The last two ended in heartbreak, but the 2011 Northeast Conference Baseball Championship ended with Sacred Heart holding the champions’ trophy. The Pioneers, who were the NEC Tournament runner-up in 2009 and 2010, went 3-0 at the 2011 installment to conquer the program’s first title since 2006 and earn automatic access into the NCAA Division I Championship field. Sacred Heart defeated top-seeded Monmouth, 9-2, to complete a three-day run of phenomenal starting pitching and clutch hitting (click here for highlights). SHU starter Kody Kerski threw the staff’s third consecutive complete-game victory and shortstop John Murphy capped his weekend-long MVP showing with a triple, walk, run, and RBI. Earlier in the day, Monmouth staved off elimination by bouncing defending champion Central Connecticut (click here for highlights). Behind a complete-game effort from Pat Light, the Hawks topped the Blue Devils, 6-3.
2011 NEC All-Tournament
John Murphy, Sacred Heart (So., SS)
Troy Scribner, Sacred Heart, (So. RHP)
Nick Leiningen, Sacred Heart (Fr., LHP)
Derick Horn, Sacred Heart (Fr., C)
Pat Light, Monmouth (So. RHP)
Nick Meyers, Monmouth (Sr., LHP)
Ryan Terry, Monmouth (Sr., INF)
Dylan DelaCruz, Central Connecticut (Fr., LF)
Matt McCormick, Long Island (So., LHP)
Most Valuable Player
John Murphy, Sacred Heart (So., SS)
Game 6
#2 Sacred Heart 9, #1 Monmouth 2
Norwich, CT - Runner-up once, twice, but not thrice. Riding a trio of tremendous pitching performances and the bat of Tournament MVP John Murphy (Seymour, CT/Seymour), Sacred Heart went all the way at the 2011 Northeast Conference Baseball Championship.
SHU cruised past top-seeded Monmouth in Game 6 of the tournament, clinching the conference crown with a 9-2 win on Sunday afternoon. As a result, Sacred Heart has earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Division I Championship and will contest a regional for the first time since 2006.
The Pioneers had been the NEC Tournament runner-up in 2009 and 2010. They squandered a 7-0 lead to Monmouth in the championship round two years ago before watching Central Connecticut come out of the loser’s bracket and beat them twice last May.
Becoming the third SHU starting pitcher in three days to toss a complete-game, freshman Kody Kerski (Waterbury, CT/Crosby) allowed six hits, one walk, and one earned run over 9.0 innings.
Kerski’s performance followed a 6-1 victory from NEC Rookie of the Year Nick Leiningen (Millwood, NY/Horace Greely) on Saturday and a 10-1 win by all-NEC second team starter Troy Scribner (Washington Depot, CT/Shepaug Valley). Both Scribner and Leiningen earned two of the nine spots on the All-Tournament Team for their efforts.
The final line on SHU pitchers – 27.0 innings, 4 runs allowed, two walks, and 3 wins.
Meanwhile, Murphy provided some pop at the plate to go along with a tremendous three-day performance from freshman catcher Derick Horn (Valatie, NY/Ichabad Crane).
The 6-foot-2 backstop drove in a run and scored another in Sunday’s title game, finishing the three-day event with a .455 batting average. Both Murphy and Horn recorded a tournament-high five RBI.
Murphy hit the first home run of the 2011 NEC Championship on Friday and became the first, and only, player to log a triple when his extra-base hit plated a run in the fifth inning on Sunday. He also walked and came around to score in the second innings when the Pioneers pushed three across to jump out in front, 3-0.
Kerski made the early lead hold up, taking a shutout into the ninth inning.
Despite a 9-0 deficit, NEC Player of the Year Ryan Terry (Levittown, PA/Truman) was not going to walk away quietly. The three-time NEC all-star opened Monmouth’s ninth by lining a hard-hit single to right field.
He eventually came around to score on a groundout. Fellow senior Nick Pulsonetti (Old Tappan, NJ/Northern Valley Regional) also crossed home plate in the inning, but Kerski eventually closed the door.
With two outs, Kerski retired Josh Boyd (Port Murray, NJ/West Morris) on a fly ball to right and the Pioneers dance party was on.
Terry batted .400 with two walks over four NEC Tournament games and was one of three Hawks to earn All-Tournament honors – SP Nick Meyers (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) and SP Pat Light (Colts Neck, NJ/CBA).
Game 5
#1 Monmouth 6, #4 CCSU 3
Norwich, CT - Monmouth stayed alive by turning away the defending champions. With their back against the wall, the top-seeded Hawks doubled up Central Connecticut, 6-3, in an elimination game that opened Sunday’s schedule at the 2011 Northeast Conference Baseball Championship.
Following in the footsteps of Monmouth’s ace Nick Meyers who pitched a complete-game victory on Friday, sophomore hurler Pat Light (Colts Neck, NJ/CBA) went the distance for the Hawks’ second win of the weekend.
Light, who was drafted out of high school but opted for Jersey Shore-based Monmouth, scattered nine hits, walked two, and struck out six in evening his season record at 5-5.
Central struck first on an RBI infield single from JP Sportman (Schenectady, NY/LaSalle Institute). Dylan DelaCruz (East Lyme, CT/St. Bernard), who was 2-for-5 with a pair of runs, scored on the play after a double from Pat Epps (Waterford, CT/Waterford) moved put him on third base.
Light limited the damage by striking out Anthony Turgeon to end the bottom of the first frame. The 6-foot-6 right-hander proceeded to retired 12 of the next 13 batters to face him.
Meanwhile, Monmouth tied the game in the third inning and built a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.
NEC Player of the Year Ryan Terry (Levittown, PA/Truman), who had four hits in two games heading into Sunday, plated the Hawks’ first run with a third-inning infield single that was hit deep in the hole at shortstop.
Run-scoring singles from Ed Martin (Hazlet, NJ/Brookdale) and Jamie Rosenkranz (Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean) along with a RBI groundout allowed Monmouth to grab a 4-1 lead.
CCSU cut into the deficit by plating a pair in the bottom of the sixth inning on RBI by Sportman and Sean Miller-Jones (Centerville, MA/Barnstable).
Clinging to the one-run lead, the Hawks added insurance in the ninth inning when a pair of walks came around to score.
Epps, Sportman, and DelaCruz had two hits apiece in the elimination game. Delacruz earned All- Tournament honors after logging four runs and six hits in three games.