Championship Central
MILLERSVILLE, Pa.- Following an impressive run through the PSAC Tournament, which saw the West Chester University baseball team (31-18) advance back to the Conference Championship game, the Golden Rams have shifted their collective attention to the first game of the NCAA Tournament vs Charleston (W.V.) (43-10) on Thursday morning.
Fan Information
Tickets will be $10 for adults and $5 for students, children under 12, and seniors (55+), while children two and under will be admitted free of charge. Tickets are available for purchase on game day at the stadium or can be purchased in advance via this
link. As with all NCAA Tournament events, there are no complimentary tickets available.
With a Win
With a victory, West Chester would avoid a dangerous scenario, which would force the Golden Rams to play for their NCAA Tournament lives in an elimination game against top-seeded Millersville on Thursday afternoon. Instead, West Chester would be off until Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. when the Golden Rams would square off against the winner of the second game of the afternoon on Thursday.
Flock Talk
West Chester advances to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in the last seven years and the second time in head coach
Mike LaRosa's three seasons at the helm of the Golden Rams. Overall, this is the Golden Rams 18
th NCAA Tournament appearance, and West Chester shows a record of 48-33 (.593) in the NCAA Tournament with Division II National Championships in 2012 and 2017. A season ago, West Chester was in the position that Millersville finds itself in this weekend, serving as the No. 1 seed as the road to Cary ran through West Chester. This worked out nicely for the Golden Rams as they claimed the Atlantic Region Title and returned to Cary before eventually falling to National Champion North Greenville in the Semifinals. Following this impressive run, LaRosa enters this weekend with a record of 7-4 in NCAA Tournament games at West Chester.
West Chester and Charleston (W.V.) have limited history with one another, having met only twice, dating back to the 2007 season. West Chester is 1-0 in regular season meetings against the Golden Eagles; however, the Golden Rams have played to a record of 0-1 vs its opening foes in the NCAA Tournament, falling to Charleston in an elimination game in 2019 by a 3-1 final.
West Chester enters the Tournament after an impressive run at the PSAC Tournament a week ago, which saw the Golden Rams put together a ninth-inning comeback to defeat Mercyhurst in an opening night elimination game before defeating IUP twice (10-0, 7-2) to advance to the PSAC Championship game against eventual champion Seton Hill on Saturday afternoon.
Zack Miles (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) and
Luke Cantwell (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) were outstanding at the PSAC Tournament as Miles hit a blistering .687 (11-of-16) over five games, while Cantwell hit three home runs and drove in six. Cantwell's three long balls in the PSAC Tournament have him just one home run shy of tying the WCU career home run record of 32, which is currently held by Mark Gilliford (2004-07).
For the year as a whole, West Chester has had impressive offensive depth, entering the NCAA Tournament with five Golden Rams batting north of .300, while two more (Cantwell and
Corey Stouffer) are on the cusp, batting .299 on the season.
John DeMucci (Swarthmore, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) leads the team in batting average (.360) and OPS (.965), recording 58 hits, including 14 extra-base hits (eight doubles, two triples, four home runs) on the year entering play this weekend.
Evan Profy (Croydon, Pa./Harry S. Truman) also had a big week at the PSAC Tournament a week ago, going 10-for-22 (.454) at the plate and, in doing so, moved up to second on the team in batting average (.327) while also remaining the team's leader in runs scored with 48 on the year.
On the mound
, PSAC East Freshman of the Year
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) has impressed throughout the season, pitching to a record of 5-2 on the year with a 3.34 ERA while holding opponents to a .231 batting average against. Costa has shined against some of the best offensive units in the region this year, allowing just 11 hits over the course of two outings (8.1 innings) vs Mercyhurst while also pitching a complete-game shutout vs East Stroudsburg (9 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K), and strong outing in a win over Millersville (6 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3 ER), 5 K). Costa enters the Tournament with a staff-best 65 strikeouts on the year, including 10 in a win over Kutztown during the final series of the regular season, as West Chester clinched a spot in the PSAC Tournament. Costa, who started his year in the bullpen and closed out a handful of games early in the season, is also tied for the staff lead in saves with Ferguson with five each.
In addition to his work on the mound, Costa has also been a threat offensively this season, often appearing in the lineup when pitching or playing first base on days when he is not on the mound for the Golden Rams. Entering the NCAA Tournament, Costa is the fifth of five Golden Rams batting north of .300 on the year (.301) with 11 extra-base hits (eight doubles, one triple, two home runs), 22 runs scored, and 13 RBI.
Joe Sperone (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) and
David Ferguson (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) have also pitched big innings for West Chester this year, entering the Tournament tied for the staff lead in wins with seven each, while Sperone has an ERA of 3.93 and Ferguson is close behind at 4.00 on the year. Sperone and Ferguson both enter the Tournament after outstanding efforts in their last starts at the PSAC Tournament as Sperone pitched eight shutout innings vs IUP, holding the Crimson Hawks to just three hits while striking out four in the win. For his part, Ferguson picked up two important wins for West Chester at the PSAC Tournament, pitching the final three innings of the Golden Rams 10-inning win over Mercyhurst, holding the Lakers to just one run on four hits before pitching six strong innings against IUP to send West Chester to the Championship game, scattering four hits and one run, while striking out a pair in that victory.
Sperone played a major role in the Golden Rams NCAA Tournament run a year ago, pitching 22.1 innings between throughout the Regional Tournament and the National Finals, including a big six innings over the course of two games on the final day of the opening weekend against Seton Hill to help West Chester advance to the Super Regionals. Sperone shut out his opponents twice over his five appearances and held them to three runs or less in four of five appearances, which helped West Chester play to a record of 4-1 in games that the junior right-hander pitched during the Tournament a year ago.
West Chester has a strong stable of arms that primarily appear out of the bullpen but have the ability to start a big game when necessary, as well as
Gabe Rappa (Paulsboro, N.J./Neumann Goretti) and
Andrew Cantwell (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) have both started and pitched tremendously in big games for West Chester, including an outstanding seven-inning effort against Angelo State in the NCAA Tournament a year ago by Cantwell.
Jeb Kurtz (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) and
Dylan Howanitz (Archbald, Pa./Valley View) have both shown their effectiveness out of the 'pen for this year, providing a challengingly different look for opponents to adjust to and holding opponents to just 22 combined runs over the course of almost 47 innings in relief.
Scouting Charleston
Charleston enters the NCAA Tournament after a Mountain East Conference Tournament marathon, which saw the Golden Eagles play late into the night on Sunday to capture their second consecutive MEC Tournament title. Entering the Tournament with an overall record of 43-10, including a perfect 6-0 in early season matchups vs PSAC teams (3-0 vs Bloomsburg and Pitt-Johnstown), the Golden Eagles boast one of the top offensive units in the region. Charleston scored 12 runs or more in each of its last four MEC Tournament games, including a 21-run outburst against Concord after a 17-2 elimination-game win over West Virginia State and a 16-3 win over Wheeling.
Offensive has been at anything but a premium for Charleston this year as the Golden Eagles enter the Tournament with 500 runs scored, averaging 9.4 runs per game, which ranks ninth-best in all of Division II baseball ahead of the NCAA Tournament. Kyle West has been a significant part of this for the Golden Eagles, leading the team in most major categories while also ranking second in the NCAA in slugging percentage (.913), sixth in home runs (22), and sixth in total bases (168). West (.402) is one of six Golden Eagles starters hitting over .300 on the year as Giano Zuccaro is second on the team hitting .377, while Tyler Dellerman, who has 17 home runs this year as well, is third batting .366 on the season.
On the mound, Dane Sykes and Ethan Soderna have been the two primary starters, pitching to a records of 4-3 and 6-3 with ERAs of 4.66 and 5.87, respectively. Dwayne Sumler has also nine started games on the mound for Charleston this year, pitching to a record of 4-1 with a 3.29 ERA, including four shutout innings against West Virginia State with six strikeouts in the MEC Tournament last week. Cole Peschl, who has appeared in 17 games with four starts, has been a vital piece out of the bullpen for Charleston this year, pitching to a record of 9-1 with a .212 ERA and .197 batting average against, while also recording a staff-best three saves.
