WILMINGTON, Del. – Wilmington University won the 2011 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Baseball Championship with a 10-3 victory over top seed Dominican College Saturday at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, Del. As a result of the victory, the Wildcats have secured the CACC’s automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Division II East Region Tournament. The field for the regional will be announced Sunday evening. Junior catcher Mike Godwin was named  the Tournament Most Valuable Player. 

No. 2 seed Wilmington got on the board in the top of the first inning when junior leadoff hitter Joe Harbach scored on a squeeze bunt by senior Matt Umba. Dominican evened things up in the bottom of the third when senior catcher Robert Iglesias singled to right field and scored later in the inning on a throwing error by Wilmington.

Harbach once again spearheaded Wilmington’s second run in the sixth, as he was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a balk by Dominican freshman starter Ryan Calby. Harbach scored one batter later on an Umba single up the middle to give WU a 2-1 lead. Dominican answered by scoring on an almost identical play when junior Chris Gonzalez laced a single up the middle, plating senior Dan Robinson, who was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning.

Wilmington took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the seventh off the ba t of sophomore 2B BJ Janney, who drove in Jonathan Rodriguez and Bryan Woolford with a single to center field.

CACC Player of the Year Mike Godwin sealed the victory with a three-run home run in the top of the eighth, part of a five-run inning for WU, to extend the lead to 9-2. He added a run-scoring double in the ninth. The 2011 MVP award was his second. He was also named MVP of the 2009 tournament.

Godwin went 3-for-5 with one run and four runs batted in in the championship game. Umba went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI, while shortstop Rodriguez scored twice and finished 2-for-4 on the day.

CACC Rookie of the Year Jamie Treml earned the victory after working seven innings and allowing four hits and one earned run with seven strikeouts. It was the first postseason start for the rookie left-hander, who improves to 9-1 this season. Wilmington has now won three of the last five CACC crowns. The Wildcats are 37-10 this season, while Dominican falls to 28-17.

The All-Tournament team and tournament game results are below.

All-Tournament Team
Mike Godwin, Wilmington - MVP
Joe Harbach, Wilmington
Joe Harris, Wilmington
Kurt Bruce, Wilmington
Matt Umba, Wilmington
David Bartuska, Dominican
Justin Moore, Dominican
Chris Gonzalez, Dominican
Travis Locascio, Post
Tom Sirois, Post
Mark Perry, USciences 

CACC Baseball Tournament, May 10-14
Tuesday, May 10 (single elimination)
Game 1: #5 USciences 8, #4 Caldwell 5
Game 2: #3 Post 8, #6 Chestnut Hill 7

Thursday, May 12 - Wilson Field (double elimination)
Game 3: #1 Dominican 7, #5 USciences 0
Game 4: #2 Wilmington 9, #3 Post 0

Friday, May 13 - Frawley Stadium
Game 5: Post 4, USciences 0
Game 6: Wilmington 3, Dominican 0
Game 7: Dominican 7, Post 0

Saturday, May 14 - Frawley Stadium
Game 8: Wilmington 10, Dominican 3