North Greenville baseball surges into D2 national championship finals
The North Greenville University baseball team was in the driver’s seat of the Division II world series before it ever took the field Thursday for its semifinal game against West Chester.
The Crusaders, as the only undefeated team remaining in the double-elimination tournament at the USA Baseball National Training Complex, wasted little time making sure they maintained their advantage.
Pat Monteith hit a third-inning grand slam to get his team off and running, and NGU never looked back, cruising to an 8-5 victory that earned the team a spot in the championship round.
Coach Landon Powell’s top-seeded Crusaders will have two chances to win the one game needed to claim the first national title in school history. Game 1 against either Point Loma or Rollins will be Friday night, with the if-necessary game scheduled for Saturday.
Point Loma missed out on a chance to make the championship round a best-of-three series with NGU by losing to Rollins earlier in the day.
“We know what’s on the line. We know what we’re playing for,” said Powell, who’s also a University of South Carolina athletics Hall of Famer. “We knew winning that one would send us to the championship and give us an opportunity. Sometimes being in that situation can be nerve-racking, but I’m really proud of the way they just went out there, enjoyed the moment and played.”
NGU (52-10) showed its quick-strike capability in the top of the third after West Chester starter Gabe Rappa had retired the first two batters in the inning.
The rally started quietly with a walk to Ethan Stringer and picked up steam when John Michael Faile, who is only three weeks removed from surgery to repair a torn meniscus, singled up the middle. Mark Chlup then walked to load the bases before Monteith unloaded his 15th homer over the left field wall for a 4-0 lead.
“I was like, ‘I’m just going to camp on the heater,’ and I hit the heater,” Monteith said of his grand slam that changed the complexion of the game. “We have a really powerful, dangerous, scary offense and we’ve done it all year. Two outs, late in games, we’re very capable of scoring a lot of runs.”
Monteith’s slam lit a spark under the Crusaders’ offense, which scored three more times in the fourth to extend the lead to 7-0. Gehrig Octavio drove in one of the runs on an infield out, while Stringer and Chlup each delivered RBI singles.
West Chester (36-14) got one of the runs back on a homer by Mike Ferrara to lead off the fourth, but NGU answered right back to re-establish its seven-run advantage.
The Rams weren’t ready to go home quietly. They were the lowest seed in the eight-team tournament and advanced through the elimination bracket with a pair of wins following an opening-game loss to the Crusaders last Sunday.
They rallied for three runs in the fifth after Thomas Skipper relieved starter Seth Chestnut and inched closer with an unearned run in the eighth that cut the lead to 8-5.
But that’s as close as the Rams would get, thanks to the work of closer Brent Herlong, who did not allow a hit over his 2.2 innings of work to finish off the game.
“Brent has just been Mr. Steady,” Powell said. “He’s been my security blanket his whole career. When the going gets tough, I just put Herlong in the game and I promise you my blood pressure goes down a ton.
“And now, one more win. A lot of coaches across this country back in August, when they were starting practice, talked about wanting to be the last team standing. I’m proud to say our guys have that chance.”
How to watch North Greenville in national championship
You can stream Friday’s game at NCAA.com.
DIVISION 2 BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME SCHEDULE, SCORES
The tournament is being played at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. Here’s a bracket view of the games.
Saturday, June 4
No. 3 Southern Arkansas 3, No. 6 Rollins 1
No. 2 Point Loma 8 vs. No. 7 Illinois Springfield 1
Sunday, June 5
No. 5 Angelo State 7, No. 4 Southern New Hampshire 1
No. 1 North Greenville 3, No. 8 West Chester 1
Monday, June 6
No. 6 Rollins 3, No. 7 Illinois Springfield 2
No. 2 Point Loma 11, No. 3 Southern Arkansas 3
Tuesday, June 7
No. 8 West Chester 7, No. 4 Southern New Hampshire 3
No. 1 North Greenville 18, No. 5 Angelo State 3
Wednesday, June 8
No. 6 Rollins 7, No. 3 Southern Arkansas 5
No. 8 West Chester 12, No. 5 Angelo State 2
Thursday, June 9
No. 6 Rollins 12, No. 2 Point Loma 4
No. 1 North Greenville 8, No. 8 West Chester 5
Friday, June 10
No. 2 Point Loma vs. No. 6 Rollins, noon
No. 1 North Greenville vs Point Loma-Rollins winner, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 10:16 PM.