Former Plattsburgh State baseball player Brian Mehan, of Plattsburgh High School, has earned an Award of Valor from the State University of New York Athletic Conference. Mehan, who played for the Cardinals during the 2006 season, died March 2 after a courageous battle against germ cell testicular cancer. He was 20. Cardinals head coach Kris Doorey last night presented the award to Brian's parents, Diana Betts and John Mehan, at the SUNYAC meetings held in Saratoga Springs.

"When I look in the dictionary for the word 'valor', the definition states 'the quality of mind enabling one to face danger or hardship resolutely.'" Doorey said. "In my opinion, Brian Mehan fits that definition exactly. "Brian had so much fun smiling, laughing while playing baseball. He also enjoyed talking about baseball, music and movies."

The team honored his memory throughout the 2008 campaign by holding a moment of silence before every home game and hanging his No. 26 jersey in the dugout.

Brian was a highly recruited player coming out of the local area. During his freshman year in 2006, he backed up all-SUNYAC catcher Jon Dumas, batting .227 in 13 games and helping the Cardinals to a school-record 27 victories that season. "I was very excited when Brian told me he was committing to SUNY Plattsburgh," Doorey recalled. "The program landed the catcher of the future."

Brian started to develop symptoms in the off-season before entering the fall as the No. 1 catcher. "Coming into his sophomore season, Brian was penciled in to be our starting catcher. Early in the fall, he came to my office and told me that he wasn't feeling well,"remembered Doorey. "At the end of fall workouts, he came to my office again and let me know that he was not going to play the following spring season. I was shocked and in total disbelief." But Brian remained attach to the team during the 2007 season as he was seen around the field watching practices and games. There was no doubt in my mind that he missed baseball," according to Doorey.

Coach Doorey learned through a cell phone call that Brian was diagnosed with cancer on April 22, 2007, when the Cardinals were returning home after a SUNYAC road trip at Fredonia and Brockport. "I will remember that day for the rest of my life," Doorey said. "For the next four hours, I sat in the front seat of the bus crying. I was apologizing to God for all the times I yelled at Brian because I thought he was being lazy, or not hustling. It wasn't that at all: he was truly sick."

The team rallied around Brian by visiting him in the hospital, presenting him with his jersey and his name on the back. Brian was excited, and told his teammates that he would be listening to an Internet broadcast of our SUNYAC Tournament games that weekend," Doorey said. "He also told me to try not to get ejected.

"We lost the opening game on a dropped fly ball. That was maybe the toughest loss I've ever had as a coach. But, it didn't seem that bad when it was put into perspective. It was a baseball game. One of my players was dying. As much as I love baseball, it didn't seem as important on that day," he wrote in his nomination letter to the SUNYAC office.

After treatment and passing of screen tests, Brian's cancer appeared to be in remission last summer so doctors cleared him to play in July 2007. He resumed taking classes for fall semester that started in late August, and he rejoined the Plattsburgh State baseball team. "There was a light in his eyes. It was inspirational to everyone around the program," Doorey said. "Everyday, Brian would stop by the baseball office to see how the coaches were doing and we would ask everyday how he was doing. But then one day, "Brian came to the office without his usual smile and I knew immediately that something was wrong." His cancer had spread. Doctors said he couldn't play baseball any more. Brian resumed treatment sessions in September and the family as well as team members started fundraising efforts to help offset his medical bills.

Brian continued his fight against the disease for the next several months. Last February, Coach Doorey visited him at his mother's home. "We talked about a lot of things. (But) I could tell he was in such pain," the coach said. "When I left, his mother came to me and told me that Brian said, 'Today was a good day because Coach Doorey came to visit me.'"

Later that month, the doctors explored performing a stem cell transplant. But when Brian went through his battery of tests, the doctors determined that the cancer had spread and that his liver and kidney functions were starting to slow down. The medical team told Brian's family he had 7-10 days to live. "Brian was transported back to Plattsburgh where he fought for exactly 10 more days before moving on to Heaven," Doorey said.

Brian is the first Cardinal student-athlete to receive a SUNYAC Award of Valor since 2006 when softball All-America pitcher Stephanie Zweig was honored for overcoming Erb's Palsy, a brachial plexus nerve injury that left her without full use of her right arm.v

McMurry third baseman Derek David and Christopher Newport ace Kenny Moreland have been named the D3baseball.com Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year for 2008.

The pair headline the second annual D3baseball.com All-American team, announced Tuesday afternoon.

Moreland, who compiled a perfect 13-0 record with a 1.97 earned run average, led the Captains to a 29-14 record, including the USA South tournament championship and automatic bid. The conference pitcher of the year struck out 116 batters while only walking 16 in 109.2 innings pitched. He allowed 77 hits while holding opponents to a .198 batting average.

David homered in seven consecutive games from March 25-April 5 to set the NCAA Division III record on his way to a season in which he totaled 175 bases, slugged .879 and had an on-base percentage of .506. He hit .432, scored 79 runs, hit 26 homers and drove in 73 runs.

David is joined on the first team by Susquehanna catcher Chris Price, Carthage first baseman Jason Acevado, Messiah second baseman Craig Mease, Wheaton (Ill.) shortstop Brian Kolb, Thiel DH Chris Dunham and outfielders Brian Moran of Grove City and Rob Pietroforte and Brian Youchak of Johns Hopkins. Ithaca's Shane Wolf is the utility player, with Chapman's Wayde Kitchens, Steve Matre of Mt. St. Joseph and Tim Kiely of Trinity (Conn.) on the pitching staff.

The All-American team consists of three teams plus honorable mention and was voted on by D3baseball.com staff, contributors and SIDs from more than 550 nominations.

In just four days, eight teams will set foot on the field at Fox Cities stadium to contest for the 2008 NCAA Division III baseball Championship.

Over five days, up to 15 games will be played ending with the presentation of a Walnut and Bronze trophy to the 2008 national champion. This week on D3baseball.com, we will give you our thoughts on the upcoming tournament and unveil the 2008 D3baseball.com All-American team. When the games start, all the action will be covered by our staff here at D3baseball.com.

Coverage from Day 5 , Day 4 , Day 3 , Day 2 and Day 1 of the 2008 regional playoffs.

At the beginning of the season D3baseball.com takes out its crystal ball and we were able to see Cortland State, Chapman, Johns Hopkins and Kean making the final double elimination tournament of the year. UW-Whitewater was our cinderella pick for the Midwest region and we did not see Linfield, Adrian and the story of the year in Trinity (Conn.) making the trip to Appleton, Wis. First round match-ups for Friday May 23 are as follows (all times CDT):

Game 1 (10:00 am): No. 1 Chapman vs. No. 6 Kean
Game 2 (1:15 pm): Adrian vs. No. 5 John Hopkins
Game 3 (4:30 pm): No 11. UW-Whitwater vs. Linfield
Game 4 (7:45 pm): No. 2 Cortland State vs. No 3. Trinity (Conn.)

All four games have intriguing match-ups. Game one features the topped ranked team since week one against the defending national champions and the number one team in 2007. Game two features the upstart Adrian Bulldogs who are not only making their first trip to the championship round, but the first team from the MIAA to compete in the final round. They play Johns Hopkins, a frequent playoff team that have not been made it past the regional round since 1989.

Game three features the regional favorite in UW-Whitewater pitted against Scott Brosius' Linfield Wildcats. The marquee matchup is the final game of the day. Cortland State handed Trinity its last loss when it knocked the Bantams out of the NCAA Regionals by a score of 10-6. The Red Dragon's school-record 38-game winning streak is just three games shorter than Trinity's 41 game streak.

In the last 15 years, only 17 teams have finished the season with five or few losses and three of those teams are in Appleton over the Memorial Day weekend. Before this year, five of 13 teams got their final two losses in the National Championship series, with only UW-Oshkosh (1994) and William Paterson (1996) capturing the national title.

Teams with five or fewer losses since 1994

2008: Trinity (Conn.)* (41-0); Cortland State (41-3)*, Chapman (39-3)*, Salisbury (41-4)
2007: Texas-Tyler (37-1); Keystone (34-5)
2004: Johns Hopkins (40-4)
2002: Dallas (33-3)
1999: UW-Oshkosh (34-4)
1998: Cortland State* (40-5), Wisconsin-Oshkosh* (41-5)
1996: William Paterson# (39-5-1); Rensselaer* (29-5); St. Thomas (Minn) (38-5)
1995: UW-Oshkosh* (39-5)
1994: UW-Oshkosh# (41-4); NC Wesleyan* (41-3)

* Participated in that year's D-III Championship Series (10 teams)
# Won the national Championship (2 teams to date)
Note: Both Texas-Tyler and Keystone were on their final year of provisional status in 2007 and were not eligible for the playoffs.

Adrian held off Heidelberg, Johns Hopkins jumped on Salisbury early and Linfield won in walk-off fashion to qualify for the championships round in Appleton, Wis., on Saturday. They joined Cortland State, Chapman and UW-Whitewater in the field.

After Kevin Mills was hit by a pitch, Rhett Fenton punched the ball through the infield with two out in the bottom of the 10th, scoring Shannon Chung to give the Wildcats the 4-3 victory against Webster. Fenton hit two home runs in Linfield's earlier game, where the Wildcats eliminated Augustana by a score of 10-1.

Playoffs: Saturday's scoreboard | Sunday's schedule | Newark broadcast | Your take

Adrian scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to rally from a 7-5 deficit and win the Terre Haute Regional by an 8-7 margin over Heidelberg. Earlier, Heidelberg forced the if-needed game with a 8-2 victory over Adrian. In the game, Heidelberg rallied from a 2-1 deficit with four runs in the seventh, two in the eighth and one in the ninth.

In Auburn, Cortland State finally reached RPI starter Joe Zongol in the ninth inning, scoring four runs to extend a 2-1 lead to 6-1 and eventually win 6-2. Zongol, starting on one day's rest, kept the Red Hawks in the game with a stellar first eight innings. Cortland advances to Appleton for the second consecutive year.

Johns Hopkins scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back in defeating Salisbury, 9-4, to capture the Danville Regional Baseball Championship. The big inning for the Blue Jays started when Dan Merzel reached on an error, then Brian Youchak ripped a triple down the left field line to score Merzel. In the early game, Jon Solomon's two-out double scored Jonas Fester from first and lifted Johns Hopkins past Lynchburg, 7-5.

Adrian piles on in celebration of the Bulldogs' and MIAA's first trip to the championships.
RHIT photo by Michael Lanke

UW-Whitewater pummeled the scoreboard with multiple runs in seven of eight innings to defeat St. Scholastica, 21-13, in the championship game of the Oshkosh Regional. UW-Whitewater tallied 21-plus runs for the second time in three regional games.

Matt Luzar pitched a complete game as Chapman was the first team to claim a ticket to Appleton. Chapman defeated Trinity (Texas) 4-3. The Panthers will face the winner of the Newark Regional, which may not be determined until Monday because of weather. In Newark, Keystone eliminated Messiah, then Rowan eliminated Keystone leaving three NJAC teams to vie for the championship. As TCNJ, Rowan and Kean battle it out, we'll have all the action with live audio on D3sports.com.

And in Harwich, Southern Maine survived while Trinity (Conn.) had the day off. The Huskies eliminated Western New England and Wheaton (Mass.) on Saturday. The Bantams have yet to lose once this season but would have to lose twice Sunday to miss a trip to Appleton.

Scroll down or click for Day 3 , Day 2 and Day 1 coverage.

Senior catcher Dale Curry scored on the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth and when the throw to the plate caromed out of play, sophomore outfielder Steve DeBarberie followed with the game-winning run as top-seeded Alvernia earned its second Eastern College Athletic Conference South Region Baseball Championship Title with a 6-5 win over Delaware Valley Saturday afternoon at Alvernia.

Earlier in the month Oswego State won the 2008 ECAC Upstate Championship with a 12-9 victory over Brockport State, their first since 1995. Tom Benedetto was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament as he batted .389 over the course of four weekend games and had six RBIs to tie for the tourney lead in that category.

But the lasting moment of that tournament will be how Oswego rallied without its coach, Frank Paino. In the play-in game against St. John Fisher, Paino, coaching third base, was struck in the side of the head by a foul liner and had to be hospitalized. Trailing 9-5 in the ninth inning, St. John Fisher conceded the game.

ESPN.com's Wayne Drehs details how reserve sophomore outfielder Brian Stark coached the team to the tournament win.

Every year since the NCAA started awarding automatic bids to conference winners, a team made their first appearance in the Championship round. This year at least two teams will be making their first trip. In the Terre Haute Regional, Heidelberg will need two wins against Adrian to advance and in the Rock Island Regional, Webster will play the Augustana/Linfield winner. Neither of these five teams have made the Championship round and a slot is open for just two. These are just two regionals slated to end on Saturday.

Playoffs: Saturday's scoreboard | 2008 bracket |
2008 Playoff Preview | More discussion

In the Danville Regional, Salisbury will play the winner of the Johns Hopkins/Lynchburg game. In the Abilene Regional Chapman will play Trinity (Texas) to see who will advance. Trinity (Texas) beat Cal State East Bay 9-6 in what might be Cal State East Bay's last D-III contest to advance. The Oshkosh Regional will feature UW-Whitewater against St. Scholastica. If both Lynchburg and St. Scholastica win it will be four rookies in the Championship round.

Cortland State can wrap up another appearance in the championship round if they win their game on Saturday. If they lose, they will play Sunday to finish off the Auburn Regional. The Harwich and Newark Regional have the Championship game scheduled on Sunday or Monday.

Scroll down or click for Day 3 , Day 2 and Day 1 coverage.

With their 40th straight win, the Trinity Bantams tied Marietta for the longest win streak in D-III history. Trinity sent Wheaton into the losers bracket with a 6-2 win at the Harwich Regional. Trinity will have to wait until Sunday for a chance to break the record. The Bantams advanced into the championship game which is scheduled for Sunday against an opponent to be determined.

Playoffs: Friday's scoreboard | 2008 bracket |
2008 Playoff Preview | More discussion

Adrian advanced to the championship game of the Terre Haute Regional with a 4-1 victory over Heidelberg. Ryan Domschott emerged as the hero for the victors with seven strong innings of work out of the bullpen. Domschott entered with two runners on base in the second inning and tossed the next seven frames, allowing just one run and three hits. Adrian will play Heidelberg again, needing only one win in two games to advance to Appleton.

The top-seeded Cortland Red Dragons beat RPI 9-5 in the Auburn Regional for their 37th win in a row. The Red Dragons advance Saturday’s championship round and will play either RPI or Eastern Connecticut. In the game with RPI, Khyle Dimino singled in the winning run to highlight a four-run Red Dragon eighth inning that broke a 5-5 tie and sent Cortland to the win. In earlier action, Ed Kloepping led off the top of the ninth with a triple and scored the winning run a batter later on Steve Piscitello’s sacrifice fly as Montclair State eliminated Ithaca 7-6. Eastern Connecticut eliminated Ohio Wesleyan and Montclair State up a Warriors/Red Hawks matchup.

UW-Whitewater defeated St. Thomas 4-1 to advance to the Oshkosh Regional championship game. Jordan Stine led off the top of the tenth with a base hit to center field to get things going for UW-Whitewater. Relief pitcher Dan Leslie then struck Joe Munn with an errant pitch to put runners on first and second. After a botched sacrifice, a Mike Kenseth single followed to score Munn and a lead they would not relinquish.

Webster defeated Augustana 14-13 and advances to the Championship game. The Gorloks will play the winner of Augustana and Linfield in the early game on Saturday.

Chapman had its largest offensive output in this year's playoffs and needed every bit of it to earn a 10-9 victory over Trinity (Texas). The Panthers scored 10 runs on 15 hits and led 10-7 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Trinity had the tying and winning runs on base before Kurt Yacko fielded a comebacker for the final out of the game.

Salisbury defeated Christopher Newport 5-1 in Danville, then came back in the night cap and beat Lynchburg 5-2. The Sea Gulls scored five in the bottom of the eighth to advance to the championship game. Salisbury will play either Johns Hopkins or Lynchburg for the right to represent the South region.

Rain has settled in Newark pushing today's games to Saturday. The Keystone-Messiah game will start at 10 a.m. as they attempt to play four games on Saturday and finish the rest on Sunday.

Harwich also got rained on, pushing Southern Maine and Western New England into Saturday afternoon. Earlier, Southern Maine's Tim Therrian pitched his first collegiate shutout blanking Keene State 8-0 in an elimination game. Earlier Bryan Calzone pitched the first nine-inning complete game of his career as Western New England eliminated Worcester State 8-3.

Scroll down or click for Day 2 and Day 1 coverage.