Baseball falls to Shenandoah
Dover, Del. - The Wesley Wolverines (24-16-1) jumped out to a three run lead in the bottom of the third inning thanks to back-to-back homers, but eventual fell 8-6 to the #21 ranked Hornets of Shenandoah University (33-8) on senior day at Reed Field.
Wesley celebrated the final regular season home game by five members of the Wolverine baseball club. Stu Madden (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy), Scott Marshall (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial), Mike Dombrosky (Bridgeport, N.J./Paulsboro), Chris Koch (Hyattsville, Md./Bishop McNamara), and Alex Carter (Dover, Del./Caesar Rodney) each contributed in the game.
At the start of the game, the focus shifted from the Wesley seniors to a Wesley freshman pitcher, DJ Keckler (Fallston, Md./Fallston). As a first year pitcher, Keckler was unfazed by the highly ranked Hornets. Early this season, Keckler defeated then ranked #1 Salisbury on the road.
Keckler cruised through the first two innings giving up only 1 hit in seven at bats. Wesley's offense then took control in the bottom of the second with back-to-back home runs by James Overstreet (Dover, Del./Lake Forest) and Stu Madden. Overstreet's homer, a two run shot scoring Greg McKee (Dover, Del./Caesar Rodney) coupled with Madden's nearly identical shot gave Wesley a 3-0 lead going into the 3rd frame.
Keckler continued to roll but allowed one run to score on a balk in the top of the third. He quickly recovered and recorded the final out on the next batter.
Wesley added two more runs in the bottom of the third off of RBI singles from McKee and Overstreet to take a healthy 5-1 lead.
The lead stretched to 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Kevin Murphy (Middletown, Md./Middletown) scored from third on a fielder's choice. That prompted the second call to the bullpen for the Hornets this time for lefthanded hurler Matt Davis who immediate took control of the game by striking out Bryan Rescheter (Newark, Del./Hodgson Vo-Tech) to end the inning.
Davis' mixture of a fastballs and sliders held the Wolverine bats at bay for the rest of the game giving the Hornets a prime opportunity at a comeback, and comeback they did.
After Keckler cruised through the fourth, the Hornets found their remedy knocking the freshman around with 4 earned runs in the fifth inning closing the Wesley lead to one run at 6-5. Keckler stuck it out earning the final out, but the damage was done and Keckler would not return for the 6th.
Wesley didn't have an answer for Davis' pitching as he struck out 7 of the last 14 Wolverine batters. A Carter single in the 8th inning was the only hit or base runner allowed by Davis in his five and a third innings of work.
Shenandoah added three runs in the top of the 7th, this time off Wesley relief pitcher Kyle McGuire (Hartly, Del./Polytech) giving the Hornets an 8-6 lead. McGuire gets the loss for the Wolverines and Davis the win for the Hornets.
Although this was the last regularly scheduled game for the Wolverines, there is a chance that they can earn an ECAC bid in the upcoming week.
