Catawba Downs Mars Hill For Food Lion SAC Baseball Tournament Championship
FOREST CITY, N.C. - Third-seeded Catawba pounded out 15 hits en route to claiming its second-straight Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament title with a 16-5 victory over second-seeded Mars Hill on Sunday afternoon at McNair Field.
With the win, the Indians, who improve to 38-10 on the season, earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Tournament. Mars Hill falls to 29-17 overall.
Catawba built an early 9-2 lead, but the Lions battled back to pull to within 9-5. However, Ryan Bostian's (Kannapolis, N.C.) three-run home run in the fifth gave the Indians a comfortable seven-run lead, and Catawba added four more runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach.
Bostian, who was named tournament MVP, went 4-for-6 with a double, home run and six RBIs to lead Catawba to the win. Craige Lyerly (Salisbury, N.C.) and Garrett Furr (Gold Hill, N.C.) each tallied two hits and three RBIs, while Zeb Link (Woodleaf, N.C.) and Brett Underwood (Greensboro, N.C.) also finished with two hits apiece.
Mars Hill collected 11 hits for the game, including a 3-for-4 effort from Kris Torrance (P. Jefferson Station, N.Y.). Mike Kitt (West Islip, N.Y.) and Devin Pressnell (Boone, N.C.) tallied two hits each in the loss.
Reliever Travis McSweeney (Palm Harbor, Fla.) earned the win as he was stellar in 5 1/3 scoreless innings of relief work for the Indians. McSweeney (4-3) allowed just three hits and had two strikeouts.
Mars Hill starting pitcher Ryan Potter (Knoxville, Tenn., 2-1) took the loss after surrendering five runs and four hits in 1 1/3 innings on the mound.
The Indians grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first, as Bostian lined a single to left and later scored on single to centerfield by Furr.
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Catawba's Ryan Bostian was named the 2010 Food Lion SAC Baseball Tournament Most Valuable Player. |
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Catawba head coach Jim Gantt receives the 2010 NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament automatic bid certificate from Dennis Switzer, SAC Director of Sports Administration and Information. |
Mars Hill answered to tie the game in the second. Adam Lewis (MacClenny, Fla.) reached base on a fielding error to lead off the inning. After a single by Torrance, Dalton Hardee (Boone, N.C.) singled through the right side to drive home Lewis for the tying run.
Catawba erupted for five runs in the second to take control of the game. Bostian delivered a two-run single, while Furr drove in a pair of runs with a double down the left-field line. John Neese (Summerfield, N.C.) drove in Lyerly with a sacrifice fly to cap off the inning and give the Indians a 6-1 lead.
After Mars Hill pushed across a run in the third on a RBI double by Lewis, the Indians tallied three more runs in the home half of the inning to build a 9-2 cushion, highlighted by a two-run double by Wade Moore (Salisbury, N.C.).
Mars Hill answered with a three-run rally in the fourth to cut Catawba's lead to 9-5, but Bostian's three-run blast in the fifth gave McSweeney a seven-run cushion to work with. McSweeney closed out the win by allowing just two hits over the final four innings.
Postgame quotes
Catawba head coach Jim Gantt:
"Our offense finally came around. Bostian had some huge hits. On
his three-run homer, we were just looking to get the ball in play
and get a run, but he got a pitch up and didn't miss. It was big
and gave us some breathing room."
"McSweeney came in and did a great job after we got into a little trouble in the fourth. That was probably the difference in the game, him getting us out of that inning. He was lights out the rest of the way."
2010 Food Lion SAC Baseball All-Tournament
Team
Chris Nelson - Wingate
Tyler Collins - Tusculum
Paul Finger - Tusculum
Ryan Fillers - Carson-Newman
Wesley Dozier - Carson-Newman
Cody Baker - Lincoln Memorial
Joseph Horsley - Lincoln Memorial
Austin Johnson - Lincoln Memorial
Devin Presnell - Mars Hill
Kris Torrance - Mars Hill
Kevin Searcy - Mars Hill
Justin Hall - Mars Hill
Craige Lyerly - Catawba
Nick Lomascolo - Catawba
Clay Watson - Catawba
Wil Huneycutt - Catawba
Tournament MVP: Ryan Bostian - Catawba