MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - The emotion of the moment didn't catch up to Jon Shehan until the post game press conference. It was then that he realized just how special it was winning the NCAA Super Regional at Cooper Park—a field built during his one season as an assistant and a field on which he'd spent countless hours of practice and games. A mob of Marauders dog piling behind the pitchers' mound was a scene that had played out in his mind for most of the 16 years he's been a head coach at Millersville. Saturday's emphatic, 11-6 victory over Seton Hill made that vision a reality. It punched Millersville's ticket for a fourth trip to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship, but it is the first in program history to be won on home turf.

Seton Hill had spent the last three months bullying and overpowering teams with the top-ranked offense in the region. But Millersville flipped the script in the two Super Regional games at Cooper Park, dropping 20 runs on the Griffins, hitting six homers including two on Saturday. Keegan Soltis' fifth-inning shot broke a 4-4 tie and set off an offensive barrage from the Marauders as they scored 10 runs between the fourth and seventh innings. Matthew Williams powerfully capped Millersville's scoring in the seventh with a no-doubter over the Cypress pines in left. His homer expanded Millersville's lead from four to an insurmountable six. It was a stunning performance considering that Seton Hill had entered the series with the nation's third best ERA.

"Years ago, I had visions of this," said Shehan. "There's been a lot of energy and time put into this. The staff has been unbelievable this year. It's really special.
"I've got to give (assistant coach Ryan Kramer) a lot of credit," said Shehan. "He came to me at the beginning of the week and said, 'Look, we've got to get these kids to believe that they can win. Your message has to be that all week long.' We found some video of Skip Bertman winning a national championship and a player said, 'We won, coach, we won,' and Bertman said, 'We were supposed to win.' That was the message all week. That they have to believe they can beat this great team over there."

All season Shehan lauded the depth of his team and that certainly made a difference over the weekend as in the two super regional games Millersville received home runs from the six, seven, eight and nine spots in their lineup, and Sam Morris continued one of the great postseasons in Millersville history driving in four runs with three more hits on Saturday. He plated Millersville's first run and then tied the game in the fifth when he jumped on the first pitch and lined it to left for an RBI double. The inning before,  Justin Taylor ended Seton Hill's streak of four unanswered runs and breathed new life into the Marauders, who had been trailing 4-1, with a two-run double. Morris finished the five-win regional 13-for-23 with 11 RBIs. 

"We watched Sam Morris compete in high school, and he loves the big moment," said Shehan. "It doesn't surprise me one bit. As we went through the year, and he went through a slump, we kept saying that Sam needed to be a part of this at the end of the year. He's a gamer. We knew we needed to get him more at bats and get him out on the field."
 
Bren Taylor went 3-for-5, solidifying his hold on the best average (.415) in the PSAC and region as he caught and passed Seton Hill's Vincenzo Rauso (.413) in the two games of the Super Regional. Taylor went 5-for-9 with four runs while Rauso went 2-for-9. Fortune smiled on Taylor and the Marauders with the score 7-5 and two away in the sixth. Taylor hit a high pop up to the mound. Third baseman Jack Oberdorf sprinted from third base and had to scale the mound and run down the other side while keeping his eyes to the sky. Unbalanced, Oberdorf could not make a play on the ball. It dropped untouched for a single. One run scored, and two batters later, Morris struck again with two more RBIs.

 Jimmy Losh scored the game's first run, which moved him into a tie for first in Millersville history with 219. Justin Taylor again came through with a timely hit. He went 2-for-4, and his two-run double. 

Millersville also leaned into its pitching depth to close out the championship. After two innings in the start from Alex Mykut, Millersville went to sophomore Garrett Blankenbiller, who provided two more innings without allowing a run. He handed the ball to lefty Evan Rishell, who kept the Griffins quiet for 3 2/3. He received some spectacular defensive help, including a 5-2-3 double play started by Justin Taylor with the bases loaded and no outs. Williams then made a diving stop and flip to Rishell to end the inning without a run allowed. Fifth-year senior Kris Pirozzi closed it out getting the game's final four outs. 

"It goes back to the bullpen and what they've done all year long," said Shehan. "It's been incredible. It takes guts. You take a guy like Rishell. He's been an unbelievable competitor. He wants the ball in these situations. He has ice cold veins. It's special to watch him compete. Giving the ball to Kris at the end, this is what he's been dreaming about for five years. This is why he came back for a fifth year."
 
The 2023 Marauders now join the 1998, 2011 and 2016 teams as regional winners. The Marauders move on to the eight-team, double elimination national championship tournament, which runs from June 3-10. Millersville's opponent and game date are to be determined.