May 23, 2008

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APPLETON, Wis. - A great game had to come to an end and after 14 epic innings on Friday, Johns Hopkins squeaked by with a 3-2 win over Adrian in the first game of the 2008 Division III World Series. The Bulldogs scored one run in the top of the first inning and added one more in the fifth but simply could not come up with a key play in the final nine times at-bat. Adrian stranded 10 runners on base including four runners in the eighth and ninth innings.

Freshman Jake Cappelletty had a multi-hit game including his third home run of the season in the fifth which staked Adrian to a 2-0 lead. The Blue Jays scored twice in the sixth inning to tie the game and it remained that way into the 14th inning when Matt Benchener cleverly placed a double down the right field line with no outs which scored catcher Tony Margve with the winning run.

Ryan Domschott took the loss in relief but pitched a great game getting out of a couple potential tough spots after starter Alex Webster left after throwing a career-high 10 innings. Webster and Domschott kept the top-rated offense in Division III off the board most of the day and scattered 13 hits in 13 innings pitched. Johns Hopkins came into the tournament batting .386 as a team and the pitching staff did a great job all afternoon.

The Bulldogs just seemed to lack the same magic which propelled them into the nationals. The one-run loss proved however that the Bulldogs belong on the big stage. Adrian left the bases loaded in the eighth inning and had runners on first and third with no outs in the ninth but failed to score. Johns Hopkins made a beautiful defensive play in the ninth as Brian Youchak fired a seed to home plate off the bat of Todd Meyers from right field to cut down Cappelletty at the plate.

Adrian collected seven hits off Joe Zaccaria and Ryan Kealy but the two did combine to strikeout 19 Bulldogs. The final stats showed that Hopkins has a better pitching staff than people give them credit for and that they are more than just an offensive club.

Webster threw a gem going the first 10 innings and allowing two earned runs with no walks and a season-high five strikeouts. Domschott threw the final three innings and gave up four hits with just the one run, one walk and five punchouts. He is now 3-3 on the year. Adrian (34-12) will face Kean University (NJ) in an elimination game tomorrow at 11 am eastern/10 am central once again at Fox Cities Stadium.