While the 2021 AMCC Baseball Championship Tournament officially kicks off on Saturday, #9 Medaille College will travel to #8 Hilbert College this afternoon for a 9-inning single game play-in game. The winner of today's game will face top-seeded La Roche University on Saturday.
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#1 La Roche University
The top-seeded Redhawks have won the six past AMCC championships and enter the 2021 tournament with a 15-1 record. Outfielder Dylan Urban leads the conference with a .426 batting average, while Jay Novak ranks fifth with a .409 average. Infielder Austin Hoffman's five home runs this season are good for fourth-best in the league. Jake Seymour's 0.52 ERA is tops in the AMCC and is 8th in the nation among all Division III pitchers. Seymour is also tied at the top with five wins this season.
#2 Penn State Behrend
Behrend earned the No. 2 seed with a 10-4 conference record and is looking to capture their sixth AMCC Championship. The Lions last won the title in 2013. In 2019, the Lions fell 5-3 to Penn State Altoona in the AMCC Semifinals. Pitcher Derrick Shields is ranked fourth in the AMCC in ERA (2.31) and in strikeouts (39).
Colin Harger and Braden Paulinellie are ranked third and fourth in batting average with .412 and .410, respectively. Paulinellie is on a 11-game hitting streak and has 12 multiple-hit games.
#3 Mount Aloysius College
With an 11-5 conference record, Mount Aloysius enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed. Infielder Jeremy Iellimo leads the Mounties at the plate with a .363 batting average and has 13 stolen bases. On the mound, Douglas Cannon is first in the AMCC with six saves on the year. Dylan Coyle has four wins and 31 strikeouts for the Mounties.
#4 Alfred State College
This is the first time Alfred State will host a AMCC playoff series. The fourth-seeded Pioneers are 8-1 at home this season. They are hitting .278 overall as a team and .315 in AMCC play. Mateo Avallone leads the way with a .403 batting average. He has 12 doubles, eight homers, and 35 RBI while Brody Burdett has 28 RBI. Newcomers Chris Baldwin and Christopher Mattoon have been key on the mound. Baldwin has appeared in 17 games and pitched 28.2 innings with a 3.45 ERA while Mattoon is 4-2 with 3 saves in 38.1 innings of work.
#5 Penn State Altoona
Penn State Altoona baseball enters the AMCC Tournament winners of seven of their past eight games. Senior first baseman Catcher Cumming leads the conference in home runs (9) and slugging percentage (.833) while ranking third in RBI (28) and total bases (65), and freshman third baseman Jake Hillard is second in total bases (68) and third in home runs (7) and doubles (11). On the mound, freshman pitcher Kyle Glass is tied for the AMCC lead in wins (5) and ranks fifth in ERA (2.31), while senior pitcher Tyler Manger has seen the biggest workload on the staff, ranking fourth in the conference in innings pitched (39 2/3).
#6 Pitt-Greensburg
Mikey Sullivan has been one of Pitt-Greensburg’s top pitchers for much of the season, appearing in a team-high nine games where he has logged 33.2 innings, which also ranks second on the team. Sullivan has posted 30 strikeouts and just 19 walks. After a tough start to the year, Sullivan has rounded into form, logging at least six innings in his last two starts and struck out a season-high seven batters in his most recent start against Alfred State. Jacob Davey has been one of the top hitters for Pitt-Greensburg this season, as he currently leads the team and ranks second in the AMCC with a .418 batting average. Davey has started 25 games during the 2021 season and is coming off a two-home run game against Alfred State. Davey currently boats a 1.091 OPS, a .615 slugging percentage, and a .476 on-base-percentage.
#7 Pitt-Bradford
The Panthers enter the postseason with a 5-13 overall record and a 3-11 record in AMCC play. Offensively, they have been led by senior shortstop Sam Dreistadt. He is hitting .403 this season which is the 6th best average in the conference. He also has hit two home runs, scored nine runs and drove in 15. Junior Alex Miles has been the Panthers' leader on the mound. He is 1-1 with a 3.60 era. His best performance was in the win over Penn State-Behrend, when he shut the Lions out for seven innings while striking out six.
#8 Hilbert College
Sophomore Misael Guzman Caez was the Hawks' top arm and top stick all season long. He hit .364 and finished second in the league in stolen bases (10) during AMCC play. The Hawks ace also finished seventh in the AMCC in ERA (2.65) and ninth in K/9 (9.0) while going undefeated during league play. Freshman Frank McCabe showed steady play at the top of the order batting .328 with a .442 on base percentage and led the AMCC with 16 stolen bases. Sophomore James DiSanti hit .302 with five doubles and two home runs. The Hawks DH has a team-best 19 RBI and scored 11 runs over the Hawks 22 games played. Junior Zachary Crane started five games on the mound this spring, finishing with a 4.87 ERA over 20.1 innings pitched and added 13 strikeouts.
#9 Medaille College
The Mavericks are set to face off with #8 Hilbert College in a single nine-inning play-in game with the winner advancing to the AMCC Tournament. Patrick Whelan and Jordeyn Lewis have had big seasons for the blue and gold, both at the top in terms of batting average with a .400 and .396, respectively. The Mavs will look for solid performances out of both of them in order to advance.