Bowman Field, Williamsport, Pa.
MANSFIELD WINS FOURTH CONSECUTIVE PSAC BASEBALL TITLE
WILLIAMSPORT -- The Mansfield Mountaineers did what no other team in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference history has been able to do, they won their fourth consecutive Conference baseball title here today (Sunday) defeating Bloomsburg 9-8 in the championship game of the PSAC tournament.
Mansfield (39-14) entered the third day of the tournament in the need of a sweep of Bloomsburg, who had only lost once in the double-elimination event. Bloomsburg (33-18) knocked Mansfield into the loser's bracket on Saturday with a 6-5 win oer their PSAC Eastern Division rivals.
The Mounties forced a seventh and deciding game by taking a 9-5 win over the Huskies in game six of the tournament. Mountie designated hitter Mike Resetar proved most of the punch in game six driving in 5 runs on two-run, three-run home runs.
In the title game, Bloomsburg got on the board in the top of the first on back-to-back triples by lead of hitters Matt Croyle and John Stillo and an RBI single by Chet Henicle, to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead.
Mansfield captured the lead in the home half of the 4th when Greg Robertson, John Michael Cook, Tom McCauley and Duke Neatrour, the heart of the Mounti lineup, all knocked back-to-back singles with one out. Dana Harrold singled in a run after a Matt Butler fly out followed by a hit batter to fill the bases and a walk to the 9th batter in the inning, A.J. Hoenstine gave Mansfield 4 runs in the inning.
Bloomsburg tied it in the top of the 6th when Todd Myers, Ben Henicle and John D. Fritz all singled to open the inning and load the bases. A Keith Kabrhel sacrifice fly drove in a run as did Dave Moser single.
Mansfield added two more runs in hte 7th and three in the 8th to gain the narrowest of margins. The 7th inning tallies came on a John Michael Cook two-run home run. Cook along with Bloomsburg's Chet Henicle were named co-most valuble players of the tournament.
In the 8th, Butler, Harrold, Mike Resetar and Hoenstine paddled another lot of back-to-back one-out singles with Reseter's and Hoenstine's plating runs. Robertson's two-out single closed out the Mountie scoring.
Bloomsburg would throw a final assault at the Mounties, who recieved the Conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament next weekend.
Croyle singled to open the inning and moved to third on a John Stillo double. Chet Henicle popped a triple in the right-center gap scoring two. After a ground out and a pop up Fritz drove in Henicle with a single putting Bloomsburg a run back.
Brent Beiler, who knocked an RBI double in the 8th, singled to place runners at the corners. Keith Kabrhel popped up to Mansfield catcher Cook for the third out to end the game.
Friday's Scores
Edinboro 9, Mansfield 11
Bloomsburg 7, Slippery Rock 6
Saturday's Scores
Slippery Rock 3, Edinboro 2
Mansfield 5, Bloomsburg 6
Slippery Rock 2, Mansfield 10
Sunday's Scores
Mansfield 9, Bloomsburg 5
Mansfield 9, Bloomsburg 8