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By Josh Belanger  Kyle Novak and Conor Hartigan (James Madison) both delivered clutch hits in the bottom of the seventh inning to cap a three-run rally and advance the Hot Wings to the NVCL semifinals after a 4-3 victory over the Rough Riders in yesterday’s quarterfinal matchup at Madison High School. The Hot Wings were down to their final three outs and needed two runs to keep their season alive. After a fielder’s choice brought home a run, Novak tied the game with his third hit of the game. Tre Dabney (James Madison) followed with a walk then Hartigan worked a 3-2 count to allow Novak to break on the pitch. A ground ball in between the third baseman and shortstop allowed Novak to easily score and provide the game-winning run. O’Kelley McWilliams (Wofford) started for the Rough Riders and held the Hot Wings to one run on three hits over 3.2 innings. Everett Catlett (Georgetown) went for the Hot Wings and allowed an unearned run while striking out six over 2.2 innings. Robert Kelley (Potomac State) ended up with the win after tossing two scoreless innings in relief for the Hot Wings. Brendan Albrittain (Radford) hit a solo home run to put the Rough Riders up 3-1 in the fifth inning. Ethan Martoske (Lynchburg) also added an RBI double for the Rough Riders. Quarterfinal #2 - Sliders 11, Yard Dogs 2 Michael Grupe (Virginia Tech) and Braden Mack (Cornell) combined to allow just one run on six hits over seven innings while Jack Hoeymans (undecided) and Scott Morgan (George Mason) each homered and drove in a pair of runs to lead the Sliders over the Yard Dogs. The Sliders pounded 15 hits as both Tyler Casagrande (Arizona) and Griffin Boone (VCU) each added three hits. Derek Furr (Christopher Newport) also had a three-run double that broke the game open in the fifth inning. Brendan Hall (Washington University, MO) collected two of the six hits for the Yard Dogs. The Hot Wings and Sliders will square off at 6 PM today for a chance to advance to Saturday’s championship game. The teams split their two games this season, with the Sliders winning the first game 6-1. The Hot Wings took game two, 11-3. Garret Newsome (William & Mary) for the Sliders and Donavan Burke (James Madison) for the Hot Wings are the likely starting pitchers. Quarterfinal #3 - Night Owls 7, Child Dogs 6 The top-seeded Night Owls avoided an early departure from the NVCL tournament by scoring seven runs over their final three frames to beat the Chilli Dogs, 7-6. Yareb Martinez (Georgetown) had the go-ahead RBI while Jonathan Fisher (Christopher Newport) added a critical insurance run with a base hit in the bottom of the sixth. The Chili Dogs wouldn’t go quietly, getting an RBI on Ben Koomey’s (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) second hit of the game. The tying and go-ahead runs would eventually reach scoring position but reliever Randy Prosperi (William & Mary) was able to come on and get the final two outs of the game. Aiden Tierney (Longwood) added an RBI double and two hits while Austin Gauthier (Hofstra) hit his fourth home run of the season, his second in two games. Brady Harju (James Madison) collected four hits while Jack Fitzgerald (George Mason) hit a three-run home run for the Chili Dogs. Quarterfinal #4 - Bunt Cakes 9, Gators 1 Jay Cassidy (Christopher Newport) struck out five over 5.2 innings and allowed just one run on three hits to guide the Bunt Cakes past the Gators and into the semifinals. Jack Cone (William & Mary) and Nathan Cmeyla (Dartmouth) each homered and combined for seven RBI to power the Bunt Cakes. The Bunt Cakes will face the Night Owls in the first semifinal game at 3:30 PM at Waters Field. The Night Owls went 3-0 against the Bunt Cakes this season. Jack Braley (Christopher Newport) for the Night Owls and Cone for the Bunt Cakes are the likely starting pitchers. Photo of Kyle Novak by Josh Belanger 
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By Josh Belanger  The NVCL will begin its highly anticipated playoff tournament Wednesday night with the league-leading Night Owls entering as the top seed and apparent favorite to win the league championship. The Night Owls (15-2) ran away with the regular season title, clinching by four games over the second-place Sliders (11-6). Powered by their juggernaut lineup, the Night Owls lead the league with 153 runs (nine runs per game) and 29 home runs - 13 of them coming off the bat of first baseman Rob Weissheier. Weissheier is tops in the league in home runs, RBI (32), runs (25) and OPS (1.940). Lucas Donlon is one of several other weapons in the Night Owls’ murderous row of sluggers. The third baseman leads the league with 25 hits and ranks third with 22 RBI. He also added seven doubles and a home run to his campaign. Carter Cunningham is another player to watch for the Night Owls, finishing the season with seven homers and 21 RBI. The Night Owls don’t appear to have any real weaknesses in their lineup, batting .329 with an on-base percentage of .453 as a collective unit. Not to mention, they have five players with an OPS north of 1.000. Pitchers, good luck! The Night Owls rotation is headed by right-hander Nick Stewart (4 wins, 1.42 ERA), who has been one of the league's most consistent arms all season allowing just four runs in 19.1 innings. Randy Prosperi (2 wins, 2.80 ERA) and Jack Braley (2 wins, 2.33 ERA) have also been reliable options for the Night Owls. It will be interesting to see how coach Sal Colangelo manages the tournament and who he decides to pitch in the quarterfinals against the 4-13 Chili Dogs. I anticipate Stewart being saved until Thursday, however as a wise coach once said, “Never save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain.” Or may never come. There may not be a lineup that can match up toe-for-toe against the Night Owls, but on any given night anything can happen. The Sliders and Hot Wings (10-7) both pose serious threats to take down the Night Owls with deep lineups and pitching staffs while the Bunt Cakes (9-8) enter the tournament playing their best ball of the season, having won five of their last seven games. The potential to have the Bunt Cakes left-hander Jay Cassidy (3 wins, 1.27 ERA) square off against the Night Owls sets up for a thrilling semifinal game. That’s all assuming the Night Owls survive their match-up with the Chili Dogs, who have lined up Wes Glass (3 wins, 17 K) and Danny Leo (1.07 WHIP) to pitch, and the Bunt Cakes advance without throwing their ace. Michael Grupe (3 wins, 2.21 ERA) for the Sliders and Everett Catlett (30 K, 3.56 ERA) for the Hot Wings also promises an exciting semifinal if both teams can win on Wednesday. Grupe or Garret Newsome (18 K, 2.26 ERA) will likely take the mound for the Sliders while Kenny Lippman (21 K, 1.05 WHIP) will likely start for the Hot Wings in the quarterfinals. The Hot Wings do have the option to pitch Catlett, who last threw 56 pitches over 2.2 innings on Saturday. In terms of the rest of the field, the Gators (5-10-1), Yard Dogs (6-11) and Rough Riders (5-10-1) all have what it takes to upset their higher-seeded opponents and advance to Thursday’s semifinals. Hunter Bell (0.88 WHIP) and Antonio Menendez (21 K, 2.33 ERA) will both likely pitch for the Gators and Yard Dogs respectively, presenting tough obstacles for their opponents. The Gators and Yard Dogs also combined for four homers and 19 runs in their final game of the season. The Yard Dogs will lean on the league’s leading hitter Michael Ludowig (3 HR, .489 BA) and Brady Drawbaugh (6 HR) to pace the offense against the Sliders, who have allowed the fewest runs this season (67). Eric Lingebach (5 HR, 28 RBI) and Justin Taylor (2 HR, .457 BA) will need to continue their production for the Rough Riders if they are to upset the Hot Wings. The Rough Riders ace O’Kelley McWilliams (3 wins, 19 K, 2.04 ERA) pitched Monday night and will most likely not be available for tomorrow’s quarterfinal games. Rough Riders coach Tom Verbanic will likely lean on Brendan Albrittain (14 K, 1.08 WHIP) and Ryan Dudak (16.1 IP) for the bulk of their innings on Wednesday. In the final day of the regular season, all four games were decided by one run including an extra-innings thriller between the Gators and Chili Dogs and a walk-off win for the Night Owls. Along with the back-and-forth contests, yesterday also saw plenty of power with nine home runs being smashed. If the last day of the regular season was a taste of what we are to see during the playoffs, you can count me in for the full course and dessert. The NVCL playoffs will be more of what we have been seeing all month long: competitive baseball featuring power bats, electric arms and incredible defense. If you cannot make it out to Madison High School or Waters Field in Vienna, you can tune in to watch a live stream of all the games at nvcl.sportschannel.media. The playoff tournament will be single elimination with the championship game being played as a nine-inning game. The full schedule is listed below: Wednesday, July 29th - Quarterfinals - G1- Chili Dogs (8) vs Night Owls (1) at 4:30 pm at Waters Field - G2- Gators (5) vs Bunt Cakes (4) at 7:30 pm at Waters Field - G4- Rough Riders (6) vs Hot Wings (3) at 4:30 pm at Madison HS (may get moved to 2 pm) - G3- Yard Dogs (7) vs Sliders (2) at 7:30 pm at Madison HS (may get moved to 5 pm) * If lights aren't working at Madison HS by Tuesday evening, we will move games up to 2 pm and 5 pm at MHS * Higher seed is home team Thursday, July 30th - Semifinals - G5- 4:30 pm at Waters- Winner of G1 vs Winner of G2 - G6- 7:30 pm at Waters- Winner of G3 vs Winner of G4 Saturday, August 1 - Championship - 11 am at Waters- Winner of G5 vs Winner of G6 (9 innings) * Regular extra inning rules for Championship Game only. No international rules. Photo of Rob Weissheier courtesy of Fred Ingham 
By Andrew Cooney
Ben Williamson (William & Mary) homered twice and Garrett Newsome (William & Mary) threw 4.2 innings of one hit ball to lead the Sliders over the Chili Dogs in game one of yesterday’s doubleheader at Waters field.
Williamson’s first home run was a solo shot in the third inning that extended the Sliders lead to two. He struck again in the top of the seventh for a two-run shot, putting the game out of reach of the Chili Dogs as they fell 5-1. “Ben did a great job especially on the first home run that he hit of staying back on that ball,” Sliders coach Tony Felt said. “It was definitely an off-speed pitch and he stayed back on it as long as he could.” Williamson finished game one 3-for-4 and leads the team with three home runs, nine RBI and 12 runs scored. Connor Baine (George Mason) also had two hits for the Sliders. Dylan Weber (Christopher Newport) and Braden Mack (Cornell) did not allow a hit in 2.1 relief innings to shut the door on the Chili Dogs. Nicholas Ortega (Elizabethtown College) took the loss for the Chili Dogs, giving up two earned runs on five hits over 3.1 innings. Kyle Schofield (Frederick CC) had the lone hit for the Chili Dogs. The Sliders (8-4) will take on the first-place Night Owls on Monday at 4:30 at Madison High School, followed by the Chili Dogs (4-8) facing off with the Hot Wings at 7:30. In other league action...The Sliders (8-4) nipped the Chili Dogs (4-8) in game two of yesterday’s doubleheader, 8-6. Scott Morgan (George Mason) had two hits and two RBI for the Sliders. Jack Fitzgerald (George Mason), Michael Morgan (JMU) and Blake Fisher (Lynchburg) all had multiple hits for the Chilil Dogs… The Gators (4-7-1) defeated the Rough Riders (5-6-1) in game one, 7-3, behind strong pitching performances from Hunter Bell (Harford CC), Joe Vogatsky (JMU) and Josh Gjormand (Lynchburg), who combined for 11 strikeouts. Drew Steig (George Mason) led the Gator offense with three RBI. O’Kelly McWilliams (Wofford) was stellar in the loss for the Rough Riders, not allowing a hit over 4.2 innings. In game two, both clubs tied 14-14 after eight innings. Eric Lingebach (Christopher Newport) had two home runs and eight RBI for the Rough Riders. Nic Kent (UVA) and Thomas Trinca (George Mason) each had four RBI for the Gators… The Bunt Cakes (6-6) took both games from the Yard Dogs (4-8), 3-1 and 6-0 respectively. In game one, Alex Lemery (Marymount) and Ben Thomas (Ferrum) had multiple hits for the Bunt Cakes while Jack Cone (William & Mary) and Eddie Eissert (NC State) combined on the mound to give up three hits and strike out five. In game two, Lemery and Will Bean (West Virginia) paced the Bunt Cakes offense with a homer apiece and two RBI. Jay Cassady (Christopher Newport) continued to pitch well for the Bunt Cakes, earning his second win of the season after tossing 4.1 scoreless innings... The first-place Night Owls (10-2) took game one against the Hot Wings (6-6), 15-4. Rob Weissheier (Hofstra) and Austin Gauthier (Hofstra) combined for three home runs while the Night Owls banged out 15 hits. Randy Prosperi (William & Mary) pitched four scoreless innings in relief, striking out seven. The Hot Wings won game two, 9-5, behind Conor Hartigan (JMU) and Pete Nielsen (GMU, who each had three hits and combined for 7 RBI. Donovan Burke (JMU) provided a strong start on the mound for the Hot Wings, going 3.1 innings with five strikeouts. Weissheier added his third home run of the day to increase his league leading total to 10. Photo of Ben Williamson by Josh Belanger.
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