Published: May 11, 2008 11:26 pm      

Concord baseball makes NCAA regional tourney

PRINCETON — Three WVIAC baseball squads will be on familiar ground when the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Region Baseball Tournament gets underway on Thursday. West Virginia State, Concord, and Pitt Johnstown will return to Point Stadium in Johnstown, PA, the site of last week's WVIAC Tournament, for this year's NCAA regional.

WVIAC Tournament champion West Virginia State is the highest seed of the WVIAC trio. The second-seeded Yellow Jackets will meet fifth seed Shippensburg in their opener.

State enters the NCAA post-season with 20 wins in their last 22 games. WVSU relies on a potent attack that has scored in double figures 16 times this season. Outfielders Bo Darby (.427-14-61) and Eric Workman (.414-8-39) pace the Jacket offense. Travis McGrath (7-2, 1.79 ERA) has been the most consistent starting pitcher for veteran head coach Calvin Bailey.

Shippensburg, the regular season champion in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference's Western Division, boasts a pair of fearsome starting hurlers. Two-time PSAC Western Division Pitcher of the Year Matt Wright (6-4, 2.81 ERA) owns the school career record with 320 strikeouts and shackled WVSU 6-1 in last season's regional. The Raiders also can send all-conference selection Tim Freshour (9-4, 2.30 ERA) to the mound. Outfielder Justin Garber (.440-7-38) is the top threat on offense. Conference rivals Concord and Pitt Johnstown will look for redemption in their first round meeting after each went 0-2 in the WVIAC Tournament. The Mountain Lions and Mountain Cats split a four-game series to open the season in mid-February, but have not faced each other since then.

Third-seeded Concord had won 16 of 17 contests to climb to the #12 spot in the national poll, but the Mountain Lions have stumbled to four straight defeats. A high-scoring offense is the calling card for WVIAC Coach of the Year Kevin Garrett's club. Matt Kuntz (.476-4-42), Greyson Schram (.464-16-64), Donovan Huffer (.446-3-40), and Tim Merolillo (.395-12-56) are tough outs in the CU lineup.

Pitt Johnstown entered the WVIAC Tournament with ten straight wins and a Northern Division regular season crown, but the Mountain Cats suffered two straight setbacks and were the first team eliminated. Todd Williams' club looks for a different result in the NCAA Tournament with first team All-WVIAC standouts Adam Plummer (.401-4-36) and Dan Delsignore (.354-5-32) anchoring the lineup. Matt Hanley (.345-12-54) and Matt Petrowsky (.342-11-34) provide the power for UPJ.

The other first round matchup features the finalists of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament. West Chester is the top seed in the North Atlantic Regional, but the Golden Rams fell twice to sixth-seeded Kutztown last week for the conference title. Kutztown, the defending regional champions, shook off a slow start to win the PSAC Tournament championship and earn the chance to defend their regional crown.

Game times will be announced on Monday.

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North Atlantic Regional Tournament

At Point Stadium, Johnstown, Pa.

Thursday’s Games

Game 1: No. 1 West Chester vs. No. 6 Kutztown

Game 2: No. 2 W.Va. State vs. No. 5 Shippensburg

Game 3: No. 3 Concord vs. No. 4 Pitt-Johnstown

Friday’s Games

Game 4: Losers of Games 1 and 2

Game 5: Winner of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 3

Game 6: Winners of Games 2 and 3

———

(If four teams remain after game 6)

Saturday’s Games

Game 7: Winners of Games 5 and 6

Game 8: Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 6

Game 9: Winner of Game 8 vs. Loser of Game 7

Sunday’s Game(s)

Game 10: Winners of Games 7 and 9

Game 11: Second championship game (if necessary)

———

(If five teams remain after game 6)

Saturday’s Games

Game 7: Losers of Games 5 and 6

Game 8: Winners of Games 4 and 5

Game 9: Winners of Games 6 and 7

Sunday’s Games

G10: Winners of Games 8 and 9

G11: Second championship game (if necessary)

NOTE: If three teams remain after Game 9, Sunday’s schedule will begin with the winner of Game 8 playing the loser of Game 9, and the championship will follow between the winners of Games 9 and 10.