The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- June 7, 1999

Cal State Chico weathers storm to reign over Kennesaw State

After waiting through a 2 1/2-hour rain delay, Cal State Chico flooded Kennesaw State with eight runs over two innings to win its second Division II Baseball Championship May 29 in Montgomery, Alabama.

Kennesaw State jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but Cal State Chico scored the next 11 runs to claim an 11-5 victory. Jason Cly pitched five innings for the Wildcats to earn the win. Brian Grover pitched the final four innings for his ninth save of the season.

"This is a special group of young men," Cal State Chico coach Lindsay Meggs said. "We were fortunate to play our best baseball at the end of the year."

The Wildcats became the fifth straight team to win the Division II title without suffering a loss during the tournament. Cal State Chico finished with a 50-17 record overall.

Cal State Chico's balanced offensive attack was tough to stop in the tournament. In the championship game, six Wildcats had at least one run batted in, and eight players had at least one hit.

"Everyone on this team contributed, and it's been that way all season," Meggs said.

In the decisive fifth and sixth innings, the Wildcats showed no ill effects from the long rain delay. With two outs and the bases loaded, Casey Glynn delivered a timely double, scoring two runs. Carlos Fletes followed with another double, scoring two more runs and giving Cal State Chico a 7-4 lead.

The sixth inning was more of the same. With two men on, Luis Sanchez doubled, scoring one run. With two outs, Sanchez scored on a passed ball. One batter later, Shanin Veronie took Kennesaw State's Greg Perry deep for a two-run homer, making the score 11-4. The lead was too much for the Owls to overcome.

"We had some clutch hits with two outs and that makes a big difference," Meggs said. "This might have been a one- or two-run game without those hits."

Cal State Chico, which also won the championship in 1997, landed three players on the all-tournament team, including Sanchez, outfielder Doug Thomas and pitcher John-Eric Hernandez. Hernandez, who won both his starts for the Wildcats, was named the tournament's most outstanding player.

Cal State Chico limited opponents to 3.5 runs per game in the tournament while scoring nearly 10 runs per contest.

"They are as deep a team as we've faced," Kennesaw State coach Mike Sansing said. "They don't have any weaknesses."

Game No. 1

Ashland -- 011 -- 100 -- 156 -- 15 -- 18 -- 2

Adelphi -- 130 -- 080 -- 60x -- 18 -- 16 -- 0

Jamie Detillion, Mark Smithberger (4), Brandon Oswalt (7); Jeff Tyler, Mike Nazimek (8), Mike Zarzicki (8), Guy Napolitano (9), Craig Smith (9). W -- Tyler. L -- Detillion. HR -- Jason Boland (Ashland), Brian Guzik (Ashland), Michael Rayola (Adelphi), Chris Cafiero (Adelphi).

Game No. 2

Cal St. Chico -- 005 -- 000 -- 050 -- 10 -- 11 -- 2

Rockhurst -- 001 -- 003 -- 000 -- 4 -- 8 -- 1

John-Eric Hernandez, Brian Grover (7); Jonathan Krysa, Jason Forge (8). W -- Hernandez. L -- Krysa. HR -- Shanin Veronie (Cal St. Chico).

Game No. 3

North Ala. -- 010 -- 022 -- 163 -- 15 -- 21 -- 1

West Virginia St. -- 030 -- 200 -- 004 -- 9 -- 12 -- 6

Wally Whidby, Danny Martinez (5), Matt Greenwood (9); Frank Cummings, Shannon Cabell (6), Brad Maynard (8), Josh Ramsey (9). W -- Martinez. L -- Cabell. HR -- Josh Willingham (North Ala.), Christian Gallegos (North Ala.), Justin Graham (West Virginia St.).

Game No. 4

Carson-Newman -- 201 -- 200 -- 000 -- 5 -- 9 -- 2

Kennesaw St. -- 110 -- 200 -- 011 -- 6 -- 10 -- 2

Ben Deaton, John Butler (8); Anthony Marini, Greg Perry (4), Chris Bowen (9). W -- Bowen. L -- Butler. HR -- Willie Harris 2 (Kennesaw St.).

Game No. 5

Rockhurst -- 000 -- 259 -- 101 -- 18 -- 19 -- 1

Ashland -- 022 -- 001 -- 013 -- 9 -- 13 -- 5

Brett Vilott, David Brooks (3), Jason Taylor (8), Jeff Jessen (9); Drew Niederst, Brandon Oswalt (6), Adam Hermsdorfer (6), Jason Boland (7). W -- Brooks. L -- Niederst. HR -- Tim Dougherty (Rockhurst), Mike Simpson (Rockhurst), Matt Roseberry (Ashland), Jamie Detillion (Ashland), Brian Guzik (Ashland).

Game No. 6

Adelphi -- 000 -- 000 -- 201 -- 3 -- 11 -- 2

Cal St. Chico -- 420 -- 014 -- 00x -- 11 -- 11 -- 2

Craig Smith, Sean Durnin (5), Bryan Rose (6), Mike Tullo (8); Jason Cly, Jared Josephson (8). W -- Cly. L -- Smith. HR -- Doug Thomas (Cal St. Chico), Luis Sanchez (Cal St. Chico).

Game No. 7

West Virginia St. -- 110 -- 232 -- 311 -- 14 -- 22 -- 1

Carson-Newman -- 210 -- 000 -- 100 -- 4 -- 11 -- 2

Trevor Sansom; Jeremy Robinson, Adam Cogdill (6), Jim Dutrow (6), Joel Brown (7), Kirk Lewis (9), John Harrison (9), Dan Salsbury (9). W -- Sansom. L -- Robinson. HR -- Keith Fout (West Virginia St.).

Game No. 8

Kennesaw St. -- 010 -- 001 -- 503 -- 10 -- 12 -- 1

North Ala. -- 000 -- 102 -- 000 -- 3 -- 9 -- 3

Dusty Keppen; Cliff Lord, Landon Reed (7), Ryan Heindl (9). W -- Keppen. L -- Lord. HR -- Jason Jones (Kennesaw St.), Bo Counts (Kennesaw St.).

Game No. 9

Adelphi -- 100 -- 021 -- 122 -- 9 -- 12 -- 3

West Virginia St. -- 443 -- 000 -- 10x -- 12 -- 11 -- 1

Herminio Torres, Guy Napolitano (2); Jason Taylor, Josh Ramsey (7), Chris Chambers (8). W -- Taylor. L -- Torres. HR -- Greg Raynes (Adelphi), Brian Pierce (Adelphi).

Game No. 10

North Ala. -- 010 -- 000 -- 002 -- 3 -- 8 -- 1

Rockhurst -- 010 -- 000 -- 30x -- 4 -- 11 -- 3

Alan Grijalva, Robbie Hutto (7), Landon Reed (7), Matt Greenwood (8); Jonathan Krysa. W -- Krysa. L -- Grijalva. HR -- Joey Gillikin (North Ala.).

Game No. 11

West Virginia St. -- 000 -- 030 -- 000 -- 3 -- 8 -- 2

Kennesaw St. -- 000 -- 000 -- 000 -- 0 -- 5 -- 0

Frank Cummings, Chris Chambers (9); Lee Rodney, Greg Perry (9). W -- Cummings. L -- Perry.

Game No. 12

Rockhurst -- 000 -- 100 -- 010 -- 2 -- 6 -- 3

Cal St. Chico -- 010 -- 102 -- 12x -- 7 -- 12 -- 0

Brett Vilott, Jason Forge (7); John-Eric Hernandez, Brian Grover (9). W -- Hernandez. L -- Vilott. HR -- Tim Dougherty (Rockhurst), Bruce Nelson (Rockhurst).

Game No. 13

Kennesaw St. -- 000 -- 002 -- 200 -- 4 -- 4 -- 0

West Virginia St. -- 000 -- 100 -- 000 -- 1 -- 5 -- 3

Chris Bowen; Shannon Cabell, Josh Ramsey (6), Trevor Sansom (7). W -- Bowen. L -- Cabell. HR -- Wil Sowers (West Virginia St.).

Championship game

Kennesaw St. -- AB -- R -- H -- RBI

Willie Harris, 2b -- 5 -- 1 -- 2 -- 1

Josh Pellior, lf -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 1

Jason Jones, cf -- 4 -- 1 -- 2 -- 0

Bo Counts, 1b -- 4 -- 1 -- 2 -- 1

Trey Johnson, dh -- 4 -- 0 -- 1 -- 1

Eric Phillips, rf -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Jeff Hewatt, 3b -- 2 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Shannon Radford, ss -- 2 -- 1 -- 1 -- 0

Jason Barkwell, c -- 4 -- 1 -- 2 -- 0

Keith Hunter, ss/3b -- 3 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0

Donny Robertson, ph -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 1

Dusty Keppen, p -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Greg Perry, p -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Anthony Marini, p -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Totals -- 34 -- 5 -- 11 -- 5

Cal St. Chico -- AB -- R -- H -- RBI

Bao-Nhan Vinh, lf -- 5 -- 1 -- 2 -- 2

Doug Thomas, cf -- 4 -- 2 -- 2 -- 0

Luke Neel, rf -- 5 -- 1 -- 2 -- 0

Luis Sanchez, 1b -- 4 -- 1 -- 1 -- 1

Rob Rehfeld, dh -- 2 -- 2 -- 1 -- 1

Mike Hartman, ph -- 1 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Shanin Veronie, 3b -- 5 -- 1 -- 2 -- 2

Casey Glynn, c -- 3 -- 2 -- 2 -- 2

Carlos Fletes, ss -- 4 -- 1 -- 2 -- 2

George Pena, 2b -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Jason Cly, p -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Brian Grover, p -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Totals -- 36 -- 11 -- 14 -- 10

Kennesaw St. -- 300 -- 000 -- 002 -- 5 -- 11 -- 2

Cal St. Chico -- 120 -- 044 -- 00x -- 11 -- 14 -- 0

E -- Pellior, Hewatt. DP -- Cal St. Chico 1. LOB -- Kennesaw St. 7, Cal St. Chico 7. 2B -- Jones, Barkwell, Sanchez, Glynn, Fletes. HR -- Harris, Veronie. SB -- Rehfeld. CS -- Pellior. SH -- Pena. SF -- Pellior, Robertson.

Kennesaw St. -- IP -- H -- R -- ER -- BB -- SO

Dusty Keppen -- 4.0 -- 8 -- 5 -- 5 -- 0 -- 2

Greg Perry -- 1.2 -- 6 -- 6 -- 6 -- 2 -- 2

Anthony Marini -- 2.1 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 1 -- 3

Cal St. Chico -- IP -- H -- R -- ER -- BB -- SO

Jason Cly -- 5.0 -- 5 -- 3 -- 3 -- 2 -- 3

Brian Grover -- 4.0 -- 6 -- 2 -- 2 -- 1 -- 3

W -- Cly. L -- Keppen. S -- Grover. WP -- Cly 2. PB -- Barkwell. T -- 2:58. A -- 2,503.