MCCC Baseball Wins Region 19 Championship

5/14/24

Mercer baseball won the Region 19 Championship, which they hosted May 10^th-12^th.  The #1 seeded Vikings opened play in the Region 19 Tournament with a 14-6 win vs Sussex.  Mercer then beat Lackawanna 4-2 in the Semifinals.  Mercer faced Lackawanna again in the Region Championship.  After falling behind 0-7, the Vikings rallied to come back and win 10-8.

Sophomore pitcher Ryan Conover (Hamilton, NJ/Notre Dame) was named the Region 19 Tournament MVP and Russ Stupienski was named the Region 19 Coach of the Year.

In the two wins vs Lackawanna, Conover threw in 3.3 innings, allowing just two hits, no earned runs and struck out three.  Conover got his eighth save of the season in the 4-2 win vs Lackawanna and got his fourth win of the season in the 10-8 win vs Lackawanna.

Sophomore Torin McKenzie (Hamilton, NJ/Nottingham) went 9 for 13 in three games in the Region 19 Tournament with four doubles, five runs and six RBIs, batting .692 for the tournament.  Sophomore Wyatt Baker (Hamilton, NJ/Nottingham) went 5 for 9 in three games, with two doubles, three runs and six RBIs, hitting .555 in the Region Tournament.  Freshman Jake Pope (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) hit .500 in the Region Tournament with 4 RBIs.

In addition to the strong offense from Mercer, the pitching staff came up big for the Vikings.  In the Vikings opening 14-6 win vs Sussex, freshman Matteo Mannino (Wrightstown, NJ/Northern Burlington) got his seventh win of the season.  In Mercer’s 4-2 win vs Lackawanna, freshman Collin Williams (Newtown, PA/Council Rock North) got his fourth win of the season, allowing just two earned runs over 6.2 innings pitched.  And in the Vikings come from behind 10-8 win, sophomore Dyllon King (Old Saybrook, CT/Cheshire Academy) had six strikeouts in five innings.

With the win, the Vikings advance to the East District Championship hosted by Sullivan CCC.  Four teams will compete in the double elimination tournament for a chance to advance to the NJCAA Division II World Series in Oklahoma.  Mercer will first play Westchester CC on Friday, May 17^th at 1:00 PM.  The other game will be UConn Avery Point vs Sullivan CCC.

The Vikings played Westchester CC in a doubleheader on March 3^rd, winning 1-0 and 9-6.  Mercer split a doubleheader with Sullivan CCC in Myrtle Beach on March 16^th, winning Game 1, 12-9 and losing Game 2, 1-3.  The Vikings opened their season in a doubleheader vs UConn Avery Point on February 26^th, winning both games 2-0 and 7-4.

For the latest on the East District Tournament and Vikings baseball, visit: https://www.mccc.edu/athletics_men_baseball.shtml