Peaking Presidents: W&J showing winning formula, reaches PAC finals
There is much to be said for peaking in the postseason, and the Washington & Jefferson College baseball team is speaking loud and clear each time it takes the field in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference tournament that is being held at Ross Memorial Park.
The second-seeded Presidents have been utilizing a four-pronged style of play that has been on display in each of their tournament games, including a 7-4 victory over sixth-seeded Chatham on Friday afternoon that puts the host team in Saturday’s finals.
The keys to W&J’s tournament success have been:
* Terrific pitching. The Presidents have given up runs in only three of 27 innings. Chatham’s only offensive production against the Presidents came during a four-batter stretch in the sixth inning. W&J’s bullpen has been used for only five innings in the tournament and has yet to yield a run.
* Even better defense. W&J has committed only one error in the three wins and made several spectacular plays, including two against Chatham by center fielder Paddy Hernjak.
* A record-setting run of sacrifice flies. The Presidents hit five in a win over Bethany on Thursday, tying the NCAA Division III single-game record. Against Chatham, W&J hit two more sacrifice flies – both by Teddy Platt, the No. 9 batter in the lineup – in the first four innings. And on one of them, W&J scored two runs because of some alert and daring baserunning by Seth Rosenfeld.
* Production from everybody in the lineup. Rosenfeld, the No. 7 hitter in the lineup, went 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBI Friday. Hernjak, the No. 8 hitter, had only four hits during the entire regular season but is 7-for-12 in the tournament. He also made a diving catch in the left centerfield gap to rob Chatham’s Nolan Boehm of extra bases in the third inning and and a sliding catch an inning later that retired Matt Brandt.
“We’ve found a new gear and have been playing our best when it matters,” W&J head coach Jeff Mountain said.
Added Rosenfeld, a freshman third baseman from Ellicott City, Md., “We’re playing our best baseball of the season.”
W&J (31-11) and Chatham were the last two undefeated teams in the double-elimination tournament. And just as they did in their first two games, the Presidents took control in the early innings, scoring twice in both the first and second innings against Chatham starter Gianni Cantini (5-2), a former Ringgold High School standout.
Jack Anderson had a two-run, two-out single in the first inning that scored Keegan Carr and Andrew Miko.
Zac Stern and Rosenfeld started the second inning with consecutive singles and were advanced by a Hernjak sacrifice bunt. Platt followed with a deep fly ball to center field that the Cougars’ Devin Fluhmann tracked down. Stern scored easily.
“When I saw it hit, I said that’s deep,” said Rosenfeld, who tagged up on the play and easily made it to third base.
“I’ll admit that I slowed up just a bit when I got to third base, but Coach Mountain said, ‘Go! Go!’ so I took off for home.”
The Cougars’ relay throw to Brandt, the catcher, arrived at home plate at the same time as Rosenfeld.
“He caught the throw but my knee hit his glove,” Rosenfeld pointed out.
The ball shot out of Brandt’s glove and W&J had a 4-0 lead.
“With no outs, we don’t try that,” Mountain said. “With one out, I figured we’d try it. It takes a lot for that to happen. I like to take chances.”
The Presidents made it 5-0 in the fourth with, of course, a sacrifice fly, again hit by Platt. At that point in the game, Platt’s batting line was a rare 0-for-0 with three RBI.
W&J starter Anthony Pass (7-2), who had a rough end to the regular season, was sharp. He pitched shutout ball through five innings before hitting trouble in the sixth. Consecutive singles by Angelo DeLeonardis, Boehm and Eddie Rueda loaded the bases with no outs. Cooper Baxter, Chatham’s cleanup hitter, then pulled a pitch down the left-field line for a grand slam that cut W&J’s lead to 5-4.
At that point, Pass was replaced by Nate Nolan, his former teammate at West Allegheny High School, and the latter ended the inning.
Doubles by Anderson and Rosenfeld in the bottom of the sixth made it 6-4.
“Nolan came in and threw the ball over the plate, then we scored a run and got the momentum back,” Mountain said. “That was big.”
Luke Alvarez, W&J’s catcher, replaced Nolan on the mound in the seventh and got the rare three-inning save, striking out three.
The Presidents scored an insurance run in the eighth when Rosenfeld’s two-out single scored Miko.
W&J will play fifth-seeded and defending champion Grove City (22-17) in the finals. The Presidents will win the tournament and the PAC’s automatic berth in the Division III tournament with one victory. Grove City must beat W&J twice to win the tournament. Game time for the finals is 4 p.m.
Grove City, 7-5
Dan Luko scored from second base on Adam Weber’s single in the top of the 10th inning and Grove City added an insurance run to beat Chatham 7-5 in Friday’s late game.
Grove City trailed 5-0 in the fifth inning but won with a 16-hit attack and an amazing performance by relief pitcher Wyatt Hopson, who threw nine innings and allowed only one hit. Hopson retired the final 23 batters he faced after entering in the second inning.
Chatham’s season ends with a 30-14 record.
Grove City, 8-7
Grove City built a six-run lead before holding off and eliminating Bethany 8-7 in Friday’s opening game.
Luko homered, doubled and drove in five runs for the Wolverines.
After trailing 8-2, Bethany chipped away at the deficit and closed to within 8-7 by scoring a run in the ninth inning. The Bison had the bases loaded when closer Graham Romer entered and got the game’s final out.