May 17, 2009

MVP Kelly drives West Chester past Mercyhurst in regional title game

WEST LAWN, Pa. — West Chester University is heading back to the NCAA Division II World Series.

West Chester wins NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional title Sunday at Owls Field.

The 2007 regional champion bounced back from last season’s runner-up finish to claim the 2009 NCAA Division II Atlantic Region title with a 14-0 win over Mercyhurst College in Game 10 of the tournament Sunday at Owls Field.

Charlie Kelly, who finished as the tournament’s MVP, had a big day, going 4-for-4 with two singles, a triple and a monster home run just to the left of the 415 sign in center field. He scored three runs, drove in two and stole two bases.

His two-run shot in the eighth inning made it 11-0. Kelly’s homer was followed by a two-run homer from Joe Wendle.

Blair Dameron, who was 2-for-6, hit a solo home run to right in the ninth.

The Golden Rams finished with five of the six homers hit during the four-day tournament. Defensively, West Chester allowed just five runs throughout the tournament, and just two runs in the final three games.

Sunday’s shutout capped the No. 1 seed’s dominant performance.

“We pitched outstanding all weekend, we swung the bats well and we played good defense,” West Chester coach Greg Mamula said. “Usually when you do those things, they add up to victories.”

West Chester plated four runs in both the second and third innings to take a commanding 8-0 lead.

The Golden Rams added a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to make it 9-0.

Starting pitcher Conor Kerins improved to 8-2 on the season, holding Mercyhurst to four hits over six innings of work. Jordan Lehman pitched a scoreless seventh and Eric Carmichael closed out the win with two scoreless innings.

Jeff Stoll finished with three of Mercyhurst’s five hits.

Bob Stumpo was 3-for-5 with a run scored and Wendle was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs.

Josh Heyne was 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Nick Spisak and Kevin McGrath each had two hits.

West Chester will advance to the NCAA Division II Championships at the U.S.A. National Baseball Training Complex in Cary, N.C.