April 18, 2009
WC Walks-Off With Sweep on Dedication Day
Keaton Hits Walk-Off Two-Run HR To Cap DH Sweep of Dickinson

CHESTERTOWN, MD - Freshman Ben Keaton (Arlington, VA/Flint Hill School) hit a walk-off two-run home run over the left field fence with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of game two to give Washington College a 12-11 win over visiting Dickinson in a Centennial Conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Athey Baseball Park to complete the sweep of a twinbill. The Shoremen, who won game one by a 13-4 score, improve to 11-15 overall and 5-9 in the Centennial, while the Red Devils fall to 9-20 and 5-11. Prior to the game, there was a dedication for Athey Baseball Park in honor of long-time Washington College head baseball coach and Athletic Director Ed Athey '47.

The Shoremen trailed 11-9 entering the bottom of the ninth. Leadoff batter, freshman Tony Oktela (Willow Street, PA/Penn Manor) led off the inning with an infield single and reached second on a throwing error. He would cut the deficit to 11-10 when he scored on a wild pitch. With two outs in the frame, senior Greg Perret (Morris Plains, NJ/Bayley Ellard) drew a walk to put the tying run on base. The next batter, Keaton, launched a two-run blast over the left field wall to give the Shoremen a sweep of the doubleheader, their first conference sweep since downing Muhlenberg, on April 28, 2007 by the scores of 9-2 and 5-3 respectively.

The Red Devils jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second in game two, with the Shoremen scoring one in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to 3-1. Dickinson extended its lead to 5-1 in the top of the third, but Washington scored three runs in the bottom half of the frame to trim the lead to 5-4.

Washington took a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the fourth on two-run homer by Perret, his first career long ball. In the fifth inning, WC made it 7-5 on a solo blast by freshman John Rolewicz (Bear, DE/Salesianum), his second of the twinbill.

Dickinson got one run back in the top of the sixth to reduce the lead to 7-6, but Washington responded with two runs in its half of the inning to take a 9-6 lead.

The Red Devils scored five runs in the top of the seventh to grab an 11-9 lead. Andrew Sterling cut the lead to 9-7 on an RBI single in the infield. Evan Hennessy reduced the WC lead to 9-8 on a sacrifice fly. With two away, Jordan Kaufman plated Sterling to knot the game at 9-9. Dickinson went ahead 10-9 on a single by Bart Marchant that scored Kaufman. The five-run rally was capped by a Tom Van Horn infield hit that made it 11-9. The score would hold up until the bottom of the ninth when the Shoremen scored three runs to win it.

Perret led the Washington attack with four runs, two hits and two RBI in the nightcap. Freshman Ryan Normoyle (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) had two hits and two runs scored, senior Joe Coveney (Madison, NJ/Madison) chalked up two hits with a run scored, senior Tony Tozzolo (Calvert County, MD/Northern) plated two runners and had two hits himself and senior Doug Lutz (Pitman, NJ/Pitman) pounded out two hits. Keaton, who entered the game in the seventh inning was 1-for-1 with two RBI, a run scored and a walk in his two plate appearances. Every WC batter got at least one hit in the second game. Coveney got the win on the mound and improves to 1-2. He allowed zero runs in 2 1/3 innings of work.

For Dickinson, who left 18 runners on base, Marchant and Mike Schuster each racked up four hits in game two. Kaufman, who hit a leadoff solo home run in the third inning, had two hits, two runs and two RBI, Ben Sciambi scored three times and recorded two hits, while Sterling also netted two hits in the nightcap. All Dickinson batters who got an at-bat tallied one hit or more. On the mound, Garrett Horan took the loss and falls to 2-3.

In game one, Dickinson jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, before Rolewicz cranked a solo shot to left field to tie the score at 1-1. Washington took the lead for good with a two runs in the fourth inning. Coveney scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Rolewicz that was dropped by the Dickinson fielder to make it 2-1 and freshman Ben Jardot (McLean, VA/Flint Hill School) gave the hosts a 3-1 lead when he scored on a Lutz sac fly. Washington added three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-1 lead. Perret and junior Matt Boucher (Alexandria, VA/Bishop Ireton) scored on a fielding error to make it 4-1 and 5-1 respectively. The three-run burst was capped by a Jardot two-bagger that plated junior Brian Kramer (Fairfax, VA/W.T. Woodson).

Dickinson scored on run in the top of the sixth to make it 6-2, but Washington scored seven runs in its half of the sixth to make it 13-2. In the frame, Boucher and Coveney each launched two-run longballs to make it 10-2 WC. An RBI single by Lutz made it 11-2 and Normoyle hit a two-run double to make it 13-2. Dickinson scored two in the seventh on a two-run homer by Hennessy to cut gap to 13-4 and provide the final margin.

On the mound, junior Chris Smith (Catonsville, MD/Catonsville) tossed a seven-inning complete game to improve to 3-4 on the season. At the dish, Boucher led the way with a 3-for-4 afternoon with two runs scored and two RBI. Coveney, Normoyle and Rolowicz each totaled two hits, while Coveney, Jardot and Rolewicz in addition to Boucher all crossed home plate twice. Normoyle, Coveney and Rolewicz along with Boucher each knocked in two runs.

For Dickinson, Schuster and Sterling both tallied two hits, while Hennessy drove in two. Pitcher Sean White took the loss and falls to 3-4.

The Shoremen return to Athey Baseball Park tomorrow with a 12:30 p.m. Centennial Conference doubleheader versus Ursinus.

GAME ONE BOX SCORE

GAME TWO BOX SCORE