Box Score
By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Lakewood, NJ — It really is over.
Messiah's season came to an end Thursday with a disappointing, 6-0 loss to top-seeded Kean University at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, NJ. The loss was the Falcons' second straight in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, thus eliminating them from the double-elimination playoff tournament.
The game was actually much closer than the final score indicated, as the Falcons trailed by just a single run entering the ninth inning before a freak injury and a plethora of errors doomed Messiah.
Still, the loss shouldn't negate the impressive season Coach Steve DeRiggs' squad put together: The Falcons (25-19) were picked to finish in the bottom half of their conference by a pre-season poll but defied all odds this year, posting a 13-5 league record in the regular season and winning three straight in the 2011 Commonwealth Conference playoffs to capture the fourth title in the program's history.
“We played really well today until the unfortunate bad hop,” said DeRiggs, the Commonwealth Coach of the Year. “We proved today and this whole season that we can play with any team in the nation when our young men put their minds and heart to it. We just didn't hit the ball well enough to score. We had chances on offense to score, and we just didn't do it.”
On the mound, junior Tory Arnesen threw one of the best games of his stellar three-year career with Messiah, as the right-hander kept the Cougars under control for the duration of the game. Arnesen allowed a lone run in the fourth inning but entered the ninth inning having limited Kean (37-9) to just one run.
“Tory was excellent for us, just superb,” DeRiggs said. “His mound presence was superb, he kept us in the game, and he gave us a great opportunity to win. He controlled (Kean's) offense, moved the ball well. His split-fingered fastball was working well and he had great control with it. We also played excellent defense behind him for the first eight innings.”
Unfortunately, the Falcons couldn't muster a single run on offense, collecting just three hits for the game, failing to back Arnesen with any run support.
Arnesen, who collected Messiah's first hit of the game in the second inning, was wiped off the basepaths by a 5-4-3 double play. In the fourth inning, junior John Brubaker led off the frame with a hit by pitch, advanced to second base on classmate Wes Hollenbach's sacrifice bunt, and went to third on a wild pitch. Junior Ryan Brown was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners with two outs, but Crusaders' pitcher Kevin Herget was able to induce a ground ball out to keep Messiah off the board.
The Falcons had another attempt at small ball in the sixth inning, as freshman Jon Lapp singled and advanced to second base on Brubaker's sacrifice, but Lapp was stranded after a pop up and a strikeout looking. Perhaps the team's best opportunity came in the seventh inning, when Arnesen and sophomore Paul Mellinger worked consecutive walks with one out, but a strikeout and a pickoff at second base cost the Falcons a rally.
In the top of the ninth inning, the game took a turn for the worse, as a ground ball hit with one out and no one on base took an unfortunate hop, hitting shortstop Brubaker in the face. Brubaker, who was named the tournament MVP back in the Commonwealth Conference Tournament, had to leave the game and from there, the Falcons' defense fell apart. Three errors plagued the team and when the dust settled, Messiah was down, 6-0.
“(Brubaker) has been such a large part of our team and he's been so well defensively for us down the stretch,” DeRiggs said. “He was an all-conference shortstop, and it was a big letdown for us to lose him defensively. We had a mental letdown as a team. We didn't execute, we made three errors, and we just seemed to lose composure after having our shortstop hurt. We didn't finish the deal.”
In their last licks in the bottom of the ninth inning, Hollenbach started it off with a base hit, but a ground out and double play ended the season.
It was the same story for the offense as it had been in the first game of the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional; the team collected just 11 hits and one total run in the two games, spoiling strong pitching outings by both senior Travis Thome and Arnesen, as the offense failed to come through in key situations.
Arnesen (7-3) took the loss, although he threw a stellar outing against the third-ranked team in the entire nation. He allowed eight hits and just one walk, while striking out four batters.
To see Messiah's season end with such a strong outing from their pitchers, a unit that has carried the team all season, was disappointing.
“I want to credit our young men with the season they've had,” DeRiggs said. “The turnaround this club had after Florida was inspiring, as they found a sense of purpose and came together after the trip. I know they had a rough trip but that seemed to inspire them and they came back with purpose and direction, and we started to go our way. We began to win the close ones and not lose them, we went on a nine-win tear, and it was a wonderful season. There are 55 teams left in the tournament and just one of them is going to go home happy at the end.”
Messiah will graduate six seniors from the team: first baseman Jordan Snader, outfielders Sean Hart and Jamie Scott, and pitchers Travis Thome, Eric Spring and Josh Hershberger. The first five were all with the team since the 2008 conference championship, and the group will leave Messiah having led the team to another conference championship in their senior year.
“(The seniors) have been a big part of Messiah,” DeRiggs said. “I came in with them, and I have had very strong and fond feelings for them. We've cried, laughed, and experienced joy together, and they're a special class to me. The parents are also a special group; they've been so supportive on the road or at home. I've come to learn and respect the essence of the Messiah family.”
