Eagles Silence Lakers, 2-1; Take Regional Baseball Crown, Earn Trip to National Championship
AU eliminates SIU-Edwardsville in earlier game
May 21, 2006

Complete Box Scores
vs. SIU-Edwardsville         vs. Grand Valley State

Any day now the Mayo Clinic should be calling Ashland University head baseball coach John Schaly. They’ll want a couple of days with that unique physical specimen, Josh Davidson. Medical science will want to see what makes him tick.

Plenty of baseball coaches around the country would also like to see the results of that exam.

AU’s righthanded pitcher has an arm that bounces back like a tennis ball that’s just been unleashed from a can. His veins are loaded with ice water and adrenaline, a concoction that allows him to pitch every day in every situation.

Davidson put all of that on display Sunday (May 21) at Grand Valley State as he pitched 3.2 hitless innings in relief to preserve a 2-1 win over the host Lakers. That victory was Ashland’s fourth straight at the NCAA Division II North Central Regional Tournament after an opening-round loss and it secured the regional crown. With that trophy goes a trip to Montgomery, AL, for the NCAA Division II Championships.

Davidson entered the game in the sixth inning. AU starting pitcher Ryan Douglas provided the Eagles with a magnificent performance. In 5.1 innings the senior lefty allowed just a run on four hits while walking one and striking out four. But when Schaly called for Davidson late on Sunday afternoon, Douglas was up to his hips in trouble. The Lakers had used a leadoff walk and three singles to get one run home and had the bases loaded. AU was clinging to a 2-1 lead.

Davidson, who threw 107 pitches on Thursday, came on and put out the fire by striking out Casey Robrahn and Brandon Bard. Over the next three innings, he had two more strikeouts and didn’t allow a hit. All told, in 3.2 innings, he didn’t give up a hit or run and struck out four in picking up his fourth save of the season. That earned Davidson the tournament’s most valuable player award and Ashland was heading for Montgomery for the third time under Schaly.

“Davidson’s our man,” said shortstop Jim Barry. “If the game’s on the line, we want him in there. He’s just that good. He’s a big-game pitcher.”

“We knew he could throw, we just didn’t know for how long,” added Schaly. “We knew he could come out of the pen, he’s done that before. I think he had better stuff today than he did on Thursday. He was just about unhittable.”

That was especially true against righthanders. Robrahn and Bard both swing from the right side and if they had exchanged their bats for bed slats it wouldn’t have mattered.

“I felt pretty strong,” said Davidson, who’s thrown 103 innings this season. “I wasn’t sure when I first got here. Once I got out there it was all adrenalin.”

Both Davidson and Douglas (5-1) were exceptional against GVSU. Entering this tournament, the Lakers were 17-1 on their home field in 2006. The Eagles (46-15) went 2-0 against them for the weekend. On Sunday, they held the top-seeded home team to four hits and none went for extra bases.

“This is a dream come true,” said Barry, a senior. “To lose the first game and come back and win four straight, it’s a Cinderella story. But we always thought we had a chance because we have pitching, defense and great team chemistry. We know what we’re capable of.”

Douglas and Davidson had little margin of error because GVSU pitchers Grant Payton and Jeremy Dow gave the Eagles little to work with. Payton (12-1), a lefty, went 6.1 innings and allowed two runs – one earned – on eight hits. He had three walks and three strikeouts. Dow, normally a starter, pitched 2.2 innings and didn’t give up a hit or run.

Both of AU’s runs came in the fifth inning. Center fielder Tyson Rowland led off with an infield single and left fielder David Waters put down a sacrifice bunt to move him to second. Barry’s grounder to shortstop was mishandled by Dan Skirka, putting runners on first and third. Second baseman Justin Randall delivered a single to right center field to get Rowland home and move Barry to third. The AU shortstop trotted home on a Casey Jirsa base hit up the middle.

Randall and Jirsa both finished with a pair of hits. Both players were named to the North Central Region All-Tournament team. They were joined by Waters, Davidson and third baseman Justin Richards.

The Eagles started Sunday with a 9-4 victory over fifth-seeded SIU-Edwardsville. This contest wasn’t nearly as tension-racked as the GVSU game. The Cougars (40-19-1) scored once in the first off of freshman righthander Todd Schlenkerman (7-1), but the Eagles answered with four runs in the third and two more in the fourth to lead, 6-1 after four frames. After that, it was just a matter of moving the game along.

Schlenkerman lasted six innings and allowed one run (it was unearned) on six hits. Thom Abbott hurled the final three innings and allowed three runs on five hits.

Waters and Barry were both 3-for-4 and Jirsa was 2-for-5 and drove in two runs. Catcher Eric Zattlin was 2-for-3. John Hosgood ripped a double.

The double-elimination, NCAA Championships begin on Saturday, May 27. Ashland’s first game will be on Sunday, May 28. Schaly has also guided the Eagles to this level in 1999 and 2002. By winning the regional title, he becomes the North Central Region coach of the year.

“It was a great ballgame,” said the AU head coach of the matchup with Grand Valley State. “We beat a great team. Our guys didn’t quit.”