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Season Review: Baseball Wins Third Centennial Title in Five Years

Season Review: Baseball Wins Third Centennial Title in Five Years

Signature Wins: The Fords won their third Centennial Conference Championship in five seasons with a pitching gem from senior Grant Finn. Finn allowed the Blue Jays just one run over his first eight innings and gave way to classmate George Hatamiya to close the door on the championship performance. The top three hitters in the Fords' lineup each finished the championship game two hits and at least one run scored.

Haverford's Centennial Conference Championship came with three straight wins as the Fords finished the year 4-0 against the rival Blue Jays with all of those wins coming down in Baltimore. The Fords later defeated top-seeded Misericordia in an elimination game behind another fine outing from Finn in relief during an elimination game. Ethan Lee-Tyson was named the Centennial Conference Tournament MVP as he batted leadoff and went 10-for-15 with a home run and eight runs scored in the conference tournament.

Season Notes: Haverford has also won Centennial Conference Championships during the 2012 and 2014 seasons … The Fords have made the Centennial Conference Tournament in each of the past nine seasons and 11 of the past 12 years overall … This run of postseason success has seen the Fords play for the conference title four other times in addition to their three championship seasons … Each time Haverford has advanced to the NCAA Regionals, the Fords have won a game … The team's 28 victories were the second most in program history behind the 2011 team which finished 32-10 overall … Nick Ott broke the school record for home runs in a game when he blasted two long balls against Gettusburg on Senior Day (4/26) … Ott also graduates as the school record holder with three runners caught stealing from behind the plate against Rowan (3/26) … Zach Taylor blasted two home runs against Gettysburg on Senior Day, while also graduating with the career record of three doubles at Muhlenberg during his sophomore season … Matt Goss hit two home runs when the Fords defeated Johns Hopkins during the regular season … Justin Herring posted a perfect 7-0 record in his 11 starts … He was part of three combined shutouts and finished the season with an ERA of 1.58 … Those three combined shutouts set a new school record for a single season and are currently tied for the most in a career at Haverford … Herring's 1.58 ERA is the fifth-best single season mark in school history … Stephen Ridings averaged 11.98 strikeouts per nine innings – the third highest rate in school history for a single year.  

Postseason Awards:

  • ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Team: Justin Herring (second team), Spencer Sohmer (second team)
  • D3Baseball.com All-Region Team: Justin Herring (second team)
  • All-Centennial Conference: Justin Herring (first team), Sam Partee (first team), Stephen Ridings (second team), John Masella (second team), Ethan Lee-Tyson (second team), Ben Furlong (honorable mention), Spencer Sohmer (honorable mention)
  • Centennial Conference Gold Glove of the Year: Ben Furlong
  • Centennial Conference Coach of the Year: Dave Beccaria
  • Centennial Conference Tournament MVP: Ethan Lee-Tyson
  • Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll: Grant Finn, Matt Goss, George Hatamiya, Justin Herring, Sam Kane, John Masella, John Miraglia, Michael Schwarze, Spencer Sohmer, Jamie Ulrich, Ben Verducci
  • Centennial Conference All-Sportsmanship Team: Thomas Vollaro
  • Centennial Conference Player of the Week: Nick Ott (4/18), Spencer Sohmer (5/2)
  • Centennial Conference Pitcher of the Week: Justin Herring (3/21)
  • Ambler Scholar-Athlete: Grant Finn
  • A.W. "Pop" Haddleton Award: Jamie Ulrich

Looking Ahead: The Fords return seven of their 10 players who started at least 20 games as a part of the everyday lineup. That list includes four all-conference players who still have at least two more seasons with the Fords (Sam Partee, first-team All-CC; Ethan Lee-Tyson, second-team All-CC; Ben Furlong HM All-CC, and Spencer Sohmer, HM All-CC). Herring, a first-team All-CC performer, will headline a starting staff that could very well lose Stephen Ridings to the MLB Draft after his junior season. John Masella was a second-team all-conference reliever for the Fords at the end of the game with three saves this year.