The baseball team, who has been No. 1 in the standings since day one, must now hold their breath to see if they will earn the third and final playoff spot in the league. Going into Friday, the Golden Rams held the number one spot by half a game over Millersville University. After splitting the day with Kutztown, and Millersville sweeping East Stroudsburg, West Chester fell to second in the division.
West Chester took the first of the two games with no problem, thanks to the outstanding pitching of Chris Prowl. His complete game, one hit shutout was the twentieth career victory for the senior, in front of the Senior Day crowd. Kutztown’s only hit came in the fifth inning, a double, but the Golden Bears couldn’t capitalize.
The first run for the Rams came in the fourth inning from Matt Cotellesse. After a single, he was able to move his way around the bases, and eventually scored on a double steal, beating the throw home from the shortstop. He then tripled in the sixth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly to give West Chester a little insurance.
The second game of the double header handed senior Jason Bowman his first loss of the season, as the Rams fell 13-3. The first inning proved to be a wild one, as seven runners crossed the plate. Kutztown plated four, but West Chester came back with three, thanks to a homerun from Cotellesse, his league leading tenth of the season, and Drew Pare.
Unfortunately, these were the only three runs that the Rams would score in the contest.
Saturday was very big for West Chester, as the race for the end of season playoffs was tight at the top. The Kutztown Golden Bears, who are out of contention for the post season, took both games that day, leaving West Chester at third place in the standings, only one half of a game ahead of Mansfield.
The first game saw the Rams at a 6-0 deficit after the second inning, leading to an 8-2 final score in a game in which West Chester only had four hits. The second was a bit closer, with the game tying runs on base in the final inning, but were unable to come all the way back, finding themselves on the losing end for the third game in a row.
West Chester had an amazing start to the season, winning their first sixteen games in a row. These were all non-league games. They continued their success into the next month, but have fallen short lately, earning seven of their 12 losses in the past two weeks. This slide has lowered them from a sure lock for the playoffs to praying for a miracle come Sunday afternoon.
Sunday, Bloomsburg took on the Mansfield Mountaineers, deciding the third and final playoff spot. Should Mansfield take both games of the doubleheader, they will move ahead of the Golden Rams and West Chester will end their season half a game out the playoffs. But, should Bloomsburg sweep the day, West Chester will hold on to third place, and continue on into the postseason.
The last scenario, if the two teams split the double header, then West Chester and Mansfield will be tied for third. In this case, the Rams would be ahead in the rankings, since the record against number one Millersville determines the tiebreaker. West Chester is undefeated at 4-0 vs. Millersville this season. So West Chester needs Bloomsburg to take one game of Sunday’s doubleheader to make the playoffs.
If the Rams do manage to make it into the PSAC tournament, the first game could be played Wednesday night, at Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster. This will be their first step on their way to the College World Series.
**The concluding games in the PSAC were not available at the time of publication.
Ryan Frisco is a first-year student majoring in communication studies. He can be reached at RF648257@wcupa.edu.