Coker Baseball Eliminated from Conference Tournament

by Christian Stryker, SID Coker College
4/16/2009

Wilson, N.C. - The Coker College Baseball team's season came to an end on Friday afternoon, as they fell to the #2 seed Mount Olive Trojans 6-4 in an elimination game at the 2009 Conference Carolinas Baseball Tournament.

Coker and Mount Olive were deadlocked after the first inning, with both teams scoring two runs, but a pair of runs by the Trojans in the third inning gave them a two run lead. Coker closed the gap with a run in the fourth, but another Mount Olive run in the fifth brought the two run lead back. However the Cobras scored a run of their own in the bottom half of the fifth to keep it within one, but that would be as close as Coker would get. A run in the eighth inning secured the Mount Olive 6-4 win and advanced the Trojans to face the #6 seed Limestone in another elimination game on Friday.

Coker's Jesse Hatchell (Florence, SC) (2-6) threw a solid nine innings in the final outing of his collegiate career. He allowed six runs on 12 hits with six strikeouts, while the Trojans Patrick Ball (3-4) earned the win, allowing four runs on nine hits in seven innings or work with three strikeouts.

Senior Cobra BK Harfst (Arvada, CO) led the offense, going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and a run scored, while Brinley Griffin (Port St. John, FL) was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Matt Ammons (Chester, SC), Ricky Deleandro (Mentor, OH), and Ellis Logeman (Suwanee, GA) each had two hits for the Cobras.

For Mount Olive, Alex Vertcnik was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and two runs scored, while Jesse Lancaster was also 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Rich Racobaldo finished the day 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored, with Joseph Westbrook picking up a pair of hits for the Trojans.

Coker finishes their season 17-25 overall and 4-15 in the conference.