Game 15 - May 30, 2000
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Grand Chute, Wisconsin - This win was a long time coming. Fifteen years to be exact. Montclair State University became the first team in 15 years to win the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship after losing its first game in the tournament. The Red Hawks won the title Tuesday by beating the University of St. Thomas 6-2 in the championship game at Fox Cities Stadium. Montclair had to beat St. Thomas twice because the Tommies entered the day as the only unbeaten team. Montclair beat St. Thomas 13-3 in the opening game Tuesday.
"It's very satisfying," Montclair State head coach Norm Schoenig said. "To come out of the loser's bracket is a real testament to these kids.
"Once you eliminate that final destination and work at the job at hand, you get where you want to go."
Montclair got a superlative pitching performance from sophomore Corey Hamman (8-2), who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Hamman allowed seven hits and one earned run while going the distance. Hamman struck out five and didn't walk a batter. For the tournament, Hamman pitched 15 2-3 innings and allowed just eight hits and one earned run.
"Against the level of competition we played ... to give up just one earned run, I can't even believe it," Hamman said.
"When I went out on the mound, I didn't think about anything but hitting spots and throwing strikes."
Mike Honsa (10-4) went the distance and took the loss.
"They just outplayed us. They've got better hitters," St. Thomas head coach Dennis Denning said of Montclair. "It's tough to take when your expectations were nice and high. They had more bullets than we did."
Montclair got on the board in the bottom of the second inning. Brian Ellerson started the rally when third baseman Jon Guion fielded his ground ball and made a wild throw. The bad throw allowed Ellerson to advance to second. Frank Longo followed with a high chopper over Guion's head and into left field, allowing Ellerson to score for a 1-0 lead.
The Red Hawks made it 5-0 in the third. Montclair strung together five consecutive hits, started by Craig Conway's single to center field. George Gallagher followed with a single to left field, and Ellerson's infield single loaded the bases. Longo then doubled over the head of right fielder Ryan Benson to score Conway and Gallagher to make it 3-0. Frank Francia then singled up the middle to score Ellerson and Benson to give Montclair a 5-0 lead.
"This is the best hitting team I've ever played for, one through nine," said Conway, adding the team's character was key to a run to the title through the loser's bracket.
"That's the only way to sum it up. This team has a lot of heart. Our guys deserve a lot of credit. They never got down. They never gave up."
St. Thomas cut the lead to 5-1 in the fifth with the help of a Montclair error. Steve Aronson's fly ball to center field to lead off the inning was dropped, allowing Aronson to advance to second. After a ground out, Benson singled past second baseman Dave Wurst to score Aronson.
Montclair got that run back in the sixth inning. Francia started the inning with a one-out single, and Marc Houser walked to put runners at first and second. After Jeff Schriber lined out, Wurst stroked a single to left field to score Francia and build the lead to 6-1.
"I tip my hat to them," Honsa said. "They got hits when they needed them, when it counted."
The Tommies had a chance for a big inning in the eighth, but Hamman was able to escape serious damage. With one out, Matt Buzzell was hit by a pitch and Jake Mauer followed with a single to put runners at first and second. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, and Dan Novak followed with a ground out to score Buzzell to trim the lead to 6-2. Hamman then got Luke Sather to ground out to end the inning.
The Tommies managed one hit in the ninth, but Montclair turned a 3-6-1 double play to end the game.
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St. Thomas (Minn) 2 Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Brad Bonine cf............ 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 Matt Buzzell ss........... 2 1 0 0 0 1 3 4 Jake Mauer 2b............. 4 0 2 0 0 1 1 2 Dan Novak 1b.............. 4 0 1 1 0 0 10 0 Luke Sather dh............ 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Steve Aronson lf.......... 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 Jon Guion 3b.............. 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 Ryan Benson rf............ 3 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 Tom Wilberg c............. 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 Mike Honsa p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 32 2 7 2 0 5 24 8 Montclair State 6 Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Dave Wurst 2b............. 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 5 Chris Baran rf............ 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Craig Conway 3b........... 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 George Gallagher dh....... 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Brian Ellerson ss......... 4 2 1 0 0 1 4 4 Frank Longo cf............ 4 1 3 3 0 0 1 0 Frank Francia 1b.......... 4 1 2 2 0 0 13 1 Marc Houser lf............ 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 Jeff Schriber c........... 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 Corey Hamman p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 Totals.................... 32 6 9 6 2 3 27 14 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- St. Thomas (Minn) 000 010 010 - 2 7 1 Montclair State 014 001 00 - 6 9 1 ---------------------------------------------- E - Guion; Longo. DP - St. Thomas 1; Montclair St 2. LOB - St. Thomas 7; Montclair St 5. 2B - Longo. SB - Longo. CS - Longo. SH - Benson. St. Thomas (Minn) IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Mike Honsa.......... 8.0 9 6 5 2 3 32 35 Montclair State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Corey Hamman........ 9.0 7 2 1 0 5 32 36 Win - Hamman 8-2. Loss - Honsa 10-4. Save - None. WP - Hamman. HBP - by Hamman (Buzzell); by Hamman (Guion); by Honsa (Conway); by Hamman (Buzzell). Umpires - Home:Topp 1st:Drouches 2nd:Collins 3rd:Sill Start: 9:11 Time: 2:10 Attendance: 854
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Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- St. Thomas (Minn) 000 010 010 - 2 7 1 Montclair State 014 001 00 - 6 9 1 ---------------------------------------------- St. Thomas (Minn) inning 1 Bonine struck out swinging. Buzzell struck out swinging. Mauer grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Montclair State inning 1 Wurst struck out looking. Baran grounded out to 2b. Conway fouled out to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 2 D Novak grounded out to 2b. Sather lined out to ss. Aronson struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Montclair State inning 2 Gallagher flied out to cf. Ellerson reached on a throwing error by 3b, advanced to second. Longo singled to shortstop, RBI; Ellerson scored, unearned. Longo stole second. Francia grounded out to 2b; Longo advanced to third. Houser walked. J Schriber flied out to rf. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 3 Guion singled to right field. Benson out at first p to 2b, bunt, SAC; Guion advanced to second. Wilberg grounded out to 2b; Guion advanced to third. Bonine grounded out to p unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Montclair State inning 3 Wurst grounded out to ss. Baran flied out to lf. Conway singled to center field. Gallagher singled to left field; Conway advanced to second. Ellerson singled to shortstop; Gallagher advanced to second; Conway advanced to third. Longo doubled to right field, 2 RBI; Ellerson advanced to third; Gallagher scored; Conway scored. Francia singled to center field, 2 RBI; Longo scored; Ellerson scored. Houser reached on a fielder's choice; Francia out at second ss unassisted. 4 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 4 Buzzell grounded out to 3b. Mauer singled to right field. D Novak singled to right field; Mauer advanced to second. Sather grounded into double play ss to 1b; D Novak out on the play. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Montclair State inning 4 J Schriber grounded out to ss. Wurst flied out to cf. Baran grounded out to 3b, bunt. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 5 Aronson reached on an error by cf, advanced to second. Guion grounded out to 3b. Benson singled to right field, RBI; Aronson scored, unearned. Wilberg reached on a fielder's choice; Benson out at second 2b to ss. Bonine grounded out to p. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB. Montclair State inning 5 Conway flied out to cf. Gallagher fouled out to c. Ellerson struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 6 Buzzell hit by pitch. Mauer struck out looking. D Novak flied out to cf. Sather fouled out to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Montclair State inning 6 Longo grounded out to ss. Francia singled to right field. Houser walked; Francia advanced to second. J Schriber lined out to 2b. Wurst singled to left field, RBI; Houser advanced to second; Francia scored. Baran popped up to ss. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 7 Aronson grounded out to 2b. Guion hit by pitch. Benson popped up to p, bunt. Wilberg lined out to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Montclair State inning 7 Conway hit by pitch. Gallagher flied out to cf. Ellerson lined into double play 1b unassisted; Conway out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 8 Bonine popped up to 1b. Buzzell hit by pitch. Mauer singled to second base; Buzzell advanced to second. Mauer advanced to second; Buzzell advanced to third on a wild pitch. D Novak grounded out to ss, RBI; Mauer advanced to third; Buzzell scored. Sather grounded out to ss. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Montclair State inning 8 Longo singled to first base, bunt. Longo out at second c to ss, caught stealing. Francia grounded out to ss. Houser struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 9 Aronson singled to right center. Guion struck out looking. Benson singled to pitcher; Aronson advanced to second. Wilberg grounded into double play 1b to ss to p; Benson out on the play. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Updated Sept 2003