WLU Wins First ODAC Baseball Title
Chuck Davidson named tournament's MOP
LYNCHBURG Va. --- The No. 6 seeded Washington
& Lee University baseball team scored six runs in a decisive
first inning as it captured the school's first Old Dominion
Athletic Conference (ODAC) Baseball Tournament title with a 10-6
victory over No. 2 seeded Virginia Wesleyan College Sunday from
City Stadium.
With the win, Washington & Lee (22-13) earns the ODAC's
automatic qualifier to NCAA Tournament which begins in a few weeks.
WLU becomes the first No. 6 seed to win the tournament since
Hampden-Sydney College accomplished the feat in 2005. Subsequently,
the Tigers swept through the South Regional on the way to the
schools first NCAA Division III Championship Series appearance.
WLU Head Coach Jeff Stickley earned his first league title in his
23rd year as the boss of Generals. "It feels great, I
feel good for the kids, the team, the school, for myself, for
everyone involved," said Stickley. When asked about coming in as
the sixth seed Stickley noted, "We played nine conference games in
the last week, so we were ready for the tournament."
Along with timely hitting, the Generals used top-notch starting
pitching throughout the tournament. Today's starter, Andrew
Henderson, tossed five innings allowing three runs in getting his
second win of the season.
"Pitching is the name of the game," said Stickley. "We had great
days of pitching all tournament long, especially by Chuck
[Davidson]." Davidson was named the tournament's Most Outstanding
Pitcher after posting a 2-0 record, allowing no earned runs in 15
innings of work. Said Davidson, "The innings with no rest was not
an issue, its all about training in the off-season ... there was no
doubt I could do it.
The Generals exploded in the team's first at-bat, scoring six runs
highlighted by a two-run double by Byron Peyster and a three-run
shot by Drew Dezen. Washington & Lee then pushed its advantage
to 10 with four runs in the fourth stanza.
The Marlins (26-14) scored the next six runs of the ball game,
including a two-run sixth frame and a three-run eighth. In the
eighth inning, Myles Shipp lashed a two-run single to pull VWC
within four, but General reliever Brandon Clark struck out CJ
Rhodes and forced a fly out by Mike Marion to get out of the
jam.
Peyster led the Generals attack with a three-for-five afternoon,
scoring twice to go with three RBI, while Terrence McKelvey, Will
Lewis each had two hits and two runs apiece. Hunter Serenbetz and
CJ Thompson each added a pair of hits as well for WLU.
The Marlins were paced by Shipp, who finished with three hits and
two RBI. Marion had three hits and two runs scored, including a
solo homer, while Rhodes was three-for-five.
Listed below is the 2009 ODAC All-Tournament Team.
For more information on the tournament, visit any of the
participating schools' websites. You can also visit the ODAC
on the Internet at www.odaconline.com and view the
tournament's website from the homepage. You may also click HERE to visit that website.
2009 ODAC Baseball All-Tournament Team
C - Zach Harrelson, HSC
1B - Mike Marion, VWC
2B - Byron Peyster, WLU
SS - Brandon Hathaway, VWC
3B - Jim Plantholt, WLU
OF - Myles Shipp, VWC
OF - Anthony Cardona, WLU
OF - Terrence McKelvey, WLU
DH - Herbie Williams, HSC
P & MOP - Chuck Davidson, WLU
