HARWICH, MASS. 5/20/07 - A historic Keene State College baseball season that saw the Owls make their inaugural NCAA postseason appearance came to an end with a tough 18-3 loss to Little East nemesis Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) in the championship round of the New England Regional Tournament in Harwich on Sunday. 

Facing the Warriors for the sixth time in 15 days, the fifth seed Owls (32-15) lost both of its tournament games to the second-seed Warriors, including a 6-1 setback on Saturday. ECSU (38-10) continued to have the Owls number on Sunday.

"It's disappointing in some respects, but I'm also very proud about those 28 guys in the dugout. They accomplished a lot this season" said KSC Coach Ken Howe.  "Eastern is a better club. They beat us five out of six times this season.  We had a great ride."     

The Warriors move on to the Division III National Championship Tournament that will be held at Grand Chute in Wisconsin. The Warriors have captured four NCAA titles.
The Owls needed to beat the Warriors twice on Sunday to claim the regional championship.

The Warriors didn't waste any time making it a one-game championship.  Coming up with the bases loaded in the first, Tristan Hobbes (Utica, New York) made his first hit of the tournament a big one with a grand-slam home run over the right-field fence.

The Owls got three of those runs back in the bottom of the inning. With runners on first and third, Joe Rousseau (Nashua, New Hampshire) roped a line RBI single to center.  Beau Darak (Londonderry, New Hampshire), who was named to the All-Tournament team, continued to swing a hot bat. The freshman's drive short-hopped the fence in deep center for a two-run double.  The Owls wouldn't score the rest of the afternoon.

"I was glad I was able to come in and contribute to the team," Darak said.  "It's a great group of guys. I'm looking forward to hopefully coming back to the tournament next year."

KSC's attempt to tie the game came up short in the second.  Jeff Perkins (Dunbarton, New Hampshire) worked a two-out walk.   Jamie Chevalier (Amherst, New Hampshire) was safe on an infield error.  Perkins tried to come around on the overthrow, but was thrown out at home when first baseman Hobbes retrieved the ball and threw to catcher Matt Cooney (Arlington, Massachusetts), who tagged out a sliding Perkins.

Owl starter Ben Sonberg (Bow, New Hampshire) continued to struggle in the third, giving up a solo home run to Trey Bongiovanni (Meriden, Connecticut) to make it a 5-3 game.  The Warriors put runners on first and third, but sophomore pitcher Dan Martin (Cromwell, Connecticut) got out of the jam when shortstop Ryan Jones (Nashua, New Hampshire) caught Hobbes's liner and left fielder Ben Fournier (Center Harbor, New Hampshire) made a diving catch of Cooney's sinking line drive. 

"The ball was hit hard, but I got a good jump and made the play," Fournier said. "I tied to do the little things to keep us in the game."

A two-out rally by the Owls in the bottom of the third fell short when Jones fanned with runners on first and third.      

ECSU added two more runs in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Melvin Castillo (Danbury, Connecticut) and a RBI triple by Hobbes to make it 7-3. Hobbes finished the game with five RBIs. Kevin Binney (Hopedale, Massachusetts) took over on the mound and got Cooney to ground out to second to end the inning.

A seeing-eye RBI single up the middle by Bongiovanni made it 8-3 in the sixth. Fournier made his second spectacular catch of the day when he made a diving catch on Shawn Gilblair (Windham, Connecticut). ECSU added two more runs in the seventh and seven more runs in the eighth.  

While the Owls were using an assortment of pitchers, including All-Tournament team member Mike Cook (Dover, Mass.), Gilblair, the Warriors starter, recovered from a shaky start to pitch six strong innings to get the win. Sonberg (3-2) took the loss for the Owls.
Perkins and Chavalier had two hits each for KSC.  
Castillo, who had a home run and three RBIs in the game, was named the tournament's MVP.

Chavalier joined Darak and Cook on the All-Tournament team.

One of five seniors on the Owls' roster, catcher John Grainger said time caught up with the team. "Everyone was tired from playing late last night," he said. "I think it showed out there.  We were in it for the first five innings, but the arms just broke down and they just crushed the ball."

"Getting here is great for the program," Howe said. "It speaks volumes for the players we have here and the players coming in. Reaching this point teaches you how to win."