Little Falls, NJ – Normally, the action on the field is enough to keep everyone's attention glued when William Paterson plays rival Montclair State in baseball. But for Montclair State, the more important event that will impact its postseason takes place in a doctor's office on Tuesday.
That's when standout shortstop
BRIAN ELLERSON will receive a third opinion on his injured right knee, which may or may not require surgery after the season. Ellerson, the player of the year in both the New Jersey Athletic Conference and the Mid-Atlantic region last year, sat out the NJAC doubleheader yesterday at Yogi Berra Stadium.
Montclair State, ranked No. 6 in Division 3 and the 2000 national champion, could afford to rest Ellerson since it clinched the top seed for the NJAC Tournament on Friday. And he was barely missed after Montclair sent left-handers
RYAN COSTELLO and
COREY HAMMAN to the mound.
In the first game, the 6-6 Costello (3-0) pitched a five hitter through eight innings and Kevin Rakowski threw the ninth to complete the 6-0 shutout. Not to be outdone, Hamman (7-5) pitched a five-hitter, striking out 0 in a 3-2 victory that was completed in just 2:20 for the sweep.
Montclair State (27-8, 17-1), winner of 13 in a row, has put William Paterson (18-9-1, 9-6-1 NJAC) on the brink of elimination. Williams Paterson, which plays Stockton at home today in a doubleheader and needs to win both games to guarantee a spot in the conference playoffs.
Costello took a two-hitter and 2-0 lead into the seventh when William Paterson's Brian Storms led off with a high pop that looked like an easy chance. But the wind carried it back toward the mound where it landed near the foot of Costello for a base hit.
"I looked up in the air and probably saw it at the top of its height and I lost it," Costello said. "I through the wind was carrying it way out toward third and it fell and almost hit me in the foot."
That "hit" opened the door a crack for William Paterson, which loaded the bases on a one-out single by Ryan Stanek and a two-out walk to Jack Lipari. Costello went to a 3-1 count on Robin Roberts before inducing a grounder to second for the force that ended the threat.
Montclair then applied the clincher by scoring three times in the bottom of the seventh as
CRAIG CONWAY (three hits, two RBI) doubled for the third run and
SCOTT ALLAN (three hits, two RBI) was credited with an RBI double that was lost in the sun by right fielder Storms.
Ellerson, the junior from Bayonne who is batting .345 with four homers and 27 RBI, is optimistic he can play with a knee brace when the NJAC Tournament opens Friday at Yogi Berra.
"I'm going to try and play in the NJACs," said Ellerson, who hurt his knee running the bases on April 21. "I have no pain and I can do a lot of things that people who have torn ACLs can't do. So I don't know what to believe. Just a little soreness. If it's torn, I can't hurt it any worse. It feels pretty good. Hope for the best, that's all you can do."
