Billy Farrow

Having won the North Coast Athletic Conference championship, The College of Wooster now enters the NCAA Div. III Baseball Championship field as the No. 6 seed at the regional hosted by Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio, from May 16-20. The double-elimination event will feature all eight teams in action on Wednesday, May 16, with Wooster taking on third-seeded Adrian College (35-8), winners of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, at 4:30 p.m. The remaining squads will consist of top-seeded Marietta (37-6), second-seeded Washington & Jefferson College (35-8), fourth-seeded St. John Fisher College (29-10), fifth-seeded Westminster (Pa.) College (33-9), seventh-seeded Manchester College (25-19), and eighth-seeded La Roche College (25-16). If the weather does not hinder the schedule, the regional championship game will take place Saturday, May 19, at 4 p.m., with the possibility of a second championship game on Sunday, May 20, at 1 p.m. For live statistics, tournament updates, and much more info, visit http://pioneers.marietta.edu/index.aspx?path=12mideastregional&.

There are eight regionals taking place across the country (four with six teams and four with eight for a total of 56 teams), and each champion will qualify for the double-elimination championship at Fox Cities Stadium near Appleton, Wis., May 25-29.

NCAA Tournament Notes: Wooster, making its 26th Div. III tourney appearance, owns a 57-54 all-time record (.514) in regional and national tournament games. The Scots only trail Eastern Connecticut State University (32), Ithaca College (34), and Marietta College (33) in total NCAA appearances.

Wooster, which has gone 20-17 (.541) over eight NCAA tourneys during the 2000s, has won five regional titles (1989, 1994, 1997, 2005, 2009). The Fighting Scots' top national finishes were second-place in both 1997 and 2009, and they finished third in 2005.

Against the 2012 NCAA Field: Wooster played six games against teams that are in the 2012 NCAA Div. III Baseball Championship field, with four of those coming during its last 10 games. The Fighting Scots won two-of-three versus DePauw University during the conference tournament, and DePauw went on to receive an at-large bid as No. 3 seed in the NCAA regional at Millington, Tenn. Marietta and Wooster matched up twice previously, with the Pioneers prevailing 15-9 in Wooster on April 25 and the Scots taking a 6-0 decision March 15 at Port Charlotte, Fla. In its second contest of the season, Wooster dropped a 16-5 decision to Rowan University, now the No. 4 seed at a regional in Newport News, Va.

Seed Talk: Since seedings started being published for NCAA Div. III baseball regionals in 1996, the Scots have never been below a No. 3 prior to this year's No. 6.

Wooster was seeded No. 2 three consecutive years (2008-10), turning one into a championship in 2009, and prior to that, it was No. 1 at four-straight regionals (2004-07), winning one crown in 2005. The Scots were also the top seed in 1998 and 2002, while one of their best NCAA runs saw them start as a No. 3 seed at Marietta's 1997 regional en route to a national runner-up finish.

Pettorini Seventh in NCAA Div. III to 1,000 Wins: During the winners' bracket game of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament on May 4, Wooster head coach Tim Pettorini (Bowling Green '73) became the seventh coach in NCAA Div. III history to reach 1,000 wins. Now in his 31st year at the helm of the Fighting Scots' program, Pettorini holds a 1,002-374-6 record (.727), which includes a league-record 14 North Coast Athletic Conference championships as well as five regional titles.

Tails Never Fails: The Scots were a coin flip away from not even being part of their own conference's four-team postseason tournament, nonetheless, the NCAA Div. III Championship. After splitting a four-game series with Allegheny College on April 29 and May 1, the two squads wound up in a tie for second-place in the NCAC East Division, and with all other tiebreakers being even, a coin toss was used to determine the final qualifier for the NCAC Tournament. The flip was performed at the conference office in Westlake, Ohio, with "All" written on the heads side of a quarter and "Woo" on the tails side.

NCAC Tournament Recap: Wooster won its league-leading 14th NCAC championship, taking three of four games played at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.

On May 3, two-out home runs by Eddie Reese and Billy Farrow in the eighth inning were the difference in the Scots' 4-1 win over DePauw University during the teams' first-round game of the NCAC Tournament. Wooster had managed just one run on six hits entering the eighth, but with one swing, Reese changed the momentum as he drove a two-strike pitch over the left-field fence. A four-pitch walk to Johnathan Ray ensued, and next, Farrow crushed a ball out to left-center, suddenly giving the Scots a three-run cushion. Steve Hagen, who had entered in the bottom of the seventh, made the lead hold up, including a 1-2-3 ninth inning that saw him strikeout the final two hitters. Hagen notched the win (7-3), working three scoreless as he took over for Josh Stidham, who yielded just one run on six hits through six. Jake Zeek, making just his fifth start of the season, was Wooster's lone player with two hits, going 2-for-3.

On May 4, Tim Pettorini became the seventh coach in NCAA Div. III to win 1,000 games, as the Scots defeated Ohio Wesleyan University 6-2 during the winners' bracket game of the conference tourney. Wooster never trailed, scoring twice in the third, fifth, and eighth innings to overcome the Battling Bishops' two-run fifth. Michael DeBord started things offensively with a high fly that carried out to left for a solo home run, and Jarrod Mancine followed by drawing a four-pitch walk and a stolen base, and he came around on Eddie Reese's sharp single to left. After Ohio Wesleyan evened the score in the top of the fifth, Craig Day and Reese started the bottom of the inning with back-to-back singles, and Cal Thomay and Jake Zeek would contribute RBI singles to make it 4-2. The Scots padded their lead in the eighth, as another Mancine walk resulted in an eventual sacrifice fly from Reese, and later, Thomay doubled in Johnathan Ray, who had singled. On the mound, freshman Ben Cerami picked up his first career win (1-0) after working 1.2 innings of scoreless middle relief, and Steve Hagen tallied a save, cruising through the final three innings.

On May 5, after DePauw forced a winner-take-all scenario by scratching out a 6-3 victory in the first championship game, Wooster's Michael DeBord lined a two-out RBI single into center to break a 6-6 tie in the top of the eighth, and keyed by a Billy Farrow double, the Scots added an insurance tally during the ninth for an 8-6 victory and the NCAC championship. Tied at six, Cal Thomay started the eighth inning with a bloop single, then pinch hitter Ryan Miner sacrificed pinch runner Bryan Miller to second, and after a second out, DeBord delivered the key hit. In the ninth, Farrow, who belted his third home run of the tournament in the seventh to put Wooster ahead momentarily at 6-5, nearly cleared the fence again, doubling off the wall in left-center. With runners on the corners and one out, Miller laid a bunt down to first and Farrow just beat the throw home for the two-run advantage. On the mound, Josh Stidham, who entered in relief at the start of the sixth, overcame a pair of one-out singles during the bottom of the ninth and secured the win. The pivotal at bat of the game may have come in the sixth inning, when Wooster, trailing 5-3, had runners on first and second with two outs and Farrow at the plate. The Tigers elected to go after the red-hot first baseman and he made them pay with a three-run blast well beyond the left-center fence, marking Farrow's eighth home run.

All-Tournament Team: Sophomore second baseman Eddie Reese's big hits and consistent solid play throughout the three-day event landed him the Most Valuable Player award of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.

Also earning spots on the all-tournament team for the Scots were pitcher Josh Stidham, Michael DeBord, Billy Farrow, and Cal Thomay.

Perfect Game: The highlight of Wooster's regular season came on April 15, when senior hurler Kyle Cunningham-Rhoads tossed the 16th recorded perfect game in NCAA Div. III history as he set down all 21 Hiram College batters he faced during a 16-0 rout. It was the second perfect game by a Scot pitcher, with the first by Mark Bricker back on May 7, 1989, against Denison University, and the 12th no-hitter overall in Wooster history. For Cunningham-Rhoads, it marked his first career complete game.

This and That: The Scots' five-member senior class of pitcher Kyle Cunningham-Rhoads, catcher Michael DeBord, pitcher Colin Meinzer, pitcher Josh Stidham, and third baseman/DH Zack Vesco have compiled a 126-53 record (.704) over the last four seeasons ... Michael DeBord has established a new Wooster career record for total sacrifices with 26 (17 SH, 9 SF) ... Craig Day has been hit by pitches 14 times, which puts him tied for ninth for a season at Wooster in that category ... Versatile pitcher Steve Hagen's five saves are tied for the seventh-most in a season by a Scot ... Outfielder Ryan Miner also is a kicker for the Fighting Scots' football team ... Three of the regional MVP's when the Scots have won have been pitchers – Justin McDowell in 2009, Drew Binkowski in 1997, and Matt Rodgers in 1994 – while the others were shortstop Luke Ullman in 2005 and right fielder Brent Bizyak in 1989.