For the fourth time in as many years, the La Roche College baseball team has claimed the AMCC regular season title and hosting rights for the conference championship tournament. First round games will begin this weekend, hosted by the higher seeds, with the championship round to take place May 11-14 in Pittsburgh, PA on the La Roche campus.
Top seeded La Roche (30-8, 15-1) has relied on strong pitching and a balanced offensive attack to carry them throughout the regular season. Sophomore pitcher Nick Tunstall leads the conference with a 1.44 ERA, while junior Regis Sauer is tops with eight wins. Offensively, senior first baseman David Lemley leads the Redhawks, and is second in the league, with a .440 batting average, while senior infielder Ian Velez ranks right behind him with a .434 average. Lemley is also second in the conference with 43 RBI and senior first baseman Mitchell Yard is third with nine home runs.
#2 Penn State Behrend (20-17, 11-5) has also seen strong pitching this season, as senior hurlers Jack Herzing and Justin Rohrer hold down the top two spots in the league for strikeouts with 67 and 59, respectively. Sophomore Phil Myers is second in the league with a 2.01 ERA and is tied for second with six wins on the year. Sophomore Scott Sada has racked up 17 stolen bases, good enough for second in the conference, and is sixth with 38 RBI.
Pitt-Greensburg (18-13, 10-6) enters the tournament as the #3 seed and is led offensively by senior outfielder Ryan Dodson and sophomore outfielder Chris Common. Dodson leads the Bobcats, and is fourth in the conference, with a .400 batting average, while Common is hitting .393, is second in the league with 10 home runs, and third with 42 RBI. On the mound, junior Brandon Hoener is tied for second in the conference with six wins, while senior Dylan Pounds leads the way with four saves this season.
#4 Penn State Altoona (18-19. 9-7) will be hosting their first AMCC tournament game since the 2012 season. The Lions have experienced an exciting turnaround season under first year head coach RJ Barnard, as they more than doubled their conference win total from just one year ago and also recorded the most overall wins since the 2011 season. The Lions are led offensively by freshman infielder Peter Jacobs, who has a .337 batting average, while senior pitcher Jared Dailey is tied for second in the league with six wins on the mound.
Pitt-Bradford (13-22, 8-8) has earned the #5 seed, while freshman infielder Tyler Hoops leads the Panther offensive attack with a .370 batting average. Sophomore hurler Ryan Boyer leads the Panthers, and is fifth in the AMCC, with a 3.33 ERA, is tied for fifth with 46 strikeouts, and has collected four wins on the season.
Rounding out the tournament is #6 Mount Aloysius College (15-24, 8-8). Sophomore infielder Matt McCourt has been a force offensively for the Mounties, as he leads the team with a .358 batting average and is tops in the AMCC with 14 home runs and 45 RBI. Junior OF/INF Dalton Garlock ranks third in the conference with 14 stolen bases this season.
La Roche and Penn St. Behrend earned first round byes. Pitt-Greensburg will host Mount Aloysius and Pitt-Bradford will travel to Penn St. Altoona for the first round on Saturday, May 6 to play a best two-of-three game series. The winners will advance to the double-elimination format championship round May 11-14. Please see our Championships page for a full tournament schedule.