Penn College Baseball Team Seeks Conference Championship

Published 04.26.2006

News
Athletics

Pennsylvania College of Technology baseball coach Rees Daneker won't know until late Thursday or early Friday who his team will play on Saturday for the Penn State University Athletic Conference championship, but that doesn't matter.

"I don't care who they are. We're going to play our game and they're going to have to beat us," the West Division champ coach said.

"Our game is just hard-nosed baseball. These guys come out and hit; they do it all, they do it all. When their mind is set, nobody is going to beat them," Daneker continued.

Still vying for the East title are Penn State Delaware, Penn State Wilkes-Barre and Penn State Hazleton.

Championship games at Shanner Field, along old Route 322 about 5 miles beyond the State College exit, are scheduled for 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday. If a third game is needed to decide the champion, it will be played Sunday at noon at the same site.

"About two weeks before the (West) tournament, we went into a slump and lost three of five games. Then we went to Northampton and played strong and won a doubleheader, coming from behind to win," Daneker said.

"We came in very focused. We had a couple of days off where we could work in the (batting) cage and they solved their problems,"he continued, referring to wins over Penn State Harrisburg, 15-0 in seven innings, and Penn State Beaver, 7-6 in 11 innings, that resulted in the Wildcats winning the West crown.

"These kids want it (the title) and they deserve it because they've worked for a year," Danekersaid of his team, which takes a 29-11 overall record, counting the fall season, into the conference championship series.

Daneker said that Jordan Staib (Williamsport) probably will start the first game of the championship series. Circumstances will dictate who gets the nod for the second game, but, if a third game is necessary, he expects to go with Austin Upright (Montoursville).

"It's been an exciting year. These guys are just absolutely unbelievable. They keep surprising you every day," Daneker said. "We're ready to go. We're just waiting to see who our opponent is."