MCC’s Season Ends One Game Short of Championship Round

MCC’s Season Ends One Game Short of Championship Round
By Paul Ofria
TYLER, TX – Chris Strahowski was sitting back in his chair in room 333 at the Country Inn. He was discussing the season that ended an hour so earlier at Mike Carter Field where Eastfield College dismissed Manchester CC from the NJCAA Division III World Series with a 6-3 decision, leaving the Cougars one game shy of playing in the national championship round.

Players were filing into the room with smeared eye black covering some of the emotion in uniforms embedded with as much dirt as fabric.

The scene was familiar – MCC’s last four seasons ended at the national tournament – an accomplishment none of the other NJCAA Division III baseball teams claim.

The Cougars were ousted from the double-elimination tournament after just two games in 2008; they won a game in 2009 and two in 2010. This year, MCC traveled the furthest (1,633 miles), beat Eastfield from down the street (Mesquite, TX) 11-9 in the tournament opener, then lost its first game in the winner’s bracket final against defending champion Gloucester after a 4-3 victory over Erie CC Sunday.

“I think that now it’s less of a ‘oh my god, it’s a New England team,’” Strahowski said of the respect his team has gained for New England baseball over the four years. “We still kind of have to earn our way down here, which is okay. You are playing with guys who play year round.”

Eastfield (38-21) scored a pair of runs in each of the first two innings and starter Joe Mills (7 IP, 3R, 9H) survived MCC’s three-run third inning that cut the lead down to 4-3.

“They came out and swung it,” Strahowski said of Eastfield, who won the tournament in 2001 and 2006. “I think the three best offensive teams made it the furthest. Eastfield was pretty solid 1 through 9. We knew how to get them out if we made the pitches. When we made some quality pitches, we were able to neutralize them a little bit.”

Gloucester (Sewell, NJ) needs to beat Eastfield just once to repeat as champions and bring home the school’s seventh World Series title. Should Eastfield win Wednesday night’s game, the teams will meet again Thursday in the 15th and final game of the tournament. Manchester finished third in the eight team field.
Mills threw 137 pitches and had to deal with runners on base in every inning but the second when he retired the Cougars (26-24) in order. Michael Weatherby took over after Mills walked Yohendy Gonzalez leading off the eighth and recorded the final six outs without incident.

“He did an excellent job,” Eastfield head coach Michael Martin said of Mills. “That guy ran out there and threw seven innings for us, seven strong innings after already throwing two or three in this tournament. I didn’t really know what to expect as far as how much we were going to get out of him and he kept burying the ball in the strike zone and competing out there. He just showed a lot of heart.”

Hesland Foster was 3 for 3 for the Harvesters with two RBI and leadoff hitter Nathan Hancock, who was 4 for 4 when Eastfield eliminated Erie CC 3-1 in the first game of the day, scored two runs after Manchester starter Brian Levchuk (2-1) walked him in both the first and second innings.

Strahowski’s 2011 team played 50 games, starting in the bitter cold in Edison, NJ on March 5. The Cougars hit rock bottom on April 11 after a humiliating 11-2 mercy-rule loss to conference rival Northern Essex CC left them at 7-19. Clearly, they were underachieving together. The former CCSU lefty who played in the Little League World Series in 1984 against the likes of Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek, posted the stats on his office door with the team batting average highlighted in neon yellow.

“I try my best not to call guys out,” said Strahowski, who has compiled a 217-172-3 record over 12 seasons at MCC. “But I called the team out as a group. It was one of those things where I said, ‘collectively we are hitting .217 – we are grown men, swinging aluminum bats and we are hitting .217.’ Something is wrong. All of a sudden the last 20 games we probably hit .410 as a team that’s what we thought we had coming in.”

MCC roared through the final ten games of the regular season, swept through the Region 21 tournament and went to the World Series having won 12 of its last 13. They competed in all four tournament games despite being down 13-4 and 4-0 early in the final two games.

“They didn’t give up,” Strahowski said of his team’s effort in the series. “We were down early to Gloucester and they clawed their way back two different innings when they needed runs to stay in the game. We had double digit hits – even tonight we matched them with hits, we just couldn’t plate the big run.”

Martin, in his tenth year as Eastfield head coach and owner of a ring from the ‘06 championship team, never underestimated MCC’s resiliency.

“They are a great team,” Martin said of Manchester. “They have some good players over there. Those guys competed the whole way through. We’re scratching a clawing all the way to the end of that game to come away with a win. It was a tough game on both sides.”

Freshman catcher Kyle Holland hit .529 (9 for 17) with six RBI and two stolen bases in his first series while sophomore Kevin Madera, who would have been the starting pitcher on Wednesday had the Cougars advanced, hit .412 (7 for 17) with a pair of doubles and six RBI.

Both were All-Region 21 first team selections and Holland was named the region’s defensive player of the year. Sophomore Mat Niedzwiecki (1-0, 1.69 ERA over 10.2 innings) also had an outstanding tournament with a complete game and scoreless relief outing against Eastfield.
“It’s pretty amazing to get from where we were to where we are now,” Strahowski said.