W&J baseball eliminated by La Roche
It was the double play that ended Washington & Jefferson’s season and propelled La Roche to the today’s championship round in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at Ross Memorial Park Friday.
The No. 4 Redhawks (32-12) turned four double plays on their way to a 4-1 win over the sixth-seeded Presidents (29-17).
“That is a tough pill to swallow,” Presidents coach Jeff Mountain said. “Baseball can be a pretty cruel sport. I think today kind of exemplifies that. I give La Roche a lot of credit. They played well and have a great coach in Chase Rowe who turned that program around.”
A big part of the Redhawks’ plans was the addition of shorstop Tyler Craig, who replaced an injured Colin Williamson lThursday and stayed in the lineup against W&J. He was responsible for turning all four double plays.
“When Williamson went down yesterday, we went with Craig and we stuck with him today,” Rowe said. “He is a great defender. David (Lemely) throws the splitter and gets a ton of ground balls. Craig deserves a ton of credit for us turning those double plays.”
Responsible for inducing those double plays was Lemely, a sophomore. Lemely threw a complete game, allowing one run on five hits.
“I can’t thank my defense enough today,” Lemely said. “They were incredible. Every time I was in a jam, they bailed me out. I felt like if I got the ball over the plate, my defense was going to be able to pick me up. I just got on a roll there.”
One of the players grounding into a double play was sophomore Derek Helbing, who was responsible for the Presidents’ lone run with an RBI single.
“When I got up to bat with runners on first and second and grounded into a double play, it was pretty frustrating,” Helbing said. “I don’t think it is emotionally draining, just a little bad luck.”
Offensively, Cory Podvasnik led the charge for the Redhawks, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and a two-run homer to give La Roche a 4-1 lead. It was Podvasnik’s 11th home run of the season, breaking the program’s single-season record.
“I was thinking about it coming into the game and into the tournament,” Podvasnik said. “I just wanted to end my baseball career on top. I just wanted to show everyone that I belong out there.”
The win also marked the 32nd of the season for the Redhawks, another single season record.
“I didn’t even know that,” Rowe said. “I think this group of seniors have broken that record every year. That is a testament to these guys. They bring it every day and work so hard.”
For the Presidents, the seniors will never forget what they accomplished and the memories of their final season.
“It was an awesome experience,” Kyle Smith said. “Once we found out we were hosting the regional, it gave us an extra incentive to make it here. It was great experience.”
For the Redhawks, they look to continue their run tomorrow after falling to the loser’s bracket Thursday.
“That was a heartbreaker for us on Thursday,” Rowe said. “We just keep playing pitch-to-pitch baseball. The defense has stepped up and we are confident going in. We are going to hope to get the bats going.”
Frostburg State 9, Heidelberg 6: Ricky Brady hit a three-run homer to help Frostburg State overcome a five-run deficit and defeat Heidelberg, 9-6, at Ross Memorial Park.
The Bobcats (40-7) avoided elimination with the win. They will face the winner of Heidelberg-La Roche today at 3:15 p.m.
Greg Schneider, Frostburg State’s leadoff hitter, went 3-for-5 with two runs and Nick Walker went 3-for-5, including two doubles, and two runs. The Bobcats trailed 6-1 after allowing six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Frostburg State 7, Shenandoah 2: A five-run eighth inning propelled Frostburg State to a come-from-behind, 7-2, victory to eliminate Shenandoah Friday afternoon.
The victory advanced Frostburg State to face Heidelberg. Zach Weiss went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI for the second-seeded Bobcats, who eliminated Shenandoah with the win.