May 5, 2012
Wheaton baseball captures 12th NEWMAC Crown with 11-2 win over Babson
NORTON, Mass. – Behind the arm of junior
Frank Holbrook (Middletown, R.I./Portsmouth Abbey) and the bat of
classmate Sean Ryan (Norton, Mass/Norton), the No. 9 Wheaton
College baseball team won its 12th New England Women’s and
Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship and
third-straight with an 11-2 win over Babson College Saturday
afternoon at Sidell Stadium.
With the win, the Lyons improve to 34-8 and advance to the NCAA
Tournament for the third-straight season and 11th time in program
history. Ryan finished the tournament batting .571 (8-for-14) with
a home run, four RBI, three runs scored, and a pair of stolen bases
to earn Most Outstanding Player honors. He went 3-for-6 with an RBI
and two runs scored in the championship contest.
Holbrook, meanwhile, picked up his second win of the tournament to
improve to 7-0 on the season. In two NEWMAC playoff wins, he
allowed eight hits and one run with two walks and 10 strikeouts in
16.0 innings for an earned run average (ERA) of 0.56. Holbrook
tossed seven innings of four-hit ball this afternoon, allowing only
four hits and one run while striking out four.
With the game tied at one entering the bottom of the fifth, the
Lyons exploded for two in the fifth and seven in the sixth to blow
the game open and grab a 10-1 lead. Ryan led off the fifth with a
single, stole second, advanced to third on a fly ball by senior Dan
Haugh (Andover, Mass./St. John’s Prep), and scored on a
single by freshman Apolinar De la Cruz (Providence, R.I./Classical)
to give Wheaton a 2-1 lead. Da la Cruz later scored from third base
on the third of four wild pitches thrown by Babson sophomore
starter Matt Grenier’s (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding) on the
afternoon to put the Lyons ahead by two.
In the sixth, Ryan’s double inside the third base bag scored
junior Eric Jensen (Gorham, N.H./Gorham) and extended
Wheaton’s advantage to 5-1. Haugh and De la Cruz followed
with doubles of their own to score two more and bring
Wheaton’s lead to 6-1. Three batters later, senior John
Keating (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) belted his third home run of the
season and the first grand slam of 2012 for the Lyons to put them
ahead by nine. De la Cruz capped the scoring with a sac fly in the
seventh.
“The story today was about the nine guys in our lineup who
didn’t get frustrated when things didn’t get going
early on for us, who kept grinding out at bats and making the
pitcher work,” said Lyons head coach Eric Podbelski.
“Once we got his (Grenier’s) pitch count up and had
seen him a couple of times, guys started to square up. It’s a
testament to staying the course, not getting frustrated, and
continuing to compete.”
De la Cruz finished the day 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs
scored while junior Dan Gusovsky (Andover, Mass./Andover) went
3-for-4 with two runs scored. Both Jensen and senior Hal Landers
(Salem, N.H./Salem) had two hits, as did Haugh, who went 2-for-5
with an RBI and two runs scored. Jonasson and Cleary each recorded
an RBI for the Beavers, who finish their 2012 season 22-19.
The game remained scoreless through four before Babson broke
through to take a 1-0 lead in the fourth. The Lyons were unable to
complete the back-end of a double play on a ball hit by senior Sean
Cleary (Milton, Mass./Salisbury School), which allowed classmate
Billy Miller (Sagamore Beach, Mass./Boston College H.S.) to come
around from third with the game’s first run.
Wheaton tied the game in the its half of the fourth on an RBI
single by freshman pinch hitter Tyler Contillo (Montville,
Conn./Montville). Gusovsky led off with a single, advanced to
second on a wild pitch, and moved to third on a sac bunt by
freshman Kevin Foley (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug). Keating was hit
by a pitch to load the bases, prompting Podbelski to send Contillo
up to hit for Demeo. The freshman responded with an opposite field
single to bring in Gusovsky.
“Every time you win a championship with a group of guys who
has made that one of their goals at the start of the season,
it’s special,” said Podbelski, who sent on to comment
on Ryan’s selected as MOP. “Sean Ryan means a great
deal to our team. He’s a great competitor and a really good
player, not unlike a lot of guys on our team. He has had a very
good year and worked hard to come back from his injury. It was hard
thing for him to go through, but finally being allowed to play was
such a big thing for him. I’m just happy that he is able to
play baseball again.”
Grenier was touched up for 12 hits and five runs over 5.2 innings
of work. He threw a total of 123 pitches – including four
wild pitches – hit Keating twice, did not walk a batter, and
struck out four in just his second loss of the season.
Wheaton begins play in the NCAA Tournament on on Wednesday, May 16
at Eastern Connecticut State in Mansfield, Conn.
Courtesy of Wheaton College Sports Information
