SPRINGFIELD, IL. – Spalding University are 2012 USCAA Baseball National Champions. For the second straight year, the prevailing loser’s bracket team has come from behind to win three games on Championship day. Spalding University began the day with a comeback versus #3 Rochester College. Down 3-1 going in to the sixth inning, Spalding rallied for two runs to tie the game. They went on to win in nine innings, after a wild pitch.
Still, Reilly and Brown were not the lone stars. The tournament MVP was Spalding second baseman Bryan Clemmons. Over the course of the four day series, Clemmons was 10 for 17 from the plate, scored eight runs, five RBI, and was perfect in the field, not making an error in 25 attempts.
In game one, the Builders scored first in the third inning as
with two outs, Trevin
Wilson singled and went to second in a Chris
Aldridge single to center. Devorn
Lake followe
d with a single to right field to plate Wilson for a 1-0
lead. Spalding answered with a run in the seventh to tie on a
two-out triple from Kyle Just who scored Derek Ferch who had
walked. In the ninth, the Golden Eagles scored four times to
take the 5-1 win.
In game two, Spalding put a pair of runs on the board in the first and fifth to take a 4-0 lead before the Builders scored a run in the fifth on a two-out solo home run from All-American Chris Scarola. Each team put up a run in the sixth as tournament MVP Bryan Clemmons drove in Eric Johnson with a sacrifice fly. Apprentice immediately answered to bring the margin to 5-2. Spalding would not give up another run, however, as Tyler Brown went the distance to shut down the Builders in the ninth inning.
In response to Spalding’s first baseball National Championship, head coach Mike Stawski said, “Our coaches didn’t do anything different {during the series}. The players deserve all the recognition. They worked hard and came to play.” Stawski leads the Golden Eagles to a National Championship in only his third season. During their championship season, Spalding finishes 32-11-1.
Following the game, the USCAA announced the 2012 All-Tournament Team, listed below:
- Daniel Lutz – Senior, Pitcher | The Apprentice School
- Travis Franklin – Senior, DH | The Apprentice School
- Brayden Gomes – OF | Clark State CC
- Mike Karas – So, 2B | Penn State Beaver
- Eric Ramirez – Jr, OF | Rochester College
- Andrew Snider – Sr, OF | Southern Virginia University
- Taylor Reilly – Sr, P | Spalding University
- Tyler Brown – So, P | Spalding University
- Zane Wheatley – Jr, 1B | Spalding University
MVP – Bryan Clemmons – Sr., 2B | Spalding University
