Kevin Fiorenzo & Amy Frizzell,
orts editors
Softball
team on
verge of
AMCC
Tourney
by Collin McHenry
staff writer
The softball team is on the verge of going to the
AMCC Tournament. Right now there is a spot open
for them or Penn State Altoona.
Depending on who wins, Pitt-Bradford or Pitt-
Greensburg on Monday will determine if they get
in or not
The team split doubleheaders against two teams
recently, Allegheny and La Roche. Both times the
team came back from a loss to win. They also were
swept in a doubleheader at Frostburg on Sunday.
In their first game against Allegheny last Thurs
day, the Lady Lions were routed 9-0.
Behrend was down 4-0 going into the seventh
inning, but five runs from Allegheny in that inning
put the game out of reach.
In the second game, the Lady Lions played a much
tighter contest and pulled out the win, 3-2.
The Behrend squad got great production from
several of its hitters. Senior Brandy Polinick hit a
double in the game. Senior Lauren Packer and fresh
man Kristen Macha each hit two singles.
The winning pitcher for the Lady Lions was se
nior Becky Corbin, who also hit a single in the game.
Against Frostburg. the Lady Lions dropped their
first game 11-9.
Packer had two doubles in the game while Corbin
and Polinick each had one.
The loss in the game went to senior Steph Co
vert, who pitched 1.2 innings and gave up 11 runs.
In the second game. Behrend fell short once again,
5-2.
Going into the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Li
ons were tied with Frostburg 2-2, but Frostburg
scored three runs in that inning to seal the win.
The Behrend squad had no extra base hits in the
game. The losing pitcher was sophomore pitcher
Kim Raff. She pitched four innings, giving up seven
hits and five runs.
On Tuesday. La Roche won the first game on their
home turf 10-2. The Lions came back and thwarted
the Red Hawks 6-5 in the second game.
In the first game, the losing pitcher was Corbin,
who also hit a double in the game.
In the second game, the Lady Lions were once
again led by Pollinick with two singles and two rbi’s.
The winning pitcher was Sandy Jaussi.
"The first game we did not begin very strong. La
Roche hit the ball very well in the first game and
unfortunately, we were unable to stop them. The
second game our ladies worked hard throughout the
entire games and were able to put some runs on the
board," head coach Stacy Pondo said.
A late game pitching change to Steph Covert
sealed the win for the Lions.
“The girls played some tough games over the past
week in which some good things came out of. The
highlight of the season may have come when we
split with La Roche. Going into the season one ol
the teams goals was to win against La Roche,” said
Pondo.
The team only won half of their AMCC games.
Holding a record of 6-6. They are however perking
up and winning more games.
Pondo said, “It feels good to finally be on the win
ning side of the one run games considering we’ve
had many losses by one. The ladies continue to work
hard and try to win the tough battles.”
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SPORTS
Men’s tennis captures AMCC Championship
Defeats Frostburg by one point for first crown since 1998
ference record. They are also currently tied for the all-time wins in
a single season record at 14 wins this season.
by Amy Frizzell
sports editor
On Saturday the men’s tennis team won its first
AMCC Championship title since 1998. In a close
race, the Lions beat out Frostburg State by just one
point, capturing the crown 11-10.
The blue and white dominated the day as it sent
a player to the finals of every flight, excluding sec
ond singles.
“I was very pleased with their play,” said coach
Jeff Barger. “It’s tough to do that but they did it,
and it paid off.”
The first sign of promise came as the Lions ad
vanced all three doubles teams past the first round
of play. First doubles team of junior Ryan Deimel
and sophomore John Marini defeated Penn State
Altoona, 8-4.
No. 1 seeded freshman Brian Espin and sopho
more Jon Barber downed Pitt-Greensburg 8-2 at
second doubles as third doubles No. 1 seeded fresh
men Garrette Grenek and Matt Meyer struggled to”
beat Pitt-Greensburg 8-6.
Though the semi-finals proved to be a step to
ward capturing the crown, the men suffered a set
Baseball team clings to AMCC playoff hopes
by C J. lanini
staff writer
On Tuesday the Penn State Behrend base
ball team (14-13-1, 4-6) traveled to Allegh
eny (18-9) for a non conference doubleheader.
The Lions split with Allegheny, with Allegh
eny winning game one 1 -0, and Behrend pick
ing up the win in game two, 12-8.
In game one, the Lions were unable to drive
in any runs, only two of nine players who
stepped to the plate provided hits for the team.
The only three hits of the game for Behrend
came from sophomores Shane Elzer and Eddie
George. Elzer provided two hits for Behrend,
with George providing one.
Although receiving the loss for the game,
sophomore pitcher Ray DeVaul pitched all six
innings for Behrend. DeVaul gave up six hits
but only one earned run for the team.
The Lions, down but not out, looked like a
new team in game two against Allegheny.
Seven players provided 11 hits for Behrend,
helping the team drive in 12 runs, capturing
the win.
Three seniors contributed to the win in game
two. Adam Best and Tony Azzato both went two
for five from the plate with Best scoring a run
and Azzato hitting a double. Mitch Reckner bat
ting as DH went one for three and scored two
runs.
Junior shortstop Vince Canzano supplied the
team with a double and two runs. Canzano was
two for three from the plate with two stolen bases
in game two
Sophomore Tony Kordecki also provided two
runs for Behrend as he went two for four from
the plate on the day. The only home run of the
game came from Elzer. Elzer, only a sophomore,
leads the Lions this season in batting average.
In 29 games played, Elzer has racked up a .333
batting average and is currently leading the team
in six other batting categories.
Ryan Deimel
Friday, April 23, 2004
they had.”
The Lions made up for doubles as they sent five
out of six players to the finals of their flights.
During the semi-finals Deimel defeated Jared Ferrar
of Altoona 6-0,6-4 at first singles. Barber downed
Tim Lang of Pitt-Greensburg at third singles 6-1,
6-1. Espin followed him at fourth, beating Chris
Baker of Altoona in three sets 3-6,6-3,6-0. Sopho
more Kevin Fiorenzo defeated Joe Germock Pitt-
Greensburg 6-3,6-4, and Meyer beat Chris Streett
of Pitt-Greensburg 6-0,6-1.
The finals would once again pose a challenge for
the team. Fiorenzo would be the first to experi
ence yet another setback as he lost to Mike Stefan
of Altoona 7-6,6-2. Following him would be Espin,
falling to Dustin Robinson of Frostburg 6-4,6-2.
Meyer, who entered the tournament with a per
fect 6-0 AMCC singles record, would be the first
to take a firstplace finish defeating Pat Cooper of
Altoona in three sets, 6-2,5-7,6-4.
“For $ jjreabsitfn hfc ; played extremely well
and he was there when we needed him,” said Bar
ber of Meyer’s contributions to the team.
Soon after Barber, who also entered with a per
fect singles record would defeat Peter Della Luna
The baseball team will play host to the Laßoche Red Hawks on Saturday in a key AMCC
game that will have playoff implications for the Lions.
Junior Matt Szymanski and sophomore pitcher
Chris McCartney picked up the win for the Lions
on the mound. Although only a sophomore,
McCartney has been playing as if he were an up
perclassman. Currently this year Chris has a win
ning record of 5-2 and an ERA of 2.70.
With the win, Behrend increased its record to
15-14-1 overall, 4-6 in AMCC Conference play.
As of Thursday, Behrend was ranked fourth in
the highly competitive AMCC.
“We are definitely still a major contender to
reach the AMCC playoffs,” said Azzato.
The Lions next traveled to Westminster for a
non conference game on Wednesday.
Behrend fell short, though by a 7-2 score. The
losing pitcher for the Lions was senior Jason
back as all three teams lost
in the finals. Deimel and
Marini lost to Frostburg in a
tie-breaker, losing 9-8.
Espin and Barber followed
the same pattern, also losing
to Frostburg in a tie-breaker,
9-8. Meyer and Grenek lost
to Altoona 8-2.
“We were mad but not
sad,” said Marini of the
team’s three finals losses.
“We knew we could still win
so we were glad.”
The team would have to
pick up play in singles to
make up for doubles.
“They were just going
to have to play harder at
singles,” said Barger.
“There was no tomorrow for
them, they had to give it all
Sport: Men's Te
Class: Junioi
Date: April 19,2
During the
onships held
Behrend this
Deimel took first p'
the first singles fli
clinch a Behrend vi
the tournament.
of Frostburg 6-2,6-3, bringing in another first place
finish.
“I’m very happy I played well and won. I’m glad
I could help out the team,” said Barber. “It’s great
to go out on top.”
“Their wins were big we wouldn’t have done it
without them,” said Deimel.
With one match left to finish the Lions trailed
Frostburg by one point. Deimel would have to fight
back from a 5-2 defecit after losing the first set 7-5,
in order to earn a first place finish and the team to
capture the title.
“I was so nervous. They were both playing so
well,” said Barber.
Deimel faught back from three match points to
win the second set in a tie-breaker 7-6 sending the
match into a third set.
“All I could think was that I wanted Ryan to win,”
said Marini, Deimel’s doubles partner.
He stepped up winning the third set 6-2, defeat
ing Justin Stephens of Frostburg, an opponent who
had beat him three times previously.
“I always knew I could beat him, and to beat him
at a moment like that was crazy,” said Deimel. “I
couldn’t have done it without the support of the
team.”
The team walked away with its first title since
the first year the tournament was held.
“I was nervous for them. I’ve already experi
enced tough loses and wins, these guys haven’t,”
said Barger. “I really wanted them to win.”
Not only did the team walk away with the title,
they also walked away with a few honors. Barber,
Meyer and Deimel were all named to the first team
all-conference for singles. Espin and Fiorenzo were
named to second team all-conference for singles.
Deimel and Marini, Epsin and Barber, and Meyer
and Grenek were all named to the second team all
conference for doubles.
Meyer was also named co-newcomer of the year
along with Dustin Robinson of Frostburg. Deimel
was named co-player of the year along with Gary
Lyst from Frostburg. Barger was also named coach
of the year.
The Lions will next look to up their record of 14-
7 to 15-7 in order to break the all-time wins in a
single season record when they play Walsh on May
1.
Shaffer, who pitched for 5.1 innings, gave up five
hits and six runs and had four strikeouts.
Behrend will play today at 3 p.m. against the
Hilbert Hawks. The Lions true test will come on
Saturday in their final AMCC double header.
Behrend will host La Roche, and with each team
in the conference only a few games apart, the Li
ons will need to win both games to have a chance
for a possible playoff berth.
The other scenario for Behrend to reach the
playoffs will solely ride on Frostburg State, who
currently occupies the sixth spot in the AMCC.
Frostburg has two double header conference
games remaining and need to lose two of these
last four games for Behrend to reach the play
offs.
Page
The Behrend Beacon
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