The La Roche College Redhawks are heading to the NCAA Mideast Regional looking to defend their title. The Redhawks will face Keystone College in their opening game on Thursday at Washington & Jefferson in a rematch of last year's College World Series Semifinal.
La Roche earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Regional after defeating Penn State Behrend in yesterday's AMCC Championship. This will be their fifth appearance in the Mideast Region and their third straight at W&J.
The Redhawks have been terrific in both Regional appearances in Washington, PA. Two years ago La Roche made it to the Regional Championship and last year broke through as Mideast Champions. The Redhawks defeated Randolph-Macon to win the Mideast Region and advanced all of the way to the College World Series National Semifinal.
La Roche's path to a title will not be easy as the Mideast Regional includes some of the best teams in the country. Four teams are currently ranked in the top 25 including La Roche, Wooster and Cortland State who rank in the top 15. La Roche, Wooster, Cortland State and Keystone have all made recent appearances in the College World Series and Cortland State won the National Championship in 2015.
Misericordia and DePauw made regional appearances last season and W&J returns after a one year hiatus. Earlham is making their first-ever appearance.
The eight teams playing in the 2017 NCAA Mideast Regional include:
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Wooster
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Cortland State
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La Roche
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Washington & Jefferson
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Misericordia
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Keystone
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DePauw
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Earlham