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Baseball Wins America East Title
May 28, 2005
The University of Maine baseball team defeated Vermont 6-5 in eleven innings on Saturday night to win the America East Championship at Centennial Field on the Vermont campus. The Black Bears earn the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Maine tied the game 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth, then in the bottom of the eleventh with the bases loaded and one out, Joe Hough hit a short ground ball single that scored the winning run. With the game knotted at 5-5, Maine's Curt Smith, batting in the six-hole, led off the bottom of the 11th by reaching base on an error by UVM shortstop Raymond Montanez. Right-fielder Matt McGraw followed up with a single to left field to put runners on first and second. Mike Ferriggi reached on a fielder's choice as Smith fielded Ferriggi's grounder to take out Smith for the innings first out. Ray Vallee then recorded an infield single to load the bases with just one out. Defensive specialist Mark Ostrander was summoned to pinch run for McGraw on third, while Ferriggi was on second and Vallee on first, and the scene was set for Hough's heroics. The championship's Most Outstanding Player, Hough chopped a grounder in front of the plate that only went about eight feet before it died in the infield grass. Vermont catcher Matt Naimoli and pitcher Chris Blazek both went for the ball, leaving home plate unoccupied, while Ostrander managed to sneak in the backdoor for the game-winning run.
Joining Hough on the All-Championship Team are teammates Ferriggi, Izaryk, Greg Creek, Greg Norton and Ryan Quintal as well as Vermont's Jason Carey, Miguel Magrass, Derek Miller, Bryan Rembisz and Frank Rossi. In the first game of the day, Miguel Magrass' drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning to lead No. 3 University of Vermont to a come-from-behind 6-5 victory over No. 2 Maine in the first game of the championship match-up between the two at Centennial Field. The selection show for the 2005 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship will air live Monday, May 30 at 11:30 a.m. (EST) on ESPN. |
