May 16, 2007
Host Panthers and Rain Derail Spartans in Opening Round
FERRUM, VA-The York College baseball team had a
rough day during the opening of the 2007 NCAA Division III
Tournament in Ferrum, VA. The Spartans, the third seed in the
Ferrum Regional, fell the host Panthers, the sixth seed, 10-2 in
the opening round of the tournament. The Spartans have now lost
four straight NCAA tournament games dating back to the
Spartans’ 5-1 loss to Christopher Newport in the 2002
Winston-Salem Regional.
The
green and white got on the board first as Ryan Poff (York,
PA/Spring Grove) singled to center. Freshman Mike Connolly (Selden,
NY/Newfield) reached on an error as he sacrificed Poff to
second, putting Spartans at first and second with no outs. Junior
catcherMike
Santoro (Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan) completed a successful sacrifice, moving Poff to
third and Connolly to second. Poff then came around to score
when Anthony Anzalone (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky
Point) grounded out to second.
The
threatening skies then opened up, prompting a 35 minute delay prior
to the start of the fifth inning. That delay put to a halt the
momentum of Spartan starter Chris Brower (Mont Clare,
PA/Spring-Ford). In the first four frames, Brower allowed just two
base runners on a pair of singles. After the delay, the Panthers
tied the game in the top of the fifth. Michael Nolte reached on an
error, advanced to second on a sacrifice and scored on a Jesse
Fuller single to left. The damage in the frame could have been much
worse as the Panthers put runners at second and third with one out
before Brower got a ground out and a fly out to end the
threat.
The
Panthers captured the lead for good in the top of the sixth as
Brower hit back-to-back batters to kick start the Ferrum rally.
Justin Franklin then laid down a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt
that turned into a base hit as it found no-man’s land between
the mound and third, loading the bases for the Panthers. After
force play got the Spartans’ an out at the plate, Daniel
Heatwole singled through the left side out the reach of a diving
Jeff Young, plating a pair, giving Ferrum the 3-1 lead.
York
trimmed the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth as Santoro
reached on a one-out error, advanced to second on hit batter and
scored when Dennis Maxim (Port Jefferson Station, NY/St.
Anthony’s) singled to center.
The
Panthers added two key insurance runs in the top of the seventh.
Brett Thomas singled to lead off the frame, stole second and scored
when Nick Baker singled to right. Baker advanced to second on the
throw to the plate and then came home when Franklin singled down
the first base line. Brower was able to get himself out of further
trouble with a strikeout and a fly out to right.
After York went down in order in the bottom of
the seventh, the rains came again. This time the rain delay was
1:30 as the teams took shelter in the dugout. The rain did little
to relieve the Spartans' pain as the Panthers scored two more runs
in the eighth and three in the ninth to close out the
scoring.
Ferrum's Ryan Cooper earned the win for the
Panthers as he survived a combined two-plus hours of rain delays to
toss the complete game. Cooper allowed two unearned runs on five
hits with five strikeouts and no walks in the nine-inning effort.
He improves to 4-3 for the season.
Brower took the loss for the green and white has
he falls to 8-3. The Spartan ace allowed five runs, four earned, on
nine hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk in seven innings of work.
He has now lost two straight for the first time this year.
Senior Brendan Gilroy (Ridley Park,
PA/Ridley) tossed the final two innings and allowed five
runs on six hits with a strikeout and a walk.
Offensively, Brent Sowers paced the Panthers as
the centerfielder went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. He
also stole four bases as the Panthers swiped eight bases for the
game. Ferrum has now recorded 108 stolen bases this season. Baker
went 2-for-3 with four RBI and two runs scored while Franklin was
2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Fuller and Thomas each
contributed a pair of knocks to the 15-hit Panther
attack.
The
Spartans had five singles in the game as their offense continues to
struggle. Maxim and Anzalone each had an RBI while Poff and Santoro
scored runs for York.
The
Spartans return to action on Thursday morning at 1:15 as they face
the loser of the Salisbury - Villa Julie game that will be held
later tonight. The Panthers will face the winner of that contest on
Thursday at 4:00 p.m.
