Championship Bracket (JPG)
MASON, Ohio – The tournament bracket was thinned from the original eight to the final four as the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Baseball Championship tournament continued under sunny skies at PRASCO Park and Legacy Field on Thursday.
Unfortunately, conference championship hopes flamed out for No. 8 Malone, No. 7 Cedarville No. 2 Walsh and No. 3 Ohio Dominican, in order, following different elimination games.
Standing tall in the winner’s bracket was No. 1 Trevecca Nazarene and No. 6 Hillsdale as a busy day unfolded with six completed games between both diamonds. The Trojans edged No. 4 Kentucky Wesleyan, 6-5, while the Chargers dealt Walsh the first of two defeats with some clutch hitting late to win 9-7.
The remaining teams in the bracket have conference tournament title pedigree, including 2019 champion No. 5 seed Tiffin, the fourth-seeded Panthers, 2018 champ Hillsdale and the top overall seed Trojans.
Defending conference champion Tiffin had the last celebration at PRASCO Park and the Dragons staved off elimination by sending the Pioneers out of the bracket. RHP Michael Boswell outdueled recently crowned conference pitcher of the year LHP Clay Cooper in a compelling matchup on the mound. Boswell fanned 10 in a complete game effort and was touched for just one run on five hits.
Thomas Auth homered, a three-run shot for the Dragons, and later finished with a strong game in the nightcap along with teammate Kyle Vance, a second team all-conference first baseman who had a two-run double in the ninth inning to eliminate Walsh.
A very unlikely finish unfolded at Legacy Field on the first game of the day with a bases-loaded, one out balk called. Ohio Dominican survived a tough battle against Cedarville with seven different pitchers being used by the Yellow Jackets to work out of some sticky jams. Daniel Sewak hit the game-tying home run, a two-run blast in the eighth inning, but the combination of eight walks and five hit batters, eventually caught up to Cedarville down the stretch.
The Chargers are one of the youngest starting lineups 1-through-9 but continue to defy what some fans might consider a lack of playoff experience. Rob Zurawski had huge hits, including a two-run single as the Chargers scored five in the seventh, and an RBI triple in the ninth inning. Cooper Peterson also homered for Hillsdale.
Trevecca Nazarene had to come back from a 5-2 deficit vs. KWC at PRASCO Park and did with the fundamentals. A throwing error brought in a run and a sacrifice fly keyed a three-run inning while the all-conference first team tandem of Jay Benard and Tiger Cox, along with Tyler Koprowski locked things down for the final four innings.
Koprowski tossed three scoreless innings and gave up just one hit and Benard recorded the final three outs for the save, his seventh of the spring.
The Panthers bounced back against ODU in the final game of the day at PRASCO Park, pounding out 15 hits and at one time led 11-2, in a survive and advance situation. Unfortunately, ODU’s bats just could not get it going in the tournament after torching teams regularly throughout the regular season.
The Cavaliers had huge games from Great Midwest Player of the Year Andrew Czech, who homered twice on Thursday, and first team all-conference outfielder Brenden Spaulding, who doubled four times.