'Wildcat Weekly' Recaps, Previews Spring Contests

Published 04.24.2005

News
Wildcat Weekly

Vol. 4, No. 35

Recent Results/Upcoming Games (Through Sunday, April 24)

Baseball Overall record: 6-2 EPCC record: 5-1

Monday, April 18 host Alfred St. (N.Y.), L, 6-2; W, 8-6 Saturday, April 23 host Bucks County Community College at Bowman Field (2), 1 p.m., ppd. to Wednesday Sunday, April 24 at King's College Jayvees (2), 2 p.m., ppd. Wednesday, April 27 host Bucks County Community College at Bowman Field (2), 1 p.m. Saturday, April 30 at Northampton County Community College (2), 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 3 host Delaware County Community College at Bowman Field (2), 1 p.m.

Softball Overall record: 9-9 Final EPCC regular-season record: 5-3 Final CCAC regular-season record: 7-3

Tuesday, April 19 host Luzerne County Community College, L, 11-10; L, 13-1 Tuesday, April 26 at Penn State Mont Alto, 4 p.m. (EPCC play-in) Saturday, April 30 EPCC Tournament, TBA

Archery Saturday-Sunday, April 23-24 host Eastern Regional Outdoor Intercollegiate Championships, Penn College women's compound team finished first, Beth Robinson (Williamsport) won women's individual compound, men's compound team finished second, Ryan Romberger (Pillow) finished second in men's individual compound. Friday-Sunday, May 20-22 at U.S. Intercollegiate Outdoor Championship (Milledgeville, Ga.)

Men's Volleyball Final Overall record: 26-1 Final EPCC regular-season record: 14-1

Saturday, April 23 host EPCC Championships (Semifinals: Penn College def. Delaware County Community College, 25-6, 25-6; Harrisburg Area Community College def. Lehigh Carbon Community College, 25-18, 25-17. Final: Penn College def. Harrisburg Area Community College, 22-25, 25-16, 25-16, 21-25, 15-9)

Team Tennis Overall record: 2-3 EPCC record: 2-3

Tuesday, April 19 host Northampton County Community College, L, 6-3 Friday, April 22 host Bucks County Community College, L, 8-1 Saturday, April 23 host Delaware County Community College, canceled Friday, April 29 host Harrisburg Area Community College, 3 p.m. Saturday, April 30 host EPCC/PCAA Championship at West Branch Tennis Club (South Williamsport), 9 a.m.

'Cat Tales Baseball In a nonleague split with Alfred (N.Y.) State, Joe Vassallo (Windsor, Conn.) went 2-for-3 at the plate and Matt Comp (Newport) 2-for-4 in a first-game loss. In the second-game win, Justin Wanner (Conrad Weiser) went 2-for-3 with a double and five RBI while Comp, John Vitovsky (Western Wayne) and Jim Woodring (Waynesboro) were each 2-for-4. Travis Fairbanks (Athens) improved to 2-1 on the mound.

Softball In the first game of a doubleheader loss to Luzerne, Jenny Barry (Souderton) went 2-for-4 at the plate. In the nightcap, Erica Kaiser (Lancaster Catholic) went 2-for-3.

Despite losing both games of the twin bill, the Wildcats still have a shot at the Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference championship. Penn College will travel to Penn State Mont Alto for a 4 p.m. game Tuesday in a play-in contest. The winner will advance to Saturday's EPCC tournament at Northampton County Community College.

In an earlier doubleheader against Mont Alto, Penn College dropped both games.

Men's Volleyball The Pennsylvania College of Technology men's volleyball team captured its first Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference championship Saturday with a 3-2 win over Harrisburg Area Community College. Individual game scores were 22-25, 25-16, 25-16, 21-25, 15-9.

"It feels wonderful. It really does," said Wes Strayer, coach of the Wildcats, after his team completed a 26-1 season. "The kids really deserve it. They played wonderful all year. You can't ask for anything better than that. I'm just elated."

The top seed and league tournament host, Penn College breezed past Penn State Delaware County, 25-6, 25-6, in its semifinal match at Bardo Gymnasium while Harrisburg advanced to the title match by beating Lehigh Carbon Community College, 25-18, 25-17.

In the first game of the best-of-five final, Harrisburg got off to an early lead, going ahead by seven points at 19-12. Penn College narrowed the gap to two points twice, the last time at 23-21, before Harrisburg closed it out.

The second game saw Penn College build a six-point lead at 10-4 before HACC came to within 16-13. The Wildcats then pulled away to even the match at 1-1.

After five early ties in the third game, the last at 5-all, Penn College opened a seven-point lead three times and went on to win by nine for a 2-1 lead in games.

With its back to the wall in the fourth game, Harrisburg forced four early ties before going out in front 13-7. The Wildcats got within two points twice, the last at 15-17, before Harrisburg sealed things to force a decisive fifth game.

Penn College put the pressure on early, opening an 8-3 lead. Harrisburg closed within two at 9-7 and 10-8, but the Wildcats were not to be denied and scored five of the last six points to claim the crown.

"(After getting down early in the first game) they played complacent," Strayer assessed. "We had a talk about it and they picked it up in the second and third games, then they kind of got flat in the fourth game. They thought they had it wrapped up, I really do think that. So they had to come out in the fifth and play hard. They kept their heads and kept their composure, which is wonderful."

"We picked it up on our blocks and played good defense behind our hits. It was great. They picked it up when they had to," Strayer added, mentioning the play of Cody Umberger (Lower Dauphin), Phil Neiderer (New Oxford), Gregg Stoneham (Hunterdon, N.J.) and Tom Holeva (Guys Mills).

Winning the EPCC title was especially sweet for Umberger, who came up with several huge hits Saturday against Harrisburg.

"It was very disappointing last season. I broke my foot and had to sit out (the championship match against Delaware) and watch the team lose. (This year) I'm pleased. We've all been working hard for this and it paid off we won!" Umberger said.

"I do my best every game and I hope my play picks up the other guys."

Strayer said of Umberger, "There's no doubt about it. Every time we need something, we go to Cody and he gets up there and does it for you. He stepped up. He stepped up big."

"It was a well-played match from both teams. It just came down to a few plays and they made the plays and we didn't," said Terry Ranck, Harrisburg coach.

Co-Ed Tennis In a loss to Northampton, coach Charlie Baum gave high grades to Krystal Sheredos (Bangor) for a win at No. 1 women's singles, Derek Paulhamus (South Williamsport) at No. 4 men's singles, and Paulhamus and Spike Krepshaw (Southern Columbia) in men's doubles).

In a loss to Bucks, Paulhamus was the lone winner.

Archery Two firsts and two seconds. The Pennsylvania College of Technology archery team fared quite well when it hosted the East Regional Collegiate Outdoor Championship on Saturday and Sunday.

Beth Robinson (Williamsport) won the women's individual compound event and helped the Wildcats to a first-place finish in the women's compound team event by beating James Madison University, 231-222. Also for the Penn College women, Michelle Wright (Kendall, N.Y.) placed third in women's individual compound and earned the top spot on the All-Eastern Team as a result of her combined scores from this weekend's outdoor and earlier indoor regional action.

On the men's side, Ryan Romberger (Pillow) finished second in the individual compound, losing by just one point to the nation's top-ranked archer from James Madison, and, in men's team compound competition, the Wildcats finished second to James Madison, also by one point, 247-246. As a result of his outdoor and indoor scores, Romberger was named to the fourth spot on the All-East Team.

Penn College's male recurve team finished third in the regional competition, which drew six colleges and 61 archers.

"I really had my hopes up when the guys had JMU down by two points after the second round. I thought they were going to pull it out," Chad Karstetter, Penn College coach, said about the male compound team event.

Cool weather Sunday, with temperatures in the low 40s, was a factor for all of the archers, according to Karstetter.

"It's kind of hard. You're on a shooting line and you may shoot your first 18 arrows and then not shoot again for 10 minutes and you get cold your muscles tighten up a little bit and it's hard to stay focused,"he said.

"Overall, our archers really shot well and I'm very pleased with the way things turned out. I couldn't have asked for them to shoot much better," Karstetter said.

"And, I'm really happy that Penn College allowed us to host this event. We are going to continue to do it year-after-year," the coach continued.

Next up for the Wildcats will be the U.S. Collegiate Outdoor Championship May 20-22 at Milledgeville, Ga.

"We'll hold practice a couple of times a week to get ready. We'll shoot a lot at 70 meters to get ready for the knockout round and the team round," Karstetter said.