but issued seven bases on balls. In other tournament action earlier Wednesday, College of New Jersey defeated Penn State Behrend 13-1 in the opener while top-seeded Kean University shut out Penn State Berks 10-0 as Colin Feneis threw a one-hitter and struck out 15. NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional at Lakewood, N.J. Elizabethtown Coll. 5, Montclair State Univ. 2 ------------------------------------------- Elizabethtown Coll.. 001 010 012 - 5 8 0 (28-13) Montclair State Univ 000 001 100 - 2 11 2 (26-18) ------------------------------------------- Adam Hartzell, Matt Vinagro (9) and Tom Semanek; Michael Streaman, John Masklee (5), Kevin Wieme (8), Scott Shan (9), Nick Recchia (9) and Kevin Bond. WP-Hartzell (9-2). LP-Masklee (5-5). SV-Vinagro (1). SO-BB: Hartzell 5-1, Vinagro 2-0; Streaman 6-3, Masklee 5-1, Wieme 1-1, Shan 0-1, Recchia 0-1. College of New Jersey 13, Penn State Behrend 1 Kean 10, Penn State Berks 0 Keystone 2, Alvernia 1 Back to top 5/11/2009 Baseball to play Montclair State in NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional opener FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, May 11, 2009 Baseball to Open NCAA Regional Tournament on Wednesday The Blue Jays (27-13) are seeded sixth in the eight-team regional and will face the third-seeded Red Hawks (26-17) in the third of four games to be played on Wednesday. The tournament continues through Saturday, with an if-necessary game to be played on Sunday afternoon. Elizabethtown is making its 10th all-time NCAA Division III tournament appearance and third in the last four years. The Blue Jays earned an automatic bid to the 54-team field by winning the Commonwealth Conference tournament championship, finishing off a run of four victories in 30 hours by sweeping Widener University in the championship round to claim the title. Montclair State, winners of the NCAA Division III championship in 1987, 1993 and 2000, finished with a 13-5 record in the New Jersey Athletic Conference and were eliminated in the NJAC tournament semifinals by eventual champion College of New Jersey, which is seeded fifth in the regional. A third NJAC team, Kean University, is the top seed and host institution for the regional. Action gets underway at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday as fourth-seeded Penn State Behrend (31-11), the champions of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, will play fifth-seeded TCNJ (24-16-1). Kean (34-9) will battle eighth-seeded Penn State Berks (21-21-1), North Eastern Athletic Conference champions, at 1:15 followed by Elizabethtown and Montclair State at 4:30. The final game of the day is scheduled for 7:45 between second-seeded Keystone College (37-4), winners of the Colonial States Athletic Conference, and seventh-seeded Alvernia University (26-15), which won the Freedom Conference crown. Live stats will be available for all tournament games, and can be accessed from the tournament Web site at http://www.keanathletics.com/NCAA/baseball2009/index. NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional at FirstEnergy Park, Lakewood, N.J. Tournament Schedule and Results Wednesday, May 13 Game 1 - #5 College of New Jersey 13, #4 Penn State Behrend 1 Game 2 - #1 Kean 10, #8 Penn State Berks 0 Game 3 - #6 Elizabethtown 5, #3 Montclair State 2 Game 4 - #2 Keystone 2, #7 Alvernia 1 Thursday, May 14 Game 5 - Penn State Berks 8, Penn State Behrend 5 (Penn State Behrend eliminated) Game 6 - Alvernia 10, Montclair State 1 (Montclair State eliminated) Game 7 - Kean 7, College of New Jersey 5 Game 8 - Keystone 10, Elizabethtown 8 Friday, May 15 Game 9 - College of New Jersey 8, Alvernia 2 (Alvernia eliminated) Game 10 - Elizabethtown 9, Penn State Berks 2 (Penn State Berks eliminated) Game 11 - Kean 6, Keystone 3 Game 12 - College of New Jersey 3, Elizabethtown 2, top 6th (suspended due to fog) Saturday, May 16 Game 12 - College of New Jersey 5 Elizabethtown 3 (Elizabethtown eliminated) Game 13 - Keystone 11, College of New Jersey 3 (College of New Jersey eliminated) Game 14 - Kean 12, Keystone 6 (Keystone eliminated) Kean wins Mid-Atlantic Regional and advances to Division III World Series Back to top 5/7/2009 Baseball places six on All-Conference teams, claims major awards FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, May 7, 2009 Baseball Claims All-Commonwealth Conference Honors In addition to five first-team and one second-team selection, senior outfielder Adam Sheibley (Landisburg, PA/West Perry) was named Player of the Year, senior righthander Sam Heaps (Landenberg, PA/Avon Grove) repeated as Pitcher of the Year and head coach Cliff Smith was honored as Coach of the Year after leading the Blue Jays to a 27-13 overall record and their third conference championship in the last four years. Joining Sheibley and Heaps as first-team honorees were senior Eric Luff (Lincoln University, PA/Avon Grove) at second base, junior Brian Kiernan (Garden City, NY/Garden City) in the outfield and junior Adam Hartzell (Spring City, PA/Owen J. Roberts) at pitcher. Senior Tom Semanek (Swoyersville, PA/Bishop Hoban) was a second-team All-Commonwealth pick at catcher. Sheibley earned Player of the Year honors after batting .336 with four home runs and 37 runs batted in, while leading Division III in stolen bases with 47 and the Commonwealth Conference in runs scored with 49. He ranks fifth in the conference in hits with 50 and is second in RBI despite batting out of the leadoff spot in all 40 games. Sheibley, who was conference co-Rookie of the Year in 2006 and an All-Conference pick in both 2006 and 2008, is Elizabethtown's career leader in games played (154), runs scored (158), triples (22) and stolen bases (91). He ranks third in career runs batted in with 112 and is fourth on the career hits list with 175. Heaps has compiled a 6-2 record and a 2.47 earned run average in 10 starts for the Blue Jays, ranking second in the conference in both ERA and strikeouts (81) and third in innings pitched with 69 1/3. He has allowed just five extra-base hits in 240 at-bats and struck out eight or more batters in six of his 10 starts. He was also named first-team All-Conference as a utility player for the second straight year, after hitting .399 with 14 doubles, five triples and 34 runs batted in while stealing 18 bases in 20 attempts. Heaps ranks second in the conference in on-base percentage (.506), hits (55), doubles, triples and steals, third in walks (30), and fourth in batting average and runs scored (37). Heaps has a career record of 24-10 to rank second in program history in victories, and is Elizabethtown's all-time leader in innings pitched (260 2/3) while ranking third in strikeouts with 240. At the plate, he is a career .365 hitter with 116 hits, 86 runs scored an 83 runs batted in. Luff is hitting .344 with 43 hits, 22 runs batted in and 33 runs scored, and has stolen eight bases while starting 38 games overall. In 27 games at second base (25 starts), Luff has made five errors for a .948 fielding percentage and turned nine double plays. In two seasons for the Blue Jays, Luff has a .324 average in 70 games with 71 hits, 37 runs batted in, 54 runs scored and 14 steals. Kiernan leads the Blue Jays and ranks second in the Commonwealth Conference in batting average with a .425 mark, to go with a team-high five home runs and 30 runs batted in. Kiernan ranks third in the conference in slugging percentage (.673) and on-base percentage (.492) and has not made an error in 43 chances in the outfield. He has a career average of .383 with six home runs, 47 runs batted in and 36 runs scored in 53 games. Hartzell leads the Commonwealth Conference with a 1.86 earned run average, and his 8-2 record is tied with teammate Matt Vinagro for the conference lead in wins. He has thrown six complete games in nine starts, including two shutouts, and has struck out 59 batters while walking just 12 in 67 2/3 innings of work. He has a career record of 12-5 with a 2.89 earned run average in 25 career appearances (19 starts) with 100 strikeouts in 127 2/3 innings pitched. Semanek is third on the team in batting with a .349 average to go with three home runs and 36 runs batted in. He is fifth in the conference in runs scored (36) and ranks fourth in hits (51) and RBI, and has made just one error in 250 chances behind the plate. He has a career batting average of .286 in 132 games with 20 doubles, 10 home runs and 92 runs batted in along with 84 runs scored and 126 hits. Smith, who is in his third season as head coach of the Blue Jays, has a 76-43 record and has led the team to the conference championship game in each of his first three years on the bench including titles in 2007 and 2009. The Blue Jays' 27 wins this season are the most since Elizabethtown won 27 games in 1999, and are tied for the fourth-most in program history. The Blue Jays will be making their ninth trip to the NCAA Division III tournament next week, with the field of 54 teams to be unveiled on Sunday night, May 10 and play beginning Wednesday, May 13. Back to top 5/2/2009 Baseball grabs conference title with sweep of Widener ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE BASEBALL Saturday, May 2, 2009 Elizabethtown 6, Widener 4
Elizabethtown 12, Widener 5 Click here for the game 1 box score Click here for the game 2 box score WEST LAWN, Pa. --- Tournament Most Valuable Player Matt Vinagro (Fredericksburg, VA/Stafford) threw his second complete game in less than 24 hours as Elizabethtown College defeated Widener University 12-5 to win the Commonwealth Conference baseball championship at Owls Field on Saturday.  The Blue Jays (27-13 overall) won four elimination games in a span of 30 hours to win their third conference title in four years and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Baseball tournament, which begins May 13.Vinagro (8-1) threw 18 innings in a span of just under 20 hours, tossing a five-hit shutout against Albright College in a loser's bracket game that ended at 12:35 on Saturday morning, and coming back just 15 hours later to pitch the Blue Jays to the championship. Playing out of the loser's bracket, Elizabethtown defeated Widener 6-4 earlier Saturday to force the if-necessary game, as junior Rodney Francis (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) broke a 4-4 tie with a two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning. Game two was all Elizabethtown as the Blue Jays scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning and belted 14 hits, including a 4-for-4 performance from senior Sam Heaps (Landenberg, PA/Avon Grove) and two hits each from four other players. In Saturday's first game, the Blue Jays went ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning on an RBI groundout by Heaps, but the Pride tied the score in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by Colin McHale. Elizabethtown took a 3-1 lead in the third on an error and a wild pitch, only to see Widener pull within 3-2 in the third on an RBI single by Dan Sieracki and go ahead 4-3 in the fourth on a two-run single by Sean Saverio. The Blue Jays regained the lead in the sixth as a sacrifice fly by senior Eric Luff (Lincoln University, PA/Avon Grove) tied the game at 4-4 and Francis launched his third home run of the year to push Elizabethtown on top 6-4. First-year student Todd Leister (Stanhope, NJ/Lenape Valley) came on in the bottom of the sixth and pitched four scoreless innings for his second save of the season, allowing just two hits while striking out a pair. Junior Adam Hartzell (Spring City, PA/Owen J. Roberts) allowed two runs in two innings or relief, but was credited with his eighth win of the season. Senior Adam Sheibley (Landisburg, PA/West Perry) went 1-for-3 with a walk and a hit by pitch and scored two runs while stealing four bases for the Blue Jays. Seven different players accounted for the Blue Jays' seven hits in the contest. In game two, Elizabethtown scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning on an error, an RBI double by Heaps, a two-run home run from senior Tom Semanek (Swoyersville, PA/Bishop Hoban) and an RBI single by Luff.  Widener got on the board in the top of the second inning on a two-run home run from Mike Villari, but Elizabethtown answered with two runs in the home half of the fourth on a two-out, two-run single by junior Brian Kiernan (Garden City, NY/Garden City).The Blue Jays put the game out of reach with three runs in the fifth to take a 10-2 lead, as Sheibley had a two-run single and Heaps added an RBI single. The teams traded runs in both the sixth and seventh innings, while the Pride tacked on a run in the ninth to close the scoring. Sheibley went 2-for-5 with three stolen bases and three runs scored in the second game for Elizabethtown, giving him a Division III-best 47 stolen bases for the season. He trails only Rashad Ingram of Division II St. Augustine's College, who finished the year with 48 steals, for the overall NCAA lead. Kiernan, Luff and sophomore Anthony Heaps (Landenberg, PA/Avon Grove) each went 2-for-4 for the Blue Jays while Dennis Morgan led Widener by going 3-for-4 with an RBI. In five tournament games, Sheibley stole 10 bases and scored nine runs, while Sam Heaps went 10-for-19 with 11 runs batted in and Kiernan finished 10-or-19 with two home runs and nine runs batted in for Elizabethtown. Vinagro gave up eight hits and struck out two for the Blue Jays, while Alex Gelegotis (0-1) yielded four hits and five runs (three earned) while retiring just one batter for Widener. Commonwealth Conference finals at West Lawn, Pa. Elizabethtown Coll. 6, Widener University 4 ------------------------------------------- Elizabethtown Coll.. 102 003 000 - 6 7 1 Widener University.. 101 200 000 - 4 9 3 ------------------------------------------- Matt Kutz, Adam Hartzell (4), Todd Leister (6) and Tom Semanek; Joe Sessa, Craig Ricks (3), Alex Gelegotis (7) and Sean Saverio. WP-Hartzell (8-2). LP-Ricks (1-1). SV-Leister (2). SO-BB: Kutz 3-1, Hartzell 2-2, Leister 2-2; Sessa 0-5, Ricks 1-0, Gelegotis 3-0. HR-Francis (E). Elizabethtown Coll. 12, Widener University 5 ------------------------------------------- Widener University.. 020 001 101 - 5 8 2 Elizabethtown Coll.. 500 231 10X - 12 14 2 ------------------------------------------- Alex Gelegotis, Salvatore Spera (1), Mike Pappas (5), Kevin Culbert (5) and Sean Saverio; Matt Vinagro and Tom Semanek. WP-Vinagro (8-1). LP-Gelegotis (0-1). SO-BB: Gelegotis 0-0, Spera 4-3, Pappas 0-0, Culbert 1-1; Vinagro 2-1. HR-Villari (W), Semanek (E). Back to top 5/1/2009 Baseball remains alive with wins over LVC and Albright ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE BASEBALL Friday, May 1, 2009 Elizabethtown 12, Lebanon Valley 1
Elizabethtown 10, Albright 0 Click here for the LVC box score Click here for the Albright box score WEST LAWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College moved into the championship round of the Commonwealth Conference baseball tournament for the fifth consecutive season with wins over Lebanon Valley College and Albright College on Friday at Owls Field. The Blue Jays used a 10-run second inning to defeat Lebanon Valley 12-1 in a game that began Friday morning at 11:00 a.m., and downed Albright 10-0 behind a five-hit shutout from junior Matt Vinagro (Fredericksburg, VA/Stafford). The second game started at 10:00 p.m. due to rain and a 13-inning game that preceded it, and ended at 12:37 a.m. on Saturday. Elizabethtown (25-13 overall) will return to campus early Saturday morning, then turn around and head back to Owls Field hours later to face Widener University in the championship game beginning at noon. Should the Blue Jays defeat the Pride, an if-necessary game will be played at 3:00 p.m. to determine the conference title. Against Lebanon Valley, junior Brian Kiernan (Garden City, NY/Garden City) went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and three runs batted in for Elizabethtown, while senior Sam Heaps (Landenberg, PA/Avon Grove) and Vinagro each had two hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Elizabethtown took advantage of a two-out error to score nine unearned runs in the bottom of the second. Senior Adam Sheibley (Landisburg, PA/West Perry) and Heaps each had a two-run single while Kiernan and Vinagro added two-run doubles during the outburst. Junior Adam Hartzell (Spring City, PA/Owen J. Roberts) was beneficiary of the Blue Jays' scoring surge, improving to 7-2 on the year after allowing seven hits and one run in 6 2/3 innings of work while striking out five. Shane Specht (3-4) took the loss for the Dutchmen (19-21-1 overall) yielding eight hits and 10 runs (one earned) in two innings. Dylan Holland went 3-for-4 with a run scored to account for a third of Lebanon Valley's nine hits on the day. Against Albright, the Blue Jays belted out 15 hits, including a bases-clearing triple by Heaps in the second inning and a three-run home run from Kiernan in the eighth, his second of the tournament and fifth of the season. In all, seven of the Blue Jays' 15 hits went for extra bases. Six Blue Jay starters had two hits in the win, as Heaps and senior Eric Luff (Lincoln University, PA/Avon Grove) each went 2-for-3 and Sheibley finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored along with sophomore Andrew Gordon (Peach Bottom, PA/Solanco) and junior Rodney Francis (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts). Vinagro (7-1) threw his second complete game of the season and first shutout by holding the Lions (18-18-1 overall) to just five singles while striking out six. Tyler Storms (2-4) started for Albright and gave up seven hits and five runs (four earned) in five innings of work. Elizabethtown Coll. 12, Lebanon Valley Coll. 1 ---------------------------------------------- Lebanon Valley Coll. 00 0 000 100 - 1 9 2 Elizabethtown Coll.. 0(10)0 011 00X - 12 11 0 ---------------------------------------------- Shane Specht, Brian Miller (3), Nick Faria (7) and Bert Malloy; Adam Hartzell, Todd Leister (7), Dan Lauletta (9) and Tom Semanek. WP-Hartzell (7-2). LP-Specht (3-4). SO-BB: Specht 0-2, Miller 4-6, Faria 2-0; Hartzell 5-1, Leister 0-0, Lauletta 1-1. Elizabethtown Coll. 10, Albright College 0 ------------------------------------------- Albright College.... 000 000 000 - 0 5 1 Elizabethtown Coll.. 140 000 23X - 10 15 1 ------------------------------------------- Tyler Storms, Matt Rehrig (6), Brandon Wiegand (8) and Matt Kozlowski, Frank Nastasi (7); Matt Vinagro and Tom Semanek. WP-Vinagro (7-1). LP-Storms (2-4). SO-BB: Storms 3-5, Rehrig 2-0, Wiegand 0-0; Vinagro 6-3. HR-Brian Kiernan (E). |
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