NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament Central
MSBN Blog: "Six Players to Watch"

Millersville, Pa. - The 2011 NCAA Atlantic Regional at Lancaster's Clipper Magazine Stadium has plenty of storylines. Three conference tournament champions, a first-year program and two teams that haven't been to the NCAA playoffs in more than a decade are just some of them. The tournament features the Atlantic Region Coach of the Year and the Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year. Storylines will continue to be created throughout the six-team tournament, and the winner will gain a berth to the NCAA Division II Championship in Cary, N.C. Action from the Atlantic Regional begins Friday at 11 a.m. Host team Millersville plays Concord at 2:30 p.m. The following is a game-by-game preview of the opening round.


GAME 2: #2 MERCYHURST vs. #5 WINSTON-SALEM STATE - 11 a.m.

Mercyhurst (39-10)
PSAC West and NCBWA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year Joe Spano has his team playing its best baseball at the right time. The Lakers posted a 4-0 record in the PSAC Tournament for their first ever championship. They won three of those games in extra innings. It's the eighth NCAA Tournament appearance all-time for the Lakers and the third in Spano's 11 years. Their last appearance came in 2009, and they went 3-2 with losses only to West Chester. With a 39-10 record, Mercyhurst needs just one more win to tie the school record for wins in a season. Spano's club is balanced with outstanding pitching and hitting. It led the PSAC in hitting and pitching during the regular season and has outscored teams 327-143. The Lakers' team ERA of 2.41 is among the best in the nation, and the staff averages over 9.1 strikeouts per game. Starter Eric Aschley boasts a 1.29 ERA and a 7-1 record. Fellow starters Zach Leitten (2.29), Ben Rawding (2.35) and Nick Gillung (2.89) round out a staff that rivals any in the country. At the plate, the Lakers are led by seven regulars that hit over .300. There's been consistency in the lineup as five players have played in all 49 games. Outfielder Shane Latshaw leads the team with a .379 average and 19 doubles. Fellow outfielder Kevin McCall boasts a .369 average, and second baseman Zak Blair is not far behind at .365. A testament to the team's talent, 11 players were named All-PSAC West.

Winston-Salem State (30-23)
Winston-Salem State is making its first appearance in the NCAA Atlantic Regional, and even more remarkably, it's doing it in its first season as a program. Winston-Salem state was without baseball for 27 years, but has taken no time to return to glory, winning the CIAA for an automatic bid. Head coach Kevin Ritsche is an interesting story. He is working toward a Ph.D. in exercise physiology and before this year, he was an assistant professor in the Winston-Salem Department of Human Performance and Sport Sciences. The Rams made an improbable run through the conference tournament. After losing the first game, they won four in a row and defeated heavily favorite Saint Augustine's twice in the title round. The conference tournament ended on April 23, so the Rams picked up games against W.Va. State and nationally-ranked Mt. Olive to keep fresh. The Rams lost all four games. The Rams rely heavily on a small corps of pitchers. Six have at least 10 appearances, and five have thrown more than 42 innings. Junior Brice Rivenbark will likely be the game one starter after posting a 2.71 ERA (4-7 record) in 79.2 innings pitched. John Markley's 2.93 ERA in 61.1 innings is also impressive, and his .227 batting average against is the best on the team. Offensively, the Rams hit just .250 as a team and slugged .334. Freshman infielder Scott Wells is the team leader with a .308 average.


GAME 1: #1 MILLERSVILLE vs. #6 CONCORD – 2:30 p.m.
Millersville (39-10)
Millersville is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000 and is hosting for the first time ever. Head coach Jon Shehan, a 2006 graduate of Millersville, has brought the program from historic lows to historic highs. Before he took over as interim head coach in 2008, the team posted a 9-37 record. He has since won two PSAC East titles in four years. The Marauders achieved the top seed thanks to a strong in-region schedule. Mercyhurst eliminated them from the PSAC Tournament on a walk-off home run in 12 innings, but many of Millersville's players were making their first postseason appearances. 15 total players played their first collegiate playoff game last week. The Marauders rely on a deep pitching staff, stellar defense and timely hitting. They finished the regular season third in the PSAC in ERA and the team's fielding percentage of .978 is the best in Division II. On the mound, the Marauders have six starters that can be lights-out on any given day. Brooks Rothschild, an All-PSAC East First Team selection, is 9-1 with a .198 batting average against. He is just one win shy of tying the school record. Junior #Mike McMonagle#, two years removed from Tommy John Surgery, has been maybe the most dominant lately. He has produced a 7-1 record and 1.74 ERA. He's surrendered just one run and 16 hits in his last 21.0 innings. Freshmen pitchers acclimated themselves to the postseason nicely. Tim Mayza held Mercyhurst scoreless and to just three hits over 7.0 innings. He's allowed just five extra base hits in 54 innings. Tad Barton and Adam Zipko threw 7.2 scoreless innings in relief. Barton could be a starter for the Marauders in the regional. No Marauder has made more of an impact than shortstop Mike August, though. He was recently named NCBWA All-Atlantic Region First Team. He's hitting .398 with a team-leading 19 doubles and 41 RBIs. Millersville knows how to manufacture runs. Seven regulars have an on base percentage of .390 or higher, and the 345 runs scored is tops in the PSAC.

Concord (26-24)
Concord might be the hottest team in the regional. It gained the automatic bid from the WVIAC when it rolled through with a perfect 4-0 mark. The Mountain Lions have won 12 of their last 14, and that run has been all about offense. They have scored double-digit runs eight times in that stretch and racked up 45 runs in the conference tournament. Before the run, Concord was just 14-22. Coach Andrew Wright, a Concord graduate, is in his first season as the head coach. He played for the Mountain Lions from 2000-02 and was an assistant coach for two years. Prior to returning, he served as an assistant at WVU. The strength of Concord's team is on the left side of the infield. Josh Wenger, an All-Atlantic Region third baseman, and Keith Morrisroe, an All-Atlantic Region shortstop, are outstanding hitters. Wenger is hitting .341 with 49 RBIs, and Morrisroe is hitting .363 with a .459 on base percentage and 19 steals. The duo is two of seven regulars hitting over .300. The .329 team average led the WVIAC. Outfielder/pitcher Jacob Mays is the team-leader in hitting with a .384 average and a .524 on base percentage. The Mountain Lions are also ultra-aggressive on the base paths. They totaled a nation's-best 31 triples and swiped 117 bases in 134 attempts. Concord's philosophy lately has been to simply outscore the opponent. The pitching staff has a 6.92 ERA and walked a WVIAC-most 193 batters. They also allow 1.4 hits per inning. Game one starter is likely Ryan Weatherholtz, who is 8-4 with a 5.34 ERA in 86.0 innings pitched.


GAME 3: #3 SETON HILL  vs. #4 EAST STROUDSBURG – 6 p.m.
Seton Hill (33-13)
Seton Hill is no stranger to the NCAA Atlantic Regional. The Griffins won the WVIAC last year for the automatic berth. This year, after a disappointing WVIAC Tournament, they made the regional field as an at-large selection. A favorite in the WVIAC all year, the Griffins went 26-3 against conference foes but lost three in a row in the postseason and gave up 35 runs in those three games. But teams don't win 33 games without talent, and Seton Hill has plenty of it. Tom DeAngelis (.388) and Josh Logan (.385) rank fifth and sixth in the PSAC in hitting. DeAngelis, who was an NCBWA All-Atlantic Region First Team pick at third base, led the Griffins with seven home runs and 46 RBIs. Nick Erminio is an on-base machine, drawing 30 walks for a .480 on base percentage. He's dangerous on the base paths too, swiping a team-best 20 bases in 23 attempts. Pitchers Richard Raraigh and Brad Schnelle are among the best from the conference. Both posted ERA's under 3.00. The bullpen is also solid with senior Brian Warheit earning All-Atlantic Region Second Team honors. As a team, the Griffins boast a 3.71 ERA. Head coach Marc Marizzaldi simply knows how to win. He literally built the program from the ground up beginning in 2004 and has since totaled a 248-164 record. His only losing season was the program's first in competition.

East Stroudsburg (25-18)
After a two-and-out appearance at the PSAC Tournament, few expected East Stroudsburg to earn one of the at-large bids. But the Warriors played their two conference playoff games without being able to throw either of their top two pitchers. Now that the Warriors are in the regional, they are as dangerous team. East Stroudsburg won't need to score much with Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year Jeremy Gigliotti likely throwing in game one. The lefty, who is a Tino Martinez Award Semifinalist, led the NCAA in ERA with a 0.45 mark. In nine starts, he threw seven complete games, struck out 73 and walked only 11. His WHIP is an incredible 0.61. He's allowed only three earned runs all year. The problem, however, is that ESU failed to score more than one run in five of his starts, giving him a 6-3 record. In his last start on May 9, he tossed a no-hitter against Mansfield. He struck out 10 and walked just two. On any other team, Andy Noga would be considered a No. 1 starter. The sophomore right-hander posted a 2.42 ERA in 11 starts and led the team with 63.1 innings pitched. He also has incredible control, walking just five while striking out 51. Only three teams in the PSAC scored fewer runs that ESU, and the team hit just eight homers all year. The lineup, however, hardly lacks ability. Brian Ernst hit .361 and drove in a team-high 34 runs. Eric Boyer hit .356 with a .449 on base percentage, and Ryan Guarino led the team with a .454 on base percentage. Junior shortstop Evan Gallagher was an All-PSAC East Second Team pick.