Top Ten of 2012-13 - #1 - Baseball Wins Landmark Conference Championship
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College concludes its countdown of the top 10 honors and moments of the 2012-13 season today with a look at our top highlight – baseball winning the 2013 Landmark Conference Championship.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College concludes its countdown of the top 10 honors and moments of the 2012-13 season today with a look at our top highlight – baseball winning the 2013 Landmark Conference Championship.
For the Greyhound baseball program, the Landmark title was its second conference championship in four seasons earning the squad its second appearance in the NCAA Division III National Championships. The team posted a 24-19 record this spring, the fifth straight 20-win season for the Greyhounds, and Moravian was 10-8 in the Landmark regular season.
Before the season began, the Greyhounds were selected fourth in the Landmark Preseason Coaches' Poll after graduating a large senior class in 2012 that had won a school-record 106 games during their collective careers.
"I felt that we could win the conference title before we started the first day in the fall," explained seventh-year Head Coach Paul Engelhardt. "I knew the talent we brought in was extremely good, and the kids who returned were very good. During the season, we felt that if we could overcome some of the mistakes we kept making as a young team, we would be tough to beat. We proved that against some of the best teams in the country, so we knew we had it in us. We just needed to get more consistent. Toward the end of the season, we were playing our most consistent baseball, and were doing a lot of the right things."
Moravian opened the season at the Ty Cobb Classic hosted by Hampden-Sydney (Va.) College by splitting a pair of games. The Greyhounds then dropped a decision to nationally ranked Kean University, which ended the season in the NCAA Division III World Series, and Moravian also lost its first game at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., to fall to 1-3.
The Greyhounds posted an extra-innings win over John Carroll University on the second day in Florida before a 15-8 victory over eighth-ranked Adrian (Mich.) University showed the Greyhounds they could play with the top teams in the country. Moravian finished the trip to Florida with a 3-1 mark in their final four games, and the squad headed north with a 6-4 record.
"With so many underclassmen on our team this year, there were a lot of questions heading into the season," stated junior outfielder and co-captain Joseph Connell. "Coach Engelhardt told us from day one we had the talent to play with anyone in the country, and we proved that early on with a dominating win over No. 8 Adrian in Florida."
Moravian's first game in Pennsylvania for the spring was a tough 6-5, 10-inning loss at rival Muhlenberg, but the Greyhounds bounced back that weekend to open the Landmark regular season by winning two of three games at the Catholic University of America.
The Greyhounds' home-opening series with Juniata College saw the squad win another two games, but the opening game in the series was a 7-6, 11-inning loss, Moravian's fourth extra-inning game to that point of the season. The Greyhounds closed out March with a Landmark series at Susquehanna University that saw Moravian drop two of three games and head to the final month of the regular season at 11-9.
Moravian began April with a win over Keuka College before a loss to nationally ranked Haverford College and dropping two of three games to The United States Merchant Marine Academy saw the Greyhounds record dip close to .500 at 13-12.
The Greyhounds won four of their next five games, including two of three in a Landmark series with The University of Scranton, before the team's bye week in the conference schedule. Coach Engelhardt had the Greyhounds step up the non-conference competition during that week with close losses to three teams, Misericordia University, Alvernia University and Neumann University, which all reached the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Moravian also defeated Muhlenberg at Gillespie Field during the week.
Moravian closed out the Landmark regular season with a three-game series at Drew University. The Greyhounds dropped the opener by a run before winning the next two, including another one in extra innings, to clinch the third seed in the Landmark Tournament. Moravian defeated DeSales University to end the regular season with a three-game winning streak.
The Greyhounds were hot at the right time for the Landmark Tournament hosted by Catholic. Moravian defeated second-seed USMMA, 9-4, in the opening round, before defeating fourth-seed Scranton, 8-1, in the winner's bracket game. Playing in the championship round for the third time in four years, Moravian defeated Scranton again, 8-5, to clinch the conference title and extend its winning streak to a season-long six games.
"The conference tournament weekend was one we will all remember for the rest of our lives," Connell stated. "We seemed to roll through all our three games with ease because of the high level of baseball coach had us playing at that point in the season. We were clicking in all aspects of the game that weekend. It was a great feeling to win our conference championship. Celebrating with the team and our supportive parents was awesome."
Moravian ended up traveling to Auburn, N.Y. for the NCAA Regionals hosted by Ithaca College. The Greyhounds were the eighth seed in the tournament and played Ithaca, the top seed and ranked seventh in the nation, in the opening round. Moravian had a 2-1 lead over the Bombers, who eventually played in the national championship game, through six and a half innings before Ithaca pulled away for an 11-2 lead. The Greyhounds saw their season end the next day in a 5-3 loss to Neumann.
"Our highlight of the season had to be winning the Landmark Championship," said Engelhardt. "With the championship, we were able to compete again in the NCAA Tournament. But conference championships still remain the top prize."
The season was full of outstanding performances and awards. Sophomore outfielder Matt Hanson was named to the Landmark All-Conference First Team while junior pitcher Robert Solano and sophomore third baseman Ryan Luke earned spots on the All-Conference Second Team. Freshman first baseman Charles Savite was honored as the Landmark Rookie of the Year. Connell and Hanson both earned spots on the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-Mid-Atlantic Region Third Team.
"It was truly a team effort, and the culmination of a very young team coming together, and playing for that moment," Engelhardt said. "They could have very easily convinced themselves they had more time, another year or two, etc. They didn't do that. They competed for the moment and the 2013 season."
The Greyhounds graduated just one senior off of the Landmark-winning squad and are slated to have their entire starting lineup and 31 letterwinners back in 2014 to defend the conference championship.
"Finally, in the final third of the season, we turned our level of play up to another level and proved we could win a championship and play with any team in the country," Connell finished. "With so many underclassmen in our lineup and pitching staff this year, Moravian baseball has a very bright future in the next few years."
No. 10 - Donnie Noble Sweeps Landmark Conference Track
Athlete of the Year Awards
No. 9 - Women's Volleyball Wins School Record 29 Matches
No. 8 - Women's Basketball Wins Play 4Kay for 5th Straight Year
with over $16,000 Raised
No. 7 - Micah Leonard Sweeps Landmark Conference Field Athlete of
the Year Honors
No. 6 - Women's Track & Field Team Wins 2 More Landmark
Conference Titles
No. 5 - Dillon Farrell Wins Landmark Conference Men's Cross Country
Championship
No. 4 - Men's Cross Country and Track & Field Teams Sweep
Landmark Conference Team Titles for 2nd Straight Year
No. 3 - Travis King & Micah Leonard Honored as Greyhound Senior
Athlete Award Winners
No. 2 - Micah Leonard Finishes as Runner-Up in Triple Jump at NCAA
DIII National Championships
No. 1 - Baseball Wins Landmark Conference Championship
