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LANCASTER, PA – The Franklin & Marshall College baseball team will seek its second Centennial Conference title this weekend as the Diplomats host the 2005 Centennial Conference playoffs at Caplan Field. The playoffs will begin on May 6 as #3 seed Haverford College (24-14, 13-5 CC) will host #4 seed Gettysburg College (20-18, 11-7 CC) in a single elimination playoff game at 3:00 p.m. The winner will advance to face #2 seed and #21 nationally ranked Johns Hopkins University (30-7, 13-5 CC) at Caplan Field on May 7 at 11:00 a.m. in a single elimination game, before the winner of the game faces the #1 seed Diplomats (23-13, 15-3 Centennial Conference) in a best of three series. On May 7, game one of the Centennial Conference championship series will begin at 2:30 p.m., with game two and three (if necessary) set for noon and approximately 3:00 p.m. starts on May 8. Admission is free to all games. The tournament’s champion will earn the CC’s automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Division III regional tournament. The NCAA field will be announced on May 16. It marks the first time that Franklin & Marshall will host any conference playoff game and the first time that the Centennial Conference championship will not be decided at Johns Hopkins University as the #1 seed has won each of the Centennial Conference tournaments. The Diplomats are making their third appearance in the Centennial Conference playoffs. In 2002, #2 seed Franklin & Marshall fell to #4 seed Muhlenberg College 5-4 in 10 innings on a home run. Last year, the #2 seed Diplomats advanced to the title series for the first time in school history as first baseman Gordie Eck ‘04 blasted a two run homerun with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Diplomats to a 5-4 win over Ursinus College in the semifinals. In the championship series, Johns Hopkins recorded 18-15 and 17-9 wins to win the championship. At the plate, the Diplomats are led by third baseman Gary Kruger (East Islip, NY/East Islip) and outfielder Dan Hanecak (Jr., Conestoga, PA/Lancaster Catholic) as Kruger is hitting .369 (38-for-103) with 34 runs scored, six doubles, two triples, two home runs, 24 RBI, 26 walks, a .504 on-base percentage and is 24-for-26 in stolen bases, while Hanecak leads the Diplomats in hitting with a .381 average (43-for-13) with a team high 12 doubles, two triples, 21 RBI and six stolen bases on six attempts. Designated hitter Scott Haft (Sr., Jupiter, FL/Jupiter) has proven to be a late season addition to the Diplomats’ lineup as he is hitting .323 (10-for-31) with 11 runs scored, three doubles, one home run and 14 RBI in 13 games after missing the first six weeks of the season with a wrist injury. Outfielder Corey Caruthers (Jr., Conestoga, PA/Penn Manor) is hitting .317 (38-for-120) with five doubles, one triple, two home runs, 21 RBI and 12 stolen bases on 16 attempts as the Diplomats are hitting .290 as a team with 59 doubles, eight triples, 11 home runs, 142 walks, 81 stolen bases on 97 attempts and a .957 fielding percentage. In Centennial Conference games, Hanecak is hitting .433 with 10 doubles, 16 RBI, a .435 on base percentage and .582 slugging percentage, while Kruger is hitting .377 with 20 runs, four doubles, one triple, one homerun, 11 RBI, 13 walks, a .500 on-base percentage and 11 stolen bases. On the mound, the Diplomats starting rotation has been among the Conference’s best recording a 2.81 ERA in Conference games with 131 strikeouts in 153.2 innings. Leading the way has been right-hander Ted Serro (Jr., Brooklyn, NY/Xavier) with a 5–3 record, including two complete games, 60 strikeouts, a .189 opponents’ batting average and a 2.58 earned run average in 52.1 innings of work. In CC games, he is 4-1 with a 2.04 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 35.1 innings. Rounding out the rotation is Jeremy Knox (Jr., Bronx, NY/Iona Prep) who is 4-1 record with a 3.54 earned run average and 42 strikeouts in 56 innings. Lefthander EJ Leary (Jr., Seymour, CT/Seymour) is 3-2 record with a 3.06 earned run average and 42 strikeouts in 35.1 innings and Jeff Rowand (So., York, PA/Dallastown) is 5-1 record with a 3.26 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 49.2 innings. Out of the bullpen, Matt Kalos (Fr., Melrose Park, PA/Cheltenham) has a 2.37 earned run average, while Dan Tischler (Fr., New York, NY/Horace Mann) has five saves in 13 appearances with a 3.18 ERA. Historically, Franklin & Marshall last won the Centennial Conference title 10 years ago in 1995 as the Diplomats recorded a 30-6-1 record to win the regular season by three games over McDaniel College and earn the second conference title in school history. In 1978, the Diplomats finished 14-11-1 to win the Middle Atlantic Conference championship. #2 seed Johns Hopkins will look to win the program’s eighth Centennial Conference title and fifth straight as the Blue Jays won the 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 crowns. Hopkins is led at the plate by outfielder/designated hitter Gary Rosenberg who is hitting .382 with 33 runs scored, 12 doubles, nine home runs and 40 RBI. Second baseman Ian Christie is hitting .370 with 20 runs scored, four doubles and 14 RBI, while outfielder/designated hitter Dave Montegari is batting .360 with 24 runs scored, six doubles, one triple, nine home runs and 24 RBI. Left-handers Jim Flannery and Jason Hochfelder have led the Blue Jays’ pitching staff, as both hurlers are 5-0 on the season. Flannery leads the staff in ERA as he is allowing 1.64 earned runs and holding opponents to a .164 batting average, while Hochfelder has a 3.69 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 42 innings. Right-hander Jason Thayer is 4-2 with a 6.16 ERA and Ryan McConnell is 2-1 with a 5.40 earned run average. Reliever Joe Zaccaria has two saves and 15 strikeouts in nine appearances for the Blue Jays. #3 seed Haverford College and #4 seed Gettysburg College will make their first appearances in the tournament in the four-year history of the championship format. The Fords have been among the Conference’s best hitting teams as Haverford is batting .324 with 89 doubles, 23 triples, 29 home runs and 308 RBI as the team is averaging 8.74 runs per game. At the plate, third baseman/first baseman Ryan Stephens is batting .383 with 24 runs, 11 doubles, two triples and four home runs with 41 RBI and a .608 slugging percentage, while Brandon Mills is hitting .310 with 19 walks and 29 stolen bases. On the mound, Travis Zier is 6-0 with 35 strikeouts in 42.1 innings, while Nick Chanock is 5-5 with 46 strikeouts in 63.1 innings. Gettysburg is led by first baseman Joe Bonyai who paces the conference in hits (53), runs scored (37), triples (six) and total bases (82) while ranking among the CC’s best in batting average (.390), slugging percentage (.603), on-base percentage (.458), RBIs (34), doubles (11) and stolen bases (12) to lead his team. Third baseman Brian Pernice and outfielder Ben Carey along with second baseman Austin Ball round out the offensive leaders for the Bullets. Pernice ranks second on the team with 42 hits, a .321 batting average and 21 RBIs. Carey and Ball have 41 hits apiece. Carey holds the advantage in batting average (.295 to .291) while Ball holds a slight edge in RBIs and runs scored (17 to 16 and 26 to 25, respectively). As a pitching staff, Gettysburg relies heavily upon the starters to go the distance as the Bullets lead the Conference in complete games with 18. Leading the staff is Tobin Whitman who is 4-3 in nine starts with 47 strikeouts, six complete games and a 3.31 ERA in 65.1 innings. Ross Hempel leads the staff in wins (five) as he has 34 strikeouts in 63.2 innings with eight complete games. Brian Spicer has a 3.34 earned run average with a 2-3 record, while Rob Borman has a 3.71 earned run average with a 2-3 record as both pitchers could see action this weekend. Directions to Caplan Field are available on the Franklin & Marshall College website at http://server1.fandm.edu/departments/Athletics/directions.html
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