STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Chatham Baseball (28-12, 13-9 PAC) collected two crucial victories on Saturday against Franciscan (9-26, 5-17 PAC), winning game one 21-11 before sneaking by the Barons 6-5 in game two to clinch their first-ever PAC Tournament berth.
The Cougars initially trailed in game one after Franciscan scored a run in the bottom of the first.
Devin Fluhmann's sac fly tied the score in the second, then
Eddie Rueda broke the single-season Chatham record for doubles in the third, driving in
Nolan Boehm for a 2-1 lead.
Cooper Baxter followed with an RBI double, then
Dominic Colarusso drew a walk that plated Baxter and a 2-RBI base knock by
Angelo DeLeonardis made it 6-1 Cougars. In the fourth,
Caleb Jones had an RBI double,
Matt Brandt had an RBI groundout and
Keegan McGraw's RBI single put Chatham up 8. The Barons scored 3 in the bottom half, which were negated by Jones' 3-run homer to right field that gave the Cougars a 12-4 advantage. Despite Brandt's sac fly in the seventh, Franciscan was able to scratch across 7 runs to make it a 13-11 ballgame. Chatham would be undeterred, as Boehm and Rueda came through with RBI base hits in the eighth. In the same inning, Boehm would score on a wild pitch, Brandt recorded another sac fly, Fluhmann brought around Baxter with a walk and Colarusso plated Jones via groundout. With two on and two outs, DeLeonardis doubled to score two Cougars and reach the 10-run threshold.
Gianni Cantini shut down the Baron offense in the bottom of the eighth for the 10-run victory.
DeLeonardis went 4-6 with a walk and 4 RBIs at the top of the lineup in game one. Rueda was 3-5 at the plate, which he crossed 5 times in the game, recording 2 RBIs. Jones went 2-3 with 4 RBIs and 4 runs. Brandt had a hit and 3 RBIs, and Baxter finished 2-4, collecting an RBI and scoring 3 runs.
Cason Bennett earned the win on the mound, going 4 innings and allowing allowing 3 earned runs on 5 hits with 2 Ks in his start. Cantini went an inning and two-thirds and allowed no earned runs on 2 hits for the Cougars.
Both teams' bats cooled off a bit in game two, as Chatham took a commanding lead early. McGraw brought home Jones on a double, Colarusso's fielder's choice scored Brandt and Boehm's sac fly advanced McGraw across the plate in the second inning. In the third, Jones had an RBI single to score Baxter, and in the fifth, DeLeonardis made the score 5-0 Cougars when his double brought around Fluhmann. Franciscan scored 2 in the sixth, but the Cougars picked up a massive insurance run in the top of the ninth when DeLeonardis' sac fly scored Fluhmann. In the bottom of the inning, a Baron home run made the score 6-5, but Chatham was able to hang on and secure a postseason berth.
Jones went 3-5 in game 2 with an RBI and scored a run. DeLeonardis had 2 RBIs in a 1-3 performance at the plate. Fluhmann was 2-3 with 2 walks and scored twice.
Matt Bamford made the start on the bump for the Cougars, going 6 innings while allowing 2 earned runs on 8 hits with 6 strikeouts.
Ethan Botkin earned the save by tossing 3 innings and giving up 3 runs on 4 hits with 3 punch outs.
With the sweep and two Hiram losses, Chatham will take on top-seeded Westminster on Wednesday at 11 a.m. in Washington, Pa. in the PAC Tournament.
