Boyertown, PA – Montclair State was cruising, eagerly anticipating a postgame celebration as the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regiona champion and one of eight teams playing in the Division III College World Series.
The Red Hawks were leading 12-3 and starting pitcher
SCOTT ALLAN had finally settled into a grove. However, all was not finished in Bear Stadium in face, it was just getting started.
The Red Hawks (35-9) eventually held on to defeat Gwynedd-Mercy, 15-13 to earn a return trip to the College World Series in Grand Chute, WI where one year ago they were crowned national champs.
"They're a good team, they just don't give up," said Montclair State senior second baseman
DAVE WURST. "You've got to give them credit. They're a well-coached team that never gave up. It was interesting."
After holding the Griffins (33-16) scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings, Allan, whose last start came May 6 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship game, became shaky in the seventh and yielded three runs.
The score, now 12-8 after Gwynedd-Mercy's James Martin added a two-run homer in the eighth off MSU freshman Ric Hass, was getting too close for comfort. So the Red Hawks decided to wake up again and scored three important runs in the ninth.
The Griffins again fought back. They reached MSU closer Kevin Rakowski and
JIM WHALEN for five runs with only one out in the ninth.
With runners on first and second and the Griffins' dugout filled with electricity, Whalen gave Martin and intentional walk. Enter junior
RYAN COSTELLO, normally a starter, for his first save opportunity of the season.
Costello proved to be the right choice. Using his blazing fastball in the low 90s, he struck out Steve Troy and Anthony Siravo back-to-back, sealing MSU's berth in the College World Series, which begins Friday.
"To tell the truth, I wasn't anticipating it," Costello said. "He (head coach Norm Schoenig) told me to warm up after Jimmy went in. I didn't even put my spikes on. As soon as he started throwing and gave up the first hit, I ran back to the dugout to put them on."
Despite Costello's heroics, the story line of the weekend belonged to Wurst.
The team's co-captain and "blood and guts for four years," according to Schoenig woke up Wednesday morning with a horrific stomach virus and stayed home as a precautionary measure.
However, nothing was keeping Wurst from the park, even if it was across state lines. So early on Thursday morning, Wurst and his father packed their car and made the two-hour trip to Boyertown.
"I stayed home because I didn't want anyone else on the team to get sick," said Wurst. "I got here Thursday morning and just gave it a whirl. Fortunately, I got here and felt all right."
Wurst even arrived at the park 15 minutes before his teammates, took batting practice and decided he was primed to play.
He was right.
The senior, who will play in his third World Series, matched his season total with three home runs over the four-day event, including a three-run blast off the scoreboard in Sunday's championship round. Wurst was named the regional's Most Valuable Player.
"I've just been trying to hit the ball hard, if it goes over, it goes over," said Wurst, who hit .471 (8-of-19) with nine RBI, nine runs scored, a double and a triple in the regional. "I'm just trying to find grass and let the big guys drive me in."
MSU's so-called 'big guys' did come through. The Red Hawks combined to hit .375 with five home runs and scored 37 runs en route to four straight victories.
