COLLEGE: Keystone baseball heads to Misericordia for NCAA regional
May 16—Keystone College won't have far to travel to begin the NCAA Division III baseball tournament.
The Giants will head south down Interstate 81 to Misericordia University in Dallas for the regional round. Keystone (30-12) is seeded fourth and faces No. 1 seed Salve Regina University (37-8-1) in the opener at Tambur Field on Friday at 10 a.m. No. 2 Misericordia (33-12) faces No. 3 Washington and Jefferson College (31-12) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. The double-elimination event concludes Sunday.
The 60-team NCAA Division III tournament field was announced Monday. The 16 regional winners advance to eight best-of-3 super regionals May 26-27. Those winners move on to the Division III World Series at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on June 2-8.
While playing close to home means Keystone misses out on some aspects of the regional experience such as travel and hotel stays, head coach Jamie Shevchik believes the regional is a benefit for the area.
"It's great that it's down the road," Shevchik said. "The fanbase for Keystone and Misericordia will be good. A lot of our local fans are going to be able to attend. We have some really good baseball coming to northeastern Pennsylvania."
By rallying to defeat Wilson College on Saturday, 10-8, Keystone won its 14th straight Colonial States Athletic Conference title and 18th straight conference championship overall, counting the four the Giants won in the North Eastern Athletic Conference from 2005-08. They are making their 16th NCAA appearance and reached the Division III World Series in 2011 and 2016, finishing as national runner-up.
Among the offensive leaders for Keystone is sophomore outfielder Griffin Yastremski (.417, 9 HRs, 39 RBIs), junior infielder Giovanni Diaz (.361, 9 HRs, 45 RBIs), and sophomore outfielder Robert Estrada (.397, 54 hits, 28 RBIs).
On the mound, senior Nathan Hinkley is 7-0 with a 3.83 earned-run average. Senior Brayan Villar is 7-1 with 53 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings and senior Jordan Art from Lakeland is 5-3 with a 3.63 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 52 innings. Freshman Tyler Mullen, another Lakeland grad, has a team-high five saves and is 1-0 with a 1.65 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings.
Salve Regina, from Newport, Rhode Island, earned an at-large bid to the tournament after losing to Endicott College, 1-0, in the Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament final. The Seahawks are making their eighth NCAA appearance. Top players include sophomore Christian Homa, who led the conference in batting average (.469, 68 for 145) and RBIs (55), and junior pitcher Brayden Clark, who led the league in wins (9) and strikeouts (85).
In the 2019 Regionals in Trinity, Connecticut, Salve Regina eliminated Keystone, 13-1.
"Salve is really good. They deserve to be the No. 1 seed," Shevchik said. "We're the underdog, for sure. We don't have a lot to lose. I hate to say this, but there is no pressure in the regionals. The pressure for us is getting through the conference and keeping that streak alive. Our guys can relax a little bit. We don't have to press. Just go out there and play baseball and continue what we've been doing the last couple of weeks and see what happens.
"But our guys do think they're good enough to get through it. And two local teams in the same regional I think is pretty cool."
Misericordia lost to Arcadia in the MAC Freedom Conference tournament final, but still earned their 11th NCAA appearance with an at-large bid. Leaders for the Cougars include senior outfielder Garrett McIlhenney (.397), senior first baseman and Wallenpaupack graduate Derrick Vosburg (.333, 50 RBIs) and senior pitcher David McCurry (6-1, 3.62, 41 Ks).
Washington and Jefferson captured their fourth straight Presidents Athletic Conference title to punch their NCAA ticket for the 10th time. The Presidents are led by senior Tyler Horvat, who is batting .392 with 28 RBIs and has an 11-2 pitching record with a 3.29 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 90 1/3 innings. He is the program leader with 29 career wins.
NCAA Division III Baseball Regionals
At Misericordia University
Friday
Keystone vs. Salve Regina, 10 a.m.
Washington & Jefferson vs. Misericordia, 1:30 p.m.
Saturday
Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 8:30 a.m.
Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, noon
Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, 3:30 p.m.
Sunday
Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 11 a.m.
If a deciding game is necessary it will follow 45 minutes after the conclusion of Game 6.
Softball
Marywood University freshman and Honesdale graduate Marissa Gregory was named Atlantic East Conference Rookie of the Year and a first-team all-star.
Gregory won 14 games this season, had a 2.94 ERA and struck out 96. She also threw the second perfect game in program history April 12 against Centenary University.
Three teammates joined Gregory on the first team: senior first baseman Ashdon Clark from North Pocono; senior outfielder Samantha Baltrusaitis from Lackawanna Trail; and junior utility Mara Hamm of Abington Heights.
Freshman Tori Para from Pittston Area and senior Emily Rose from West Scranton were selected second-team at-large.
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