Altoona, AMCC champs for second time

By Dave Kisor for D3baseball.com

Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC): While the preseason conference coaches poll had Penn State Behrend defending the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference title for the fourth year, it was Penn State Altoona that grabbed the regular season championship and the conference tournament championship to move onto the Mideast region tournament. Altoona finished the conference regular season with a 14-3 record, besting La Roche and Behrend who each finished at 13-5. In the conference tournament, Altoona made its way through the winners’ bracket to beat Behrend out of the loser’s bracket and advance to the NCAA regional. Behrend, having to beat Altoona twice to capture the championship, won the first game, forcing a winner-take-all game. Altoona built a 7-2 lead and held on to win 8-7, claiming its second ever AMCC championship.

AMCC regular season champion: Penn State Altoona
AMCC tournament champion: Penn State Altoona
NCAA tournament participant: Penn State Altoona
AMCC Player of the Year: Michael Pascarella, Pitt-Bradford
AMCC Pitcher of the year: Trevor Conner, Penn State Altoona
AMCC Newcomer of the Year: Michael Pascarella, Pitt-Bradford
AMCC Coach of the Year: Chase Rowe, La Roche

Trevor Conner was the AMCC Pitcher of the Year for Penn State Altoona. Penn State-Altoona athletics photo

Penn State Altoona (14-3; 29-13): The last and only time the Lions won the AMCC championship was in 2000, when they were a provisional NCAA Division 3 team. They gained full NCAA Division 3 status in 2002, thus advancing to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2011. After receiving a bye in round one of the AMCC conference tournament, Altoona cruised through the next two rounds with 7-3 and 12-2 wins over Medaille and Penn State Behrend, respectively. Behrend, who won the AMCC the past three seasons, worked their way back to play Altoona, needing two wins to secure the NCAA bid, but Altoona prevailed. Grady Luzier was huge in the AMCC title game going 4 for 5 with two runs scored and three runs batted in. Two of Luzier’s RBIs were runs scored by Jimmy Baum, who went 2 for 4 in the game. AMCC Pitcher of the Year, Trevor Conner, the Lions’ top starter, came in as a reliever and held off Behrend to earn his first save.

Following an opening round 12-5 loss to Heidelberg in the Mideast region tournament, the Lions earned their first-ever tournament win with a 3-2 win over MIAA champion Adrian.  This win was Altoona’s 29th of the year, which was the second best total in school history. Altoona’s tournament run ended as they suffered their second loss at the hands of Case Western Reserve, ending their 2011 campaign at 29-13.

John Schall was one of two Lions on the Mid-Atlantic All-Region team. Penn State-Altoona athletics photo

Altoona’s junior third baseman John Schall and Conner, also a junior, earned Mid-Atlantic All-Region honors, being named to the second team. These two players led a group of five Lions that earned All-AMCC first team honors. Schall, batted .374, with 49 hits, including 13 doubles and five home runs which led the team. He scored 27 times and had 29 runs batted in. Connor was 9-2 with that one important save in the AMCC title game. His ERA was 2.83, as he struck out 50 batters in 76.1 innings of work, allowing just 16 walks. He led Altoona in innings pitched, wins, and strikeouts. Luzier, the senior first baseman, hit .399 with 59 hits, 12 doubles, one triple and two home runs. He had 38 RBIs, scoring 36 runs, while striking out only four times in 148 at bats. Cord Heine, a junior outfielder, led the Lions in stats with a .418 BA, 64 hits, 17 doubles and 41 RBIs. Fellow outfielder Baum had another outstanding year, ending up on the first team for the second consecutive year. The junior led the Lions with 50 runs scored, while getting 53 hits in 146 at-bats (.363). He also led the team with patience at the plate, earning 20 walks.

Penn State Behrend (13-5; 28-13): These Lions are used to finishing at the top of the AMCC, but just missed securing the top spot this year. Behrend has played in the AMCC championship game in six of the last nine years, winning three consecutive championships from 2008 through 2010. With 20 of 30 2010 letter winners returning for the 2011 season, it was clear that Behrend would be competing for a fourth consecutive first-place finish.  In the first game of the AMCC tournament championship round, Behrend pounded out 13 runs on 20 hits in defeating La Roche 13-10. 

Joe Pateriniti was named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-District II baseball team. Penn State Behrend athletics photo

In that win, Matt Bittner and Blake Pavlik each went four for five at the plate, with Bittner cranking his fifth home run of the year. He had four RBIs, while Pavlik, Evan Bukowski, and Ryan Geibel had two RBIs each. As much as the bats were productive in the first game of the tournament, they were relatively quiet in the second game as the Lions could only muster six hits in their 12-2 loss to Altoona. Now, in the loser’s bracket, Behrend flipped the switch and turned the offense back on as they knocked Medaille out of the tournament with an 11-3 victory. Again, Bittner led the way, going three for four at the plate and driving in two runs. This win earned Behrend the right to play Altoona in the finals. They needed two wins over Altoona to win their fourth consecutive AMCC championship. The first “must win” game for Behrend went 13 innings, as they scored a run in the top of the 12th inning, only to have Altoona tie the game in the bottom of the frame. Behrend then scored another run in the top of the 13th inning to take a 7-6 lead. They held Altoona scoreless in the bottom of the 13th to force the winner-take-all game, in which Altoona prevailed. Behrend ended their season at 28-13.

Bittner, a sophomore third baseman, was named to the Mid-Atlantic All-Region third team. On the year, Bittner hit .403, leading Behrend with 58 hits, 12 doubles, 51 RBIs and 5 home runs. He was also named a third team All-AMCC player. Outfielder Ryan Kragnes was the sole All-AMCC first team selection from Behrend. The sophomore batted .388, with 50 hits and a team leading 47 runs scored.

George Nahay was one of three Redhawks on the All-AMCC team. La Roche athletics photo by Jullian Mustang

La Roche (13-5; 27-15): The La Roche Redhawks were in the hunt for their second AMCC regular season conference title. They finished first in the AMCC regular season in 2007 as they tied Medaille and Frostburg St. As of April 12th they had a 9-1 record and sat atop the AMCC. However, they went 4-4 down the stretch to finish at 13-5, tied with Penn State Behrend behind regular season champion Altoona. The 13-5 record did secure a spot in the AMCC tournament. However, La Roche’s tournament life was short-lived as they went two and out, losing to Penn State Behrend 13-10 in the first game and to Medaille 7-2 in the second game. La Roche went 2-0 against Behrend and split with Medaille 1-1 during the regular season, but were dominated by these teams come tournament time. The Redhawks finished the season at 27-15 overall, which was their second best overall record since 2006 when they went 28-16. The 13-5 conference mark tied their best record which was achieved in 2006 and 2007.

Three Redhawks players landed on the All-AMCC second team, including pitchers James Connelly and Cole Lentz and first baseman George Nahay. Connelly, a sophomore went 7-4 on the year with a 4.01 ERA. Cole went 5-2 with a 3.21 ERA. The freshman led La Roche with 53 strikeouts in 53.1 innings. Nahay, a senior, multiple-year All-conference choice, hit .359. He led the team in hits (52), doubles (14), home runs (4), and RBIs (36). 

La Roche’s Chase Rowe was named AMCC Coach of the Year. He took over the Redhawks program in 2006 and on April 12th of this season won his 100th game, en route to 13 conference wins and 27 wins overall.

Medaille (11-7; 22-16): The Mavericks returned seven starters from the club that went .500 (18-18) and just missed earning a spot in the AMCC conference tournament in 2010. While Medaille’s conference record of 11-7 was one game below the 2010 campaign (12-6), they earned the fourth and final spot in the 2011 conference tournament. After an opening championship round loss to eventual tournament winner Penn State Altoona, the Mavericks knocked La Roche out of the tournament with a 7-2 victory. In that win, pitcher Pat Mancuso had, arguably, his best outing of the season, scattering eight hits and allowing two earned runs for the complete game win. A second loss, this time, to Penn State Behrend, ended the Maverick’s successful season.

Senior pitcher Matt Dunford was the sole Maverick to earn All-AMCC first team honors. He had seven wins against four losses, with a solid 3.24 ERA. He had 80 strikeouts in 77.2 innings, including four complete games.

Designated hitter Garrett Herald was honored with Mid-Atlantic All-Region first team honors. Pitt-Greenberg athletics photo

Pitt-Greensburg (10-8; 14-21): 2011 marked the fifth year that the Bobcats finished with a conference record at or above .500, finishing in the middle of the pack in the AMCC. Designated hitter Garrett Herald was honored with Mid-Atlantic All-Region first team and All-AMCC first team awards. The sophomore had 41 hits, including 12 doubles and three home runs. He led Pitt Greensburg with 30 runs batted in. Teammate Bryan Colish, a junior, was named the Mid-Atlantic region Golden Glove winner at third base. His fielding percentage was .968 with three errors in 52 attempts, with 40 put outs.

Mount Aloysius (10-8; 20-17): Mount Aloysius played in the AMCC postseason tournament the last two years and after posting 21 wins in 2010, were looking for a postseason appearance in the 2011 AMCC championship round. The Mounties, however, lost two out of three games, both by 1-0 scores, to Medaille and did not advance to the AMCC tournament championship round. Two Mounties, junior catcher Matt Cornetti and senior Bryan Nolan were named to the Mid-Atlantic All-Region third team. Cornetti, also a first team All-AMCC player, batted .420 with 42 hits and 34 runs scored, which led the team. Nolan joined Cornetti as a first-team All-AMCC member. The short stop led Mount Aloysius with 51 hits and stole 43 bases in 46 attempts, including seven in a game against Hiram. That effort was a team record and tied the NCAA record, set in 1986. Nolan also earned Mid-Atlantic Golden Glove first team honors at short. He had a .983 fielding percentage having made only three errors in 105 attempts.

Pitt Bradford (9-9; 19-14): Pitt Bradford last won the AMCC conference title in 2005. Coming off a 12-8 conference record in 2010, the Panthers looked to make it back to tournament play. Coming into the final conference games versus Mt. Aloysius, Pitt Bradford needed to sweep the Mounties to earn a spot in postseason play. They won the front end of the double header 5-0, but got doubled up in the nightcap 10-5, to end their season with a .500 conference mark, missing the postseason for the second year in a row. Freshman Michael Pascarella was a second team Mid-Atlantic All-Region member and was the AMCC Newcomer and Conference Player of the Year. He led the Panthers with 51 hits (tied with teammate Derek Smith), 45 runs scored, and six home runs, with a batting average of .464.

Ryan LaCorte was one of 17 pitchers used by Hilbert in 2011. Hilbert athletics photo

Hilbert (3-15; 5-25): After starting play in the AMCC in 2005, the Hawks had not won more than two games in an AMCC season. In 2011, the three wins was a step forward. Additionally, four of the conference losses were by one run, including losses to conference top tier teams Penn State Behrend and La Roche.

Franciscan (4-14; 6-25): In early February, the harsh news came down from the Franciscan University administration stating that the 2011 season would be the last for the Barons baseball program. Title IX had forced the hand of the Franciscan administration and they decided to cut baseball and add woman’s swimming and diving in 2010-2011, with the eventual addition of men’s and women’s lacrosse. With that information as the backdrop for the Barons’ season, the teamed clawed their way to four wins, including a program final victory over Bethany. Trailing 7-5 entering the bottom of the sixth inning, the Barons rallied for a single run in 6th, 7th, and 8th innings to get the program’s final win. Freshman Luke Starre earned third team All-AMCC with a batting average of .374, with 37 hits and 20 RBIs.

D'Youville (2-15; 6-21): 2011 was the second year of play for D’Youville in the AMCC. The Spartans mustered one win in the 2010 campaign and like Hilbert, took a small step forward by winning two AMCC contests. Leading the way for the Spartans was sophomore first baseman Brent Gibbs. Gibbs, an All-AMCC third team member batted .429, with 39 hits, including seven doubles, two triples and two home runs, all of which were team leading. He also led D’Youville with 24 RBIs.