A pair of losses Saturday at the NCAA Division III Regionals at Ross Memorial Park in Washington, Pa., ended the season for the University of Scranton baseball team.
First, the Royals fell to the University of Chicago in the winners’ bracket final, 15-8, then dropped a 9-6 decision to Bridgewater College, Virginia, in the elimination bracket final.
In the first game, each time Scranton scored in the top-half of an inning, Chicago had a response in the bottom-half. The Royals took a 2-0 lead in the second, but Chicago answered with three in the bottom of the second. Scranton reclaimed the lead, 6-3, in the fourth, only to have the Maroons scored six times in the bottom of the fourth to move back in front, 9-6. With the score 11-6, Scranton got two runs in the eighth. But Chicago put the game away with four runs in the bottom of the eighth.
John Heitzman led the Royals with two hits and two RBIs. Vincent Napolitano added two hits and one RBI. Jared Cassella drove in two runs, while Joey Granko hit a solo home run and walked three times.
Bridgewater jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings in the second game, forcing Scranton to play catchup. Again, whenever the Royals got close, the opponent countered.
Heitzman’s three-run home run in the top of the fifth pulled Scranton within 4-3. But Bridgewater scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth. After the teams traded solo runs in the sixth, the Royals got two runs in the seventh on a RBI groundout by Granko and RBI single by Logan Mason to cut the deficit to 7-6. But the Eagles sealed the victory with two runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Matthew Gannon, James Nitti and Heitzman each had two hits for the Royals. Heitzman also finished with three RBIs.
Scranton concludes its season with a 29-17 record. It won its third Landmark Conference title and earned its first NCAA win when it beat Bridgewater in the tournament opener Friday, 7-2.