NABF COLLEGE WORLD SERIES WRAP-UP
The Utica Brewers (Eastern Collegiate Baseball League) from New York belted out 18 hits to defeat the Crystal Lake Cardinals (Metro Amateur Baseball League, Illinois) 10-1 in the National Amateur Baseball Federation College Division World Series championship at Fifth Third Field, the home of the world famous Toledo Mud Hens.
The Brewers scored a single run in the third and seventh inning, and added two runs in the fourth and exploded for five in the fifth.
Mike Johnson (Hillsborough CC) was the winning pitcher, going the distance, allowing one earned run, six hits, striking out 11 and walking two.
Every Utica player got into the hit column, led by tournament MVP Brayan Cacique (Lake Erie College), who was 5-for-5 and had three RBIs. Cacique batted 12-for-22 (.545) with seven RBIs for the tournament.
Tyler McKnight (Oklahoma State) was 3-for-6 and getting two hits apiece were Scott Krutel (Missouri Baptist University), Armando Gutierrez (Missouri Baptist University), and Joe Iorio (University of North Florida). Also getting a hit apiece was Jimmy Franklin (Christian Brothers University), Dan Mims (Southeastern University), Joe Stropp (Broward College), and Logan Morello (Gloucester CC). The Brewers had three doubles (McKnight, Krutel, Iorio).
The Brewers went 3-0 in pool play, defeating the Illinois Jayhawks, 5-4, the Michigan Bulls, 10-7, and the Toledo Black Hawks, 4-3. The Brewers defeated the Long Island South 6-4 in the quarterfinals and the Chicago Zephyrs, 12-8, in the semifinals.
Brewers’ players making the All-Tournament Team are outfielder Brayan Cacique, catcher Joe Stropp, pitchers Mike Johnson and Jacob Pettit (Warner Southern University), and designated hitter Dan Mims.
The Utica Brewers head coach is Dave Guido, and he is assisted by former Major League pitcher Russell Jacob Jr. The team is managed by Butch Russo.
Brewers team members include Mitch Buerosse (Nova Southeastern), Ryan Yarborough (Santa Fe College), Skylar Sopotnik (Thomas University), Ryan Donovan (Saint Rose), Tyler Redding (Nova Southeastern), Brent Krauss (St. Petersburgh College), Craig Lejeune (George Washington University), Josh Scharff (Yale University), Todd Glime (Missouri Baptist University), Matt Marsh (Miami Dade), and Matt Marsh (Miami Dade).
Crystal Lake had six hits in the championship, including a triple by Tom Wilson (Elgin CC), who went 2-for-4. Nolan Jacoby (Oakland University), Lee Spinelle (Lincoln Land JC), Brian Padove (Butler University), and Drew Buddle (Lewis University) all had base hits.
Crystal Lake was 2-1 in pool play, defeating the Kent White Sox, 3-0, and Genoa Rampage, 6-4, but losing to the Toledo Gold Hawks, 5-3. The Cardinals defeated the Buffalo Leib’s, 5-3, in the quarterfinals and the Michigan Bulls, 3-0, in the semifinal.
Armando Bombino is the head coach of the Cardinals, and he is assisted by Matt Modlinski and Ted Ratliff. The Cardinals were NABF College World Series champions two years ago, defeating the Dix Hills Dodgers (Long Island, N.Y.) 3-0 in the championship.
Crystal Lake players making the All-Tourney Team include pitchers Mike Rivera (College of Lake County) and Ryan Pollock (Judson University), outfielder Tom Roth (Elgin CC), and designated hitter Lee Spinelle.
Crystal Lake players include Ben Albano (Lewis University), Jake Alvarez (Fresno State University), Will Anderson (Fresno State University), Connor Buxton (Valparaiso University), Louis Cohen (Cal State Northridge), Scott Heelan (Virginia Tech), Mark Hode (Parkland CC), Dave Hoffman (Augustana College), Mike Hoscheit (Butler University), Matt Huck (St. Francis), Zach Klein (Quincy University), Billy Laing (Butler University), Zach Leibman (Elgin CC), Brett Loeding (Elgin CC), Brian Marquis (Elmhurst College), Michael Morman (Valparaiso University), Luke Mottashed (Heartland CC), Jordan Mullins (Fresno State University), Adam Nisenson (Coe College), and Devin Rowland (Elgin CC).
The College World Series batting champion is shortstop Joe Pantano (Erie CC) of the Buffalo Liebs, who went 12-for-17 (.706) with five RBI.
Besides Fifth Third Field, tournament sites included the former home of the Toledo Mud Hens, Ned Skeldon Stadium, George Ousky Field at the City of Oregon’s William P. Coontz Recreation Center, the City of Toledo’s Rich Arbinger Field at Bowman Park, and Dan Kober Field at St. Francis DeSales High School. Games were also telecast by Buckeye Cable Sports Network (www.bcsn.tv) and streamed live on the internet. The tournament was hosted by Toledo Amateur Baseball Federation.
For the second straight year, Jon Kemmer (Kersey Diamonds/Clarion University) won the home run derby, defeating 2009 champion, 2010 finalist, and 2011 runner-up Omar Velazquez (Dix Hills Dodgers/Adelphi University) in a showdown under the lights at Ned Skeldon Stadium.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP Brayan Cacique, Utica Brewers (Lake Erie College)
Batting Champion Joe Pantano, Buffalo Lieb’s (Erie CC)
C Jacob Rhodes, Michigan Bulls (Murray State University)
C Joe Stropp, Utica Brewers (Broward College)
1B Luke Collins, Chicago Zephyrs (Elmhurst College)
2B Brendan Barry, Long Island Sound (Post University)
3B Pat MacKenzie, Michigan Bulls (Central Michigan University)
SS Joe Pantano, Buffalo Lieb’s (Erie CC)
P Mike Johnson, Utica Brewers (Hillsborough CC)
P Mike Rivera, Crystal Lake Cardinals (College of Lake County)
P Ryan Pollock, Crystal Lake Cardinals (Judson University)
P Joe Scanio, Wildwood Dodgers (Northwestern State University)
P Kevin Archbold, Dix Hills Dodgers (Albany University)
P Jacob Pettit, Utica Brewers (Warner Southern University)
OF Blake Schmenk, Toledo Gold Hawks (Owens CC)
OF Charles Aldridge, Chicago Zephyrs (Grambling State University)
OF Aaron Cieslak, Michigan Bulls (Oakland University)
OF Brayan Cacique, Utica Brewers (Lake Erie College)
OF Tom Roth, Crystal Lake Cardinals (Elgin CC)
DH Dan Mims, Utica Brewers (Southeastern University)
DH Lee Spinelle, Crystal Lake Cardinals (Lincoln Land JC)
Utility Blake Farley, Wildwood Dodgers (Temple JC)
Utility Luke Collins, Chicago Zephyrs (Elmhurst College)