Wayde Kitchens came into the season as a D3baseball.com All-American and left the season as a D3baseball.com All-American.

But he was injured and could not pitch in the Division III baseball championships.

"We had to play the last half of the season without him," said Chapman coach Tom Tereschuk. "It doesn't seem to be anything that requires any surgery. He kept trying to get back, but he's kind of back to square one.

"He is going to continue to do whatever he can to help the team and we'll just see."

Those sorts of things included being the Panthers' de facto bullpen coach, shagging foul balls and coaching first base.

D3baseball.com's Jim Dixon and Pat Coleman sat down with the Chapman ace following the team's elimination from the tournament. Hear Kitchens' take on his injury, his pro ball hopes and his favorite career memories in a D3baseball.com podcast with Wayde Kitchens.

By Jim Dixon
D3sports.com

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- St. Thomas shook off a loss last night to stay alive in the 2009 NCAA D-III Baseball Championship with a 3-1 win over Carthage. St. Thomas (39-13) will play the winner of the Wooster-Chapman game at noon on Tuesday. Carthage ends their season with a 38-9 record.

"It is weird how baseball works," said Carthage head coach Augie Schimdt. "We played our best game today and lost."

Both starters, St. Thomas' John Licht and Carthage's Andy Pucher, were effective from the first pitch. Licht scattered seven hits for the complete game win. Pucher went 6.1 innings giving up three runs on four hits to take the loss. Pitcher Bryan Kieffer finished the game for the Red Men.

"Licht gave us a complete game to keep everyone [our bullpen] ready," St. Thomas coach Dennis Denning said. "He was ahead in the count and accurate with this fastball. Licht stepped up today." Schimdt echoed praise for Licht. "We had great pitching today but they had better."

Through three innings, each team traded goose eggs, but in the fourth, St. Thomas scratched out a run. Matt Olsen got on with an infield single and moved to second on a throwing error by catcher Mike Hughes. A Brian Schmitz sacrifice moved Olsen to third and he came home on Drew Cremisino's single up the middle.

In the sixth inning, The Tommies and Red Men traded runs. St. Thomas took a 2-0 lead when Olsen tripled to left center and scored on a Brian Schmitz single. Carthage got that run back on two hits. John Lequia bunted down the third base line and as the third baseman watched, the ball stopped in fair territory. Two batters later, Drew Roberts laced a double to left center and Lequia scored on a close play at the plate.

Olson's two hits led St. Thomas to lead the Tommies offense. Lequia's three hits was tops for the Red Men.

St. Thomas added one more run in the seventh. Dan Leslie reached on an error and a sacrifice moved him to second. St. Thomas' center fielder singled to right for a 3-1 lead.

Wooster swung the bats early and often, defeating Chapman 11-7 and ensuring that St. Thomas will have to beat the Scots twice on Tuesday to win the 2009 Division III baseball national championship. Photo gallery.

Sean Karpen went 2-for-3 with three walks and Luke Sutton went 3-for-3 to keep the Scots perfect in Appleton. Jordan Sigman got the start for the Panthers and gave up six runs, four earned, before being knocked out of the game without recording an out in the second.

Chapman was unable to use its ace in the championships round, as he is still nursing an undiagnosed injury. Jim Dixon and Pat Coleman sat down with Wayde Kitchens following the Panthers' elimination.

Freshman John Licht carried St. Thomas, guaranteeing the Tommies one more day in Appleton. He threw a complete game, limiting Carthage to seven hits and one walk while striking out six as St. Thomas won 3-1. Photo gallery.

The Tommies managed just five hits themselves, but pushed across single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh. Matt Olson went 2-for-3 with a triple and scored two runs. St. Thomas awaits the winner of the Wooster-Chapman game. Monday's D3baseball.com scoreboard.

Follow D3baseball.com on Twitter @d3baseball for more updates from the park and news on Division III baseball.

Championships toolbar: D3baseball.com All-American team | Sunday's live scores, video | Sunday's front page | Saturday's front page | Friday's front page

Live video for all championship round games is available through NCAA.com, and we have links for you for Mondays games on the D3baseball.com scoreboard.

If you're unable to watch, we have links to live stats, audio when available, and updated scores. Jim Dixon and the D3baseball.com crew are also blogging on the Daily Dose during the games, for you to follow and comment. And we'll have postgame coverage as well.

On Sunday, Wooster defeated St. Thomas (Game story, feature, photo gallery); Carthage eliminated Shenandoah (Game story, photo gallery); and Chapman eliminated Kean (Game story, photo gallery).

By Pat Coleman
D3sports.com

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- In order to get to the championship game of a double-elimination, eight-team tournament, a team needs, among other things, strong pitching performances.

And unless a team comes into Appleton with three healthy aces, that means at least one pitching performance can be deemed an unlikely one.

Sunday night's winner's bracket final delivered not one, but two such pitchers.

Matt DeGrand, the No. 4 starter for Wooster, hadn't started a game since April 23, hadn't thrown six innings since April 5 and had only two seven-inning appearances all season.

And Dan Leslie, who got the call for St. Thomas, had pitched in just one game all season. It was a big one, a complete-game victory against St. Olaf in the Midwest Regional clincher, but otherwise, Leslie has been the Tommies' third baseman.

DeGrand, a junior right-hander, is a standout outside linebacker for the Scots football team as well, and was the runner up for the North Coast Athletic Conference player of the year. While playing outside linebacker isn't exactly playing out on an island like a cornerback usually does, pitching is an island all of its own, and DeGrand credited his football experience with helping him focus Sunday night.

"I think it's just the fact that I have to dig deep," DeGrand said, "and football helps me with that because it's the mentality of fourth-and-short or third-and-long. You have to find the drive within yourself to make the next play."

DeGrand did not walk a batter and retired 15 in a row after Matt Olson's first-inning double, improving to 7-2 and lowering his ERA nearly half a run to 4.48.

"Matt just pitched tremendously," Wooster coach Tim Pettorini said. "He was throwing three pitches for strikes and really controlling the strike zone. You have to against them. He kept them off-balance and really pitched a phenomenal game."

For the Tommies, Leslie (1-1) got the call as a matter of necessity. No. 2 starter Brandon Stone has been out with an injury.

"I always knew he had the athletic ability so he came back in regions and he wanted the ball," said St. Thomas coach Dennis Denning. "He's a gamer. I thought he'd maybe go three, four innings and actually just boom, he walked through nine innings and was really efficient."

But after working on two years' rest, Leslie had just six days to bounce back for start No. 2, and he struggled at times, retiring the side in order just once in his seven innings. He allowed 11 baserunners.

"I knew that he probably wouldn't have his great stuff today. We sort of gave them two runs. If we'd played well they wouldn't have the first run and if we were smart and pitched around the guy like we wanted, we'd have only given up one run."

Leslie was the Tommies' best pitcher as a freshman and a member of the All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team in 2006 as a pitcher, but hadn't made a start since May 17, 2007, until his regional win.

"I told him I'd let him pitch again when I saw him throwing the ball across the infield like he did when he was a freshman," Denning said.

"My arm's been feeling a little better lately," Leslie said, "so I told coach I could throw. It's been feeling good, trying to get ground balls."

Leslie didn't come back as the same pitcher he used to be, pitching more to contact, trying to get batters to put the ball in play, let his fastball's movement do the work.

DeGrand's performance was easily his best of the season, and it came after a lot of work. In his previous three starts, he'd compiled a 10.32 ERA.

"I had some down time and I was working with (pitching) coach (Tim) Bricker and we just stuck with it. ... A lot picking up the zone more and spotting more my fastball," DeGrand explained. "When I first started here I was just primarily a fastball pitcher. And I kind of got away with that by picking up more so I lost my focus so I went back to just spotting my fastballs again and then on down the line. I just kept growing with that and long tossing, maintaining strength was key for me because it showed and running was huge."

And Bricker didn't steer him wrong.

"I'll be the first one to say I don't always agree with what Bricker will call but this game he's like, 'just trust me here, just trust me this game and you'll be so happy with the outcome.'

"I didn't shake him off once, and it worked."

By Jim Dixon
D3sports.com

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- Wooster defeated St. Thomas, 3-0, at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship to advance the title game on Tuesday. Before Wooster plays for the title, the Scots will face Chapman at 3:30 p.m. on Monday at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis. St. Thomas faces Carthage in an elimination game at noon.

Wooster, which will play for the national championship for the first time since finishing second in 1997, got a great pitching performance from Matt DeGrand. DeGrand went seven innings, allowing only three hits while striking out three and walking none.

"Great college baseball game," said Wooster head coach Tim Pettorini. "Matt just pitched tremendously. He was throwing three pitches for strikes and really controlling the strike zone. You have to against them. He kept them off balance and really pitched a phenomenal game."

DeGrand gave credit to assistant coach Jeff Bricker for his effort today. I'll be the first one to say I don't always agree what Bricker will call but this game he's like, Just trust me here and you'll be so happy with the outcome. I didn't shake him off once, and it worked. We were very successful."

The Scots pounded out 11 hits, including three by center fielder Sean Karpen. "I've been waiting for this [playing in ther championship] for three years" said Karpen.

DeGrand was not the only surprise on the pitching mound. St. Thomas' Dan Leslie took the loss despite a good effort for the Tommies. "Not a surprise to me that he's really doing good," said St. Thomas head coach Dennis Denning. "I knew that he probably wouldn't have his great stuff today. We sort of gave them two runs. If we'd play good they wouldn't have the first run and if we were smart and pitched around the guy like we wanted, we'd have only given up one run.

Justin McDowell worked the final two innings for his second save of the season. Zack Vesco, Karpen and Stu Beath all had run-scoring singles as Wooster plated single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.

Shortstop Tim Kahle lead the Tommies offensively with two hits.

Grand Chute, Wisc. -- Carthage built a lead over Shenanadoah and let it slip away by the end of regulation. Mike Hughes' home run in the 11th inning decided the game, sending Shenandoah (38-10) back to Winchester, Virginia and giving Carthage (39-8) another game in the 2009 NCAA D-III Baseball Championship. Carthage will face St. Thomas at a time to be determined.

"Anytime you get a big lead and it slips away, it is so hard to get that dang momentum back," said Carthage head coach Augie Schmidt. "Until Hughes hit his home run we could not get over the hump."

Carthage started the scoring in the first. Chris Shannon walked and moved to third on John Lequia's double. After a Mike Hughes walk, Dave Roberts' single off of the glove of the Shenandoah's first baseman broght in Shannon and Lequia for a 2-0 lead. Shenandoah came back with a run of their own. Kevin Brashears walked to lead off the Hornets first and scored on Greg Van Sickler's double down the leftfield line.

Two errors to lead off the second inning spelled trouble for the Hornets. Shannon's two-out hit brought in one run. Lequia then cleared the bases with a three-run home run to deep right field to give the Red Men a 6-1 lead. "Johnny has been picking us up offensively," said Schmidt.

Shenandoah exploded for four runs in the fifth. Adam Delauter and Jon Holcomb reached on back-to-back errors and Brashears single scored the first run of the half inning. An errant pickoff attempt allowed Holcomb to score. Singles by Scott Lambert and Van Sickler brought the Horents to within one run 5-6.

In the top of the sixth, the Red Men got two of those runs back as Shannon and Lequia each added one RBI to their game totals. The Carthage threat was ended by a spectacular play by second baseman Holcomb to throw out the Mike Hughes.

the Hornets made it a one run run game again in the seventh. A walk to Brashears and a single by Lambert brought out Scott Danly in relief of Eric Rohe. Van Sickler brought in one run with a single and Scott Van Dusseldorp another on a fielders choice.

In the eighth inning Shenandoah erased the one run lead. Delauter walked and was sacrificed to second. After Brashears walked, Carthage head coach looked for Mike Maher to preserve the lead. Lambert knocked in his second run of the game for the tie. With the go-ahead run on third base, it was Carthage's second baseman's time to flash the leather. Tyler Eichmeyer took three steps to his right and his throw nipped Jesse Henry for the third out.

The score stayed tied until the 11th inning. In the top of the inning, Mike Hughes hit a solo two-out home run to give Carthage the lead. "I was just looking to get a hit," said Mike Hughes about his game winning hit. "I was having a tough tournament and he threw it where I swing. I caught a break and I hit it good."

Shenandoah would get a runner to third but Van Sickler's drive to centerfield ended in the glove of Will Hodges. "Couldn't be more proud of the way our guys responded," said Shenandoah head coach, Kevin Anderson. "Brashears got a hit, next a sac bunt, and we have our 3-4 coming up. That as the way our team has battled all year. Somebody had to lose it and we endded on the short end."

By Pat Coleman
D3sports.com

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- Chapman ran wild on Kean starter Joe Bartlinski before Ryan Prechtl chased him with a two-run bomb as the Panthers defeated the Cougars 7-5 in an elimination game on Sunday afternoon at the Division III baseball championships.

John Semel closed the door, striking out four and allowing one run in three innings for his ninth save.

Chapman got on the board in the bottom of the second as second baseman Tyler Hadzinsky reached with a two-out single and came around on a double off the left-center field wall by catcher Joe Lehman. The Panthers got another two-out run in the fourth when Hadzinsky singled, stole second and third and came home on a throwing error by Kean catcher Mike Manganiello. A third two-out run in the fifth inning, started by a single and a stolen base from Semel, gave Chapman a 3-0 lead.

"With two outs I'm just looking to get on, not looking too much," said Semel, who started in left field and had three hits in five at-bats. "I'm just looking for a pitch I can hit. I was just seeing it well from Bartlinski."

"If we get a little more concentration on defense and on the mound, we get those," said Kean coach Neil Ioverio.

Kean answered in the bottom half of the inning, as the Cougars (39-11) got their first three batters aboard, loading the bases with nobody out. After third baseman Dave Zavistoski popped out on a ball Hadzinsky made a nice, over-the-shoulder catch on, DH D.J. Breckenridge bounced a ball through the middle to score two runs, cutting the lead to 3-2. Shortstop Mike Diaz singled through the hole into left field to put runners at the corners. Mike Moceri knocked Chapman starter Matt Luzar from the box with another two-run single, giving the Cougars a 4-3 lead.

Ben Levitt relieved Luzar and got cleanup hitter Dylan Laguna to hit a flare to the right side that Hadzisnky bobble before catching. Diaz appeared to tag and leave the base after the ball was first touched, in accordance with the rules, and scored. But on appeal, third base umpire Carlos Guzman called Diaz out for leaving early.

"My first reaction off the bat was I kind of froze but I definitely went back to tag," said Diaz, a junior shortstop. "I guess the umpire missed the call. It was definitely a tough call in a big spot."

"My initial reaction was to find out if he knew the ball was touched and knocked back in the air again," Ioverio said. "The explanation I got was when the ball was initially touched, Michael was heading toward the plate and then on his way back.

"One thing I know is he went back to touch the base. ... His answer was he didn't have him going back at all. In hindsight I guess I could've protested. I don't know what that would have accomplished."

Halston Barcelo led off the top of the sixth inning with a walk and was sacrificed to second before Lehman knocked him home with a single to center field. After Ryan Hall reached on a fielder's choice, Prechtl chased Bartlinski (7-4) with a blast down the left field line.

"I was just looking for something in the zone," said Prechtl, who was 0-for-2 with a walk before his home run. "Early on in the game he was kind of working backwards, throwing offspeed pitches when he was behind in the count. He ended up coming changeup."

Bartlinski finished the game allowing six runs, five earned in five and two-thirds innings. Chapman was 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts on the afternoon.

"I don't allow them to be super quick to the plate," Ioverio said, preferring his pitchers avoid using a slide step to keep runners close. "But at the same time you can still be effective by varying the looks and the holds and the timings throughout the course of the game.

"You're at a deficit either way. If you make guys rush to the plate and you get quick with your feet on the mound you risk ... affecting the pitcher's delivery too much and takes something off him while he's out there."

"We wanted to be aggressive," Chapman coach Tom Tereschuk said. "We thought if we had the right opportunities to go with the right runners on base we were going to go. We had some situations where we had a good jump and were able to take a base. Fortunately it worked for us."

Kean got the tying run to first base twice in the bottom of the ninth but was unable to get any further as Semel struck out Moceri and got Laguna to ground to short to end the game.

In the end, it was a rare well-played, close game at a championships that has been marked by blowouts and errors.

"This was a great season," said Moceri, a senior who has played in all three of Kean's trips to Appleton. "All the injuries that we had, to get here again was great. It would've been good to win it, but getting here we accomplished a lot this weekend. A little luck here or there, a call here or there, we might be playing tomorrow."

"You have two of the very best programs in the nation playing against each other, on a day where both of us are licking our wounds," Ioverio said. "It makes for a different kind of matchup than other games. We have mutual respect on both sides."

Matt DeGrand and Justin McDowell combined on a four-hitter and Wooster guaranteed itself a spot in the championship game with a 3-0 win against St. Thomas on Sunday night. Photo gallery.

It was a great performance for a pitcher who hadn't started since April 23. DeGrand worked to rebuild his fastball after being dropped from the rotation, the pitcher said after the game.

Wooster remained undefeated at 3-0 in the championships and will play Chapman at 3:30 p.m. CDT on Monday, after St. Thomas and Carthage meet in an elimination game at noon CDT. Monday's schedule.

In earlier Sunday action, catcher Mike Hughes hit a shot to left-center field in the 11th inning to lift Carthage past Shenandoah 9-8 in an elimination game. Photo gallery.

Down 6-1 to Carthage after an inning and a half, and with its closer on the mound to start the game, Shenandoah nonetheless rallied to tie and send it to extra innings. The Hornets scored four in the fifth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth to knot the game at 8-8.

After Hughes' homer, Kevin Brashears led off the bottom of the 11th with a single for Shenandoah and was sacrificed over to second by Scott Lambert, then went to third on a Jesse Henry grounder. But cleanup hitter Greg Van Sickler flew out to center field to end the game.

In Sunday's first game, Chapman eliminated Kean 7-5, as John Semel went 3-for-5, stole two bases and struck out five in a three-inning save. Photo gallery.

Both starters were out of the game by the top of the sixth, as Kean's Joe Bartlinski was chased by Ryan Prechtl's two-run homer and Chapman pulled Matt Luzar after Michael Moceri's single gave Kean a 4-2 lead.

The Cougars' fifth-inning rally ended in controversial fashion, as third base umpire Carlos Guzman called Mike Diaz out for leaving third base early on a ball which second baseman Tyler Hadzinsky bobbled but caught. A runner is permitted to tag and leave the base the moment the ball is touched by the fielder's glove the first time. Chapman took the lead back in the top of the sixth on Prechtl's shot.

"My first reaction off the bat was I kind of froze but I definitely went back to tag," said Diaz, a junior shortstop. "I guess the umpire missed the call. It was definitely a tough call in a big spot."

By Pat Coleman
D3sports.com

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- Shenandoah starter Josh Simons walked two batters who were trying to sacrifice.

Center fielder Kevin Brashears chased down a ball in the gap, only to have the fly ball hit off his head.

First baseman Greg Van Sickler and pitcher Bryce Sears got their signals crossed, allowing Matt McQuillan to reach on an infield grounder. The next batter, Matt Olson, singled to score two and Roy Larson followed with a bomb to left field to score three.

"He was throwing in the low 90s. Unfortunately he couldn't get anything below the belt," said Shenandoah coach Kevin Anderson. "His curve ball was elevated and he had trouble in the zone. By far that was the worst start of his career. Unfortunately it was in the College World Series."

The list of things that went wrong for Shenandoah on Saturday night was long. St. Thomas scored in each of the first six innings to jump out to a 16-2 lead and went on to beat Shenandoah 16-5.

St. Thomas (38-12) advances to play Wooster on Sunday night in a meeting of the tournament's last two unbeaten teams. Shenandoah (38-9) moves to the losers' bracket and will play Carthage in an elimination game scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. CT.

Matt McQuillan went 4-for-6 with two doubles and two stolen bases, Larson went 4-for-6 with a homer and four RBI and Dan Leslie was 3-for-5 with two RBI for the Tommies.

"I put a little more effort into batting practice and worked with coach a little more," Larson said of his home run, which came on a hanging curve ball. "I saw the ball better tonight.

"I struck out on an offspeed pitch the time before. I was kind of looking for the offspeed pitch when I went up there and I got it."

"That was hard to overcome," said Anderson. "You could see the air just went out of the balloon right there."

Simons (5-1) lasted just two innings, walking four and giving up five hits, leaving with the bases loaded and none out in the third. Kyle Scallion gave up three runs in an inning and two-thirds of relief and Sears gave up five earned runs in two innings for the Hornets.

Bryce Gapinski (7-2) started and went five and a third innings for St. Thomas, allowing seven hits and walking four while allowing five runs.

"We pitched our No. 4 pitcher," said St. Thomas coach Dennis Denning. "We thought we'd have a chance, with three guys to go three innings apiece lined up for this game if we needed and he gave us (5-1/3)."

Eight of the nine starters got hits for Shenandoah, though nobody had more than two. Brashears tied the Division III season lead in runs when he scored in the third inning.

The Tommies committed no errors and turned three double plays, two of which wiped out Shenandoah scoring threats in the second and third inning. "In Division III especially, if you don't beat yourself, you're going to win a lot of ballgames," said Denning.