HARWICH, MA - #3 Wheaton College (32-11) outlasted #6 Saint Joseph's (32-15), 5-3, in an elimination game of the 2011 NCAA DIII Baseball New England Regional Tournament on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore outfielder Sam Butts (Saco, ME) went 3-3 with a run scored in the season-ending setback.
The tourney contest began at 8:00 PM on Friday evening but was suspended after two fog delays totaling 76 minutes. Wheaton led 2-0 with one out, and a runner on second, in the top of the seventh inning before tournament officials halted play due to unsafe playing conditions.
The game resumed at noon on Saturday with SJC reliever Chris Dion '11 (Lawrence, MA) on the mound and Wheaton lead-off batter Hal Landers '12 (Salem, NH) at the plate. Dion threw two quick strikes, but Landers slapped an 0-2 pitch to left to plate Hadi Raad '11 (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY) for the Lyons' third run of the game. Raad notched a fog-aided double to left-center on Friday night and was on second when the game was suspended.
Wheaton starter Alec Palioca '14 (Wrentham, MA) shut down the Monks' lineup with three hits and one walk allowed in six innings on Friday night, but the delay ended the rookie's outing and David Longley '12 (Brunswick, ME) was on the mound for the Lyons in the top of the seventh. The sidearm slinger induced three easy groundouts in his first frame but ran into trouble in the eighth when the Monks produced three runs off three hits and two Wheaton miscues to knot the game at three apiece.
The Lyons managed to push a pair of runs across with a sac fly and an RBI single in the top of the ninth to secure a 5-3 cushion. The Monks, who scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the 11th to send top-seeded Tufts University packing on Friday, would not mount a threat in the home half as Wheaton closer Ryan Grant '14 (Easton, MA) shut the door with three harmless outs for his first career victory.
For St. Joe's, starting pitcher Tyler Laverriere '13 (Biddeford, ME) allowed two runs – both in the first inning – off six hits and two walks with three K's in 5.1 innings and Dion yielded a run off two hits with a strikeout in 1.1 innings. Joe Gruntkosky '14 (Peabody, MA), who appeared in three of the Monks' four NCAA contests, suffered the loss with two runs and three hits allowed in 2.1 frames. The freshman righthander fanned three batters and capped his first collegiate campaign with a 3-3 record.
For Wheaton, shortstop Eric Jensen (Gorham, NH) went 4-5 with a run and an RBI and Landers was 2-4 with a run and an RBI. Longley surrendered three runs (two earned) off three hits and Grant struck out three in 1.2 innings to collect the win.
The Lyons wasted little time getting on the board in the top of the first as Sean Munley '11 (Ewing, NJ) rapped a two-run single to right to lift Wheaton to an early 2-0 lead. With runners on first and third and one out, Laverriere worked an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to minimize the damage.
Wheaton threatened to score in the top of the fifth as Tad Skelley '11 (Wolfeboro, NH) led off with a single and was bunted over to second base. But Laverriere whiffed Landers on a breaking pitch and the following batter, left fielder Eric Laliberte '11 (Nashua, NH), popped up to center to preserve the 2-0 deficit.
The Monks worked out of another jam in the top of the sixth, when the Lyons had bases loaded with one out. Jensen and third baseman Dan Haugh '12 (Andover, MA) notched consecutive base hits to start the inning and a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third. Head Coach Will Sanborn '86 summoned Laverriere to intentionally walk the following hitter, catcher Dan Gusovsky '13 (Andover, MA), to create a double play scenario. After the intentional pass, Dion, a southpaw, entered the game to face the lefthanded-hitting Mike Bisceglia '14 (New Boston, NH), but heavy fog rolled during his warm-up pitches and the game was delayed for 26 minutes.
When play resumed, Dion forced Bisceglia to roll over into an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play.
With heavy fog rolling into Whitehouse Field, Dion opened the top of the seventh by whiffing Skelley on an outside curveball. The following batter, Raad, hit a ball to left-center that likely would have been snagged by SJC center fielder Nate Martin '13 (Chebeague Island, ME), but the ball seemed to disappear as it lofted into the outfield. Martin saw the ball off the bat and darted to his right before losing the sphere, which landed about 10 feet from him as Raad raced into second with a standup double.
The play prompted a long discussion by the umpire crew and tournament officials, who decided to enforce another fog delay. After about 50 minutes, the crew called the game for the night and announced play would resume on Saturday at noon with one out and a Wheaton runner on second in the top of the seventh.
The Lyons added their third run of the game on Landers' single when the game resumed, but the Monks struck for three runs in the bottom of the eighth to knot the game. Designated hitter Alex Markakis '14 (Lynnfield, MA) led off with a single to center and moved to third when shortstop Dan Achorn '12 (Bow, NH) doubled to left-center. Pinch hitter Alex Lorenc '14 (Nanuet, NY) plated the Monks' first run with a groundout to short to send Markakis across the plate.
Butts came up next and was quickly down in the count 0-2, but worked the count full and rapped the eleventh pitch of the at-bat to left field to plate Achorn. Grant entered the game on the mound in place of Longley after the play and plunked the first batter he faced – Campbell, who was attempting a sac bunt. The next SJC batter, Martin, dropped down a sacrifice that was thrown away by Grant, but a collision prevented the speedy outfielder from touching the base at first and he was eventually tagged out. Butts scored on the throwing error to tie the game, 3-3, heading into the final frame.
Skelley led off the visiting half of the ninth with a walk, moved to second on a Raad sacrifice bunt and scampered to third when Landers reached with an infield hit to the left side. Laliberte followed with a sac fly to right-center and Landers, who moved up to second on the throw to home, scored when Jensen singled up the middle.
Wheaton, which avenged a tournament-opening loss to the Monks with the 5-3 win, moved on to face #8 Bridgewater State in a 4:00 PM elimination contest. The Lyons saw their 2011 campaign come to an end with a 6-3 loss to Bears, who will play #2 Western New England in the regional championship at noon on Sunday with an If-necessary contest to follow.
The Monks' loss signaled the end of college baseball for a six-player senior class: Campbell, Dion, Kevin Chamberlain (Scarborough, ME), Todd Keneborus (Hollis, ME/Cheverus), Ian Lee (Hampden, ME) and Mason Roberge (Franklin, NH). St. Joe's posted a 126-59 (.681) record and won three conference titles with three NCAA Tournament appearances with the 2011 class in uniform.
The win total ties an SJC Baseball record for most victories recorded by a graduating class. Four consecutive senior classes have registered at least 120 triumphs at Saint Joseph's.
Campbell, Lee and Keneborus combined to hit .392 (595-1518) with 365 runs, 102 doubles, 24 home runs, 353 RBI and 44 stolen bases during their four years. Chamberlain, Dion and Roberge combined to post a 28-16 record with a 4.60 ERA in 137 appearances with 260 K's, against just 94 walks, in 354.1 innings pitched.
Coach Sanborn caps his 19th season with a 503-288-5 (.636) career record and is one win shy of tying Rick Simonds, who led the Monks Basketball team for 23 years and the softball team for one season, for the SJC Athletics all-time victories mark.
Senior Hitters' Career Statistics:
Senior Pitchers' Career Statistics:
