WILMINGTON, DE - Wilmington College defeated Caldwell College 10-7 Saturday afternoon in the championship game of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Baseball Tournament at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, DE. With the win, the Wildcats have earned the CACC's automatic berth to the 2007 NCAA Division II Northeast Region Tournament. The field for the event will be announced Monday.
Caldwell, the top seed in the tournament, took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single by senior 1B Efrain Velazquez. The Cougars also scored on a Wilmington (29-18) error and on a sacrifice fly by freshman left fielder Andrew Robertson.
Wilmington, the No. 2 seed, took control of the game by virtue of a 6-run fourth inning. The Wildcats tallied five hits during the frame and took advantage of one Cougar error. Senior 2B Mike Mundy and freshman catcher Phil Aviola started the inning with singles and senior shortstop Andy Chunn brought them home with a 3-run home run to left field. Junior left fielder Spike Austin added an RBI double and he later crossed home plate on Jason Rust's second home run of the tournament and 21st of the season, which made the score 8-4.
Caldwell (24-13) added a run in the bottom of the frame on a single by freshman 2B Jon Irwin, but Wilmington answered with two runs in the top of the sixth, extending the lead to 10-5.
Caldwell made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, as freshman Adric Saxon and senior Billy Ryan hit back-to-back 2-out singles. Junior catcher Chris Chiarappa then stepped to the plate and knocked Saxon home with a double to deep right-center field.
The rally chased Wilmington reliever, junior Jimmy Okoniewski, from the game and Wildcat head coach Brian August brought in junior lefty Bill Cecconi. Cecconi, in his first action of the tournament, calmly induced a ground-ball to end the game, earning his first save of the season. Okoniewski got the victory and is now 5-4 on the season. He worked 5.0 innings and allowed seven hits and three runs while fanning four.
Rust went 3-for-4 with a run and three RBI to lead Wilmington, while Aviola went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI. Saxon led Caldwell by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Ryan finished 3-for-5 with one run scored.
Wilmington junior right-hander Joe Matterer, who hurled a complete-game shutout on Friday afternoon, was named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament. The complete All-Tournament team and the results from this year's tournament are below.
Thursday, May 10 - at Wilson Field
Game 1 - #2 Wilmington 14, #3 Felician 11
Game 2 - #4 Dominican 12, #1 Caldwell 11
Friday, May 11 - at Frawley Stadium
Game 3 - Caldwell 11, Felician 4
Game 4 - Wilmington 1, Dominican 0
Game 5 - Caldwell 5, Dominican 4 (10 innings)
Saturday, May 12 - at Frawley Stadium
Game 6 - Wilmington 10, Caldwell 7
All-Tournament Team
Joe Matterer, Wilmington - MVP
Phil Aviola, Wilmington
Spike Austin, Wilmington
Jason Rust, Wilmington
Mike Wilson, Wilmington
Tommy Murphy, Caldwell
Adric Saxon, Caldwell
Robert Casal, Caldwell
Tommy Maloney, Dominican
Joseph Catanese, Dominican
Chris Flynn, Felician