2002 NCAA Division III Regional Baseball Tournament

Box Score

Winston-Salem, NC (05/19/02) -- Senior Cliff Wester tossed a complete-game five-hitter on less than two days rest and tourney Most Outstanding Player Jon Hurd homered to give Christopher Newport a 5-1 win over York (PA) in Sunday's NCAA Division III Baseball Regional Final at Ernie Shore Field. The Captains (35-14) reached the final with a 5-3 win over Salisbury earlier Sunday.

The win sends Christopher Newport to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship for the first time in school history. The Captains' made their first national playoff appearance last year, but were eliminated in regional play. The eight-team, double-elimination national championship runs May 24-28 in Grand Chute, WI. Pairings will be announced after regional play ends Monday (05/20) in Harwich, MA, and Colonie, NY.

York advanced to the regional final with a dramatic 3-2 win in 10 innings over Christopher Newport Saturday night. The Spartans, seeded fourth in the six-team field, end their season at 33-15.

"Our seniors wanted to go a little further this year," Captains head coach John Harvell said. "I knew if our pitchers threw well and the hits were well-timed that we could win."

The second-seeded Captains opened the scoring on senior catcher Scotty George's sacrifice fly in the second, which scored Hurd, who opened the frame with his sixth double of the year. Senior Ted Tignor, who singled after Hurd, moved to second on George's fly ball and scored on Chris Glidewell's single for a 2-0 Christopher Newport lead.

Hurd, who hit for the cycle in the Captains' 17-1 win over York Friday night, led off the fourth inning with his sixth homer of the year. He finished the day with three hits and batted .421 for the tournament with two homers and a regional-best nine runs batted in.

"If we swing our bats like we’re capable of, we knew we could win," Hurd said. "We took today’s game as another doubleheader and if we win, we go to Wisconsin."

Wester (9-4) joined Hurd on the all-tournament team thanks to a dominant performance. The right-hander won Friday night against York with seven innings of shutout ball. The Spartans finally scored on Wester Sunday in the top of the fifth inning on senior Brett Munch's two-out RBI single. Wester worked out of a first-inning jam by striking out Spartans' cleanup hitter Ed Meister and Munch with runners on second and third and one out. He retired the side in order three times, including the ninth inning. Wester was 2-0 with an 0.56 earned run average and had 11 strikeouts in 16 innings against York in the tournament.

"I was amazed at how well their kid threw," said Spartans' head coach Paul Sakia. "He really stuck it to us in two games this weekend."

Junior designated hitter Jeremy Elliott, another all-tournament pick, enjoyed his second three-hit game of the day for Christopher Newport. Junior Matt Turner plated the Captains' final two runs in the seventh with a two-run single to right.

Junior catcher John-Paul Gallo and junior third baseman Bob Ancharski each had two hits for the Spartans. Junior starting pitcher Brett Vroman (1-2) took the loss after yielding three earned runs and four hits over four innings. Four other York pitchers gave up four hits and an unearned run in the remaining four innings.

"Our pitchers did their job," Sakia said. "Normally when we give up five runs, we’re going to win the game."

The Winston-Salem Regional All-Tournament Team, as selected by a panel of sports information directors and games committee representatives, is as follows: 1B - Jon Hurd (Christopher Newport) - Most Outstanding Player, 2B - Tom Bender (York), 3B - Joe Zielke (Lebanon Valley), SS - Ted Tignor (Christopher Newport), OF - Chris Keane (Salisbury), OF - Brett Munch (York), C - Scotty George (Christopher Newport), DH - Jeremy Elliott (Christopher Newport), P/DH - Ed Meister (York), P - Rob Dye (Christopher Newport), P - Cliff Wester (Christopher Newport).