Young Pitches Owls into NCAA Championship Round

HARWICH, MASS. 5/19/07 - Jamie Chavalier (Amherst, New Hampshire) had a two-run home run and Jon Young (Rindge, New Hampshire) pitched seven strong innings as Keene State remained alive in the NCAA Division III New England Regional Baseball Tournament with a 4-1 victory over Wheaton College in Harwich on Saturday night.

Making its first NCAA appearance, Keene State (32-14) moves into the championship round against LEC rival Eastern Connecticut on Sunday.  The Owls will need to win two games over the Warriors to claim the championship. ECSU has won four out of the five games played between the two teams this season, including a 6-1 win on Saturday.

The Owls jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third courtesy of Jamie Chevalier's (Amherst, New Hampshire) third home run of the season. Ben Fournier (Center Harbor, New Hampshire) led off the inning with a bunt single, moved to second on a sacrifice by Jeff Perkins (Dunbarton, New Hampshire), and rode home on Chevalier's two-run shot over the left-field fence.

"He came in with a fast ball and I just turned on it. I hit it pretty good and, fortunately, it went over," said Chevalier. But hat off to Jon Young. He pitched the game of his life.

Owl starter Jon Young (Rindge, New Hampshire), who gave up just a walk in the first and a single in the fourth, ran into trouble in the fifth. Scott Guillerault (South Portland, Maine) walked, went to second on a sacrifice, and came home on Jeff Martin's (Marblehead, Massachusetts) double down the left-field line. Martin moved to third on a wild pitch, but was stranded when DH Jason Clucas (Peabody, Massachusetts) struck out.

The Owls avoided more trouble in the sixth.  With two outs and runners on first and third, Jake Yagjian (Brewster, Massachusetts) grounded to third.  Joe Rousseau's (Nashua, New Hampshire) throw was off the mark, but the first baseman made a sweeping tag of Yagjian to preserve the lead.

With his pitch count at 107, Young retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh.  "It's all about control," said Young (3-1), who allowed just two hits while fanning seven and walking four. "If you make good pitches and hit your spots, it's hard for them to hit the ball.  As one of the seniors, you have to play like it's your last game."    
 
After issuing a two-out walk to Ryan Jones, Joe White (Bedford, New Hampshire) gave way to Keith Pescosolido (Newton, Massachusetts) on the mound. He was greeted by a line single to right by John Grainger (Keene, New Hampshire), which moved Jones to third. Pat Martin (Rockland, Massachusetts) was summoned to the hill. His first pitch was grounded to short.  The ball was mishandled, allowing Jones to come home with an unearned run. Grainger moved to second on the play and scored another insurance run on Beau Darak's (Londonderry, New Hampshire) single to left to make it 4-1. 
 
Mike Cook (Dover, Massachusetts) came in to pitch the eighth. The Lyons got runners on first and second, but Cook, who picked up his second save of the season, with two outs, got Adam LaPlante (Harwich, Massachusetts) to ground out to second.      
 
Grainger finished with two of the Owls' six hits. KSC pitchers gave up just four hits to the hard-hitting Lyons. Joe White (4-4) took the loss for Wheaton.     

It was the rubber game between the two teams.  During the regular season, Wheaton edged the Owls 4-3 in 10 innings.  KSC came back to upset the top-seed Lyons 6-3 in an earlier NCAA tournament game.
 
As far as playing Eastern Connecticut State, on Sunday, Chevalier said, "We want to take those guys down. They've put a damper on our season a couple times, but we might have the last laugh."