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LANCASTER, PA – Ted Serro (Sr., Brooklyn, NY/Xavier) went the distance allowing two hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts in a 10-0 win over fourth-seed Haverford College as top-seed #13 Franklin & Marshall College went ahead 1-0 in the best of three games Centennial Conference baseball playoff tournament at Caplan Field. The victory puts the Diplomats within one win of clinching their second consecutive Centennial Conference baseball title as the team won the crown last year in three games. Franklin & Marshall (27-9, 16-2 Centennial Conference) will look to clinch the title at noon on Sunday as the Diplomats and Fords (22-18, 11-7 Centennial Conference) will clash in the second of the three game championship series. If Haverford captures the second game, the third and deciding game will begin 20 minutes following the conclusion of game two. The tournament’s champion will earn the CC’s automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Division III regional tournament. Against the Fords in game one, Serro, the 2005 and 2006 Centennial Conference Pitcher of the Year, showed why he earned the award allowing a single in the first inning, a walk in the third, a single in the fourth and a walk in the sixth for the Fords’ only base runners. Further, he struck out four of the final nine batters he faced while retiring 10 consecutive batters following a walk in the sixth inning to end the game and put the Diplomats within a victory of the 2006 Centennial Conference crown. Historically, he improved to 7-3 on the year with a 1.50 earned run average and 78 strikeouts in 72 innings. For his career, he is 19-8 in 45 appearances, including 27 starts, with 11 complete games, five saves, 209 strikeouts and 52 walks in 206.1 innings as he ranks first in victories (18), second in strikeouts (209) and innings pitched (206.1) and fourth in complete games (11) in school history. The Franklin & Marshall offense gave Serro all he would need to record the win in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Diplomats plated four runs on three hits and a Haverford fielding error. Rob Stern (So., Franklin Lakes, NJ/Indian Hills) led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error by Haverford third baseman Ryan Stephens before advancing to second base on a wild pitch by starting pitcher Jason Miller. Following a ground out to move Stern to third base, Pat O’Reilly (So., Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) singled to center field to drive in Stern with the winning run. Corey Caruthers (Sr., Conestoga, PA/Penn Manor) reached on a fielder’s choice as O’Reilly was forced at second base for the second out. Caruthers stole second base and moved to third on an infield single by Stephen Frederick (Sr., Downingtown, PA/Downingtown) to put runners on the corners. Rich Gallugi (So., Peabody, MA/St. John’s Prep) walked to load the bases before Jon Compitello (Sr., Yardley, PA/George School) doubled down the left field line to drive in three runs for a 4-0 lead. Following a 1-2-3 inning by Serro in the fifth, the Diplomats broke the game open plating five runs on five hits and three Haverford errors for a 9-0 lead. Eric Milavsky (Sr., Medford, NJ/Shawnee) walked to lead off the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a ground out before scoring on an RBI single by 2006 Centennial Conference Player of the Year Gary Kruger (Sr., East Islip, NY/East Islip). Kruger stole second base, moved to third on a throwing error by Haverford catcher Will Stafford and scored on a throwing error by first baseman Tim McLean on a fielder’s choice grounder by O’Reilly. Caruthers singled up the middle to put runners on first and second before Frederick singled through the left side of the infield to load the bases. Gallugi singled to drive in O’Reilly and Compitello single to plate Caruthers to drive Miller from the game. Facing reliever Matt Tomich, Milavsky reached on an error by shortstop Jamie Hollowell to force in Frederick for a 9-0 lead. The Diplomats tacked on their 10th run in the eighth inning as Andrew Hanson (Fr., Lansdale, PA/Germantown Academy) singled to right field to drive in Caruthers as Franklin & Marshall recorded the most lopsided win (10 runs) and first shutout in Centennial Conference championship series history.
At the plate, Compitello led the Diplomats going two-for-four with four RBI, while Caruthers was two-for-four with three runs scored and Frederick was three-for-four with two runs scored. For Haverford, John Oh singled, Hollowell walked and McLean singled and drew a walk for the only base runners Serro allowed. Miller took the loss for Haverford allowing nine runs on nine hits with two strikeouts in 4.1 innings, while Tomich went one inning with two walks, Justin Marlowe hurled 2.1 innings with one run allowed on four hits and a walk with a strikeout and Jeff Suell finished the game getting the final out for the Fords. The fourth-seed Fords advanced to the title series by defeating second-seed #18 Johns Hopkins University (28-9-2, 14-3-1 Centennial Conference) 9-7 in the semifinals. The victory marks the second time in the five year history of the Centennial Conference championship series that a four-seed advanced to play for the title as Muhlenberg College knocked off Ursinus College (8-5 W) and Franklin & Marshall (5-4 W) in the first round and semifinals before falling to Johns Hopkins 3-1 and 5-4 in the title series in the 2002 Centennial Conference playoffs. Further, the win prevents Hopkins from playing for the CC title for the first time in the history of the championship series as the Blue Jays hosted and won the 2002, 2003 and 2004 titles before falling in three games at F&M last year. Hopkins jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the game as the Blue Jays used three hits and two fielding errors in the bottom of the second inning to plate three runs. Haverford cut the lead to 3-2 in the top of the third inning courtesy a hit batter, a walk and a fielding error. The Fords tied the game in the fifth as Hollowell singled to center field, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and stole third base before Mike Primiani lined an RBI single to left field to knot the score at 3-3. Haverford blew the game open in the sixth as the Fords used five hits and a pair of fielding errors by Hopkins to score five runs for an 8-3 lead. The Blue Jays cut the lead to 8-4 in the bottom of the sixth as Matt Scally singled to center field to drive in Rob Sanzillo, but the Fords responded in the eighth as Crispin Vary singled, moved to second on an error in right field and stole third base before Hollowell singled to center field to set the score at 9-4. The run proved to be critical for Haverford as Hopkins scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to trim the lead to 9-7, but the Fords’ John Castronova finished out the game with a ground out and a fly-out as Haverford knocked off Hopkins. At the plate, Hollowell led the way going two-for-three with an RBI and two runs scored, while Primiani was two-for-four with two RBI for Haverford. Todd Emr led Hopkins going three-for-five with a run scored. On the mound, Travis Zier picked up the win for Haverford pitching 5.2 innings with four runs allowed on six hits and four walks with four strikeouts, while Castronova pitched the final 3.1 innings allowing three runs on four hits and two walks with a strikeout. Jason Thayer took the loss for Hopkins allowing seven runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts, while Ryan Kuhlman finished out the game going 3.2 innings with two runs allowed on five hits with three strikeouts.
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