BASEBALL CAPTURES ATLANTIC REGION TITLE

Box Score

JAMESTOWN, Pa. - Jared Melone (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) went 5-for-5 with four RBI, and reliever Josh McClain (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock), picked up his second win of the tournament to lead No. 14 West Chester to a 12-7 victory over Winston-Salem State in the championship game of the Atlantic Regional Monday afternoon.
 
West Chester (40-11) won its fourth regional crown overall and first since 2012 when the Golden Rams went on to win the national championship. West Chester advances to the 2017 NCAA National Championships where the Golden Rams will open the double-elimination tournament at The Ballpark at Grand Prairie against North Georgia.
 
"Obviously, the mentality was to close it out in the first game," WCU head coach Jad Prachniak said. "There was a little game management strategy from the standpoint of how much we use Josh (McClain) in the first game. But, he came to me after the sixth and said he was good to go an extended outing. So, we decided to go for it at that point."
 
Coming off a 78-pitch, 4.1 innings on Saturday, McClain came on in relief of starter Andrew Gernert (Lenhartsville, Pa./Kutztown) and shut the door on a Winston-Salem State team that just refused to go away. The Golden Rams' closer threw the final three innings, giving up just one run on three hits while walking one and striking out four.
 
"It was nice to see McClain redeem himself after the PSAC Tournament," Prachniak added. "But, we've talked big picture all year long with him, and he has put in one of the finest pitching performances I've seen by any college pitcher. Just the number of games and wins that he has had a hand in this year is staggering."
 
West Chester jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The first three batters singled with Melone knocking in a run. Then, Nick Bateman (Aston, Pa./Malvern) doubled home another run.
 
"I think Bateman had perhaps the best individual performance of the tournament," Prachniak included. "His offensive numbers were very impressive, and he made some defensive plays this weekend that were equally impressive and don't show up in box scores."
 
When Winston-Salem State (39-19) tied the game with two of its own in the bottom half of the first, West Chester had to tack on one more by virtue of a Bateman sacrifice fly in the third to take a 3-2 lead.
 
The Rams exploded for four more in the fourth to open up a 7-2 advantage. Robert Knox (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) doubled in a run. Then, Nick Ward (Unionville, Pa./Unionville) and Melone followed with RBIs. Joe Sheeran (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) walked with the bases loaded for the final run of the frame.
 
However, Winston-Salem State was not done. The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association champions put together an outstanding run in the tournament, after falling to West Chester in the opener on Thursday. The Rams put up a four-spot of their own in the sixth and added one more in the seventh to knot the game at 7-7.
 
"Winston-Salem State is a very good team," Prachniak praised. "They may have had a seven-seed next to their name, but for them to lose their first game and fight their way back to wind up playing in the championship on Monday, they showed that they were every bit as good as anyone in this region."
 
West Chester went back to work in the eighth, plating five runs to put the game out of reach for the upset-minded WSSU Rams. Bateman led off with a triple – his second of the weekend and sixth extra-base hit – and later scored on a Drew Jarmuz (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville) single. Corey Webb (Easton, Pa./Easton) added a run-scoring single, and then Melone struck again with a two-run single. Shane Dressler (York Haven, Pa./Red Land) finished out the scoring with a RBI single as well.
 
"(Robert) Knox and (Nick) Ward did a good job of getting on in front of me," Melone said afterwards. "It seemed I was always hitting with somebody on base. We will all celebrate this win for now. But, we know this is not the ultimate goal for this team. We want to go to Texas to win a few more ball games."
 
Gernert started the game on the hill for West Chester and threw the first six innings. He surrendered six runs on nine hits while walking one and striking out seven.
 
WSSU senior left-hander Jordan Carlton started the game and lasted 4.2 innings for the Rams. He yielded seven runs on 10 hits. He walked three and struck out four. Four more Winston-Salem State hurlers paraded to the mound. Senior lefty Garrison Roy (0-1) suffered the loss.
 
The first three batters in West Chester's order were a combined 10-for-14 with six runs scored and six RBI. Knox was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and one RBI. Ward went 3-for-5 with four runs scored. Bateman finished up 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored. Eight of West Chester's nine hitters had at least one hit in the game, and eight of the nine also had at least one RBI.