No Final Rally for Kingsmen

Cal Lutheran had Chapman right where it wanted. After staging dramatic comebacks in two previous games, the Kingsmen couldn’t have minded trailing by a bundle.

But this time the rallies sputtered, the defense cracked, the pitching simply ran out.

Chapman took advantage of it all and stormed to the NCAA Division III West Regional title with a resounding 20-7 victory Saturday in the decisive game of the best-of-five series at Moorpark College.

The Panthers (31-14) will advance to next week’s national championships in Salem, Va. Cal Lutheran (35-10) is deprived of a chance to chase the title that slipped through its fingers last season when William Paterson College scored five runs in the eighth inning to win the final, 6-5.

Earlier Saturday, Cal Lutheran came back from a two-run deficit to win in 10 innings, 5-4, and force a fifth game. Chapman had won the first two games, but blew a 9-1 lead in the third game and lost, 10-9, in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader.

“It was a long series and a mentally draining one,” Cal Lutheran Coach Marty Slimak said. “The first game (Saturday) took everything out of us. Give them credit. We beat them twice and they stayed with it.”

With the pitching of both teams depleted, the coaches gambled in different ways in the final game. Cal Lutheran went with ace right-hander Erik Kiszczak, who had thrown more than 100 pitches on Friday. Chapman gave the ball to right-hander Jeremy Starns, a freshman who had not made a single appearance all season.

Kiszczak (10-4) lasted only one inning, giving up five runs, triggering a parade of six Kingsmen pitchers. Chapman banged out 20 hits and scored in every at-bat but its last.

Starns (1-0) emerged as the star, allowing six hits in 6 2/3 innings and leaving with a 16-4 lead.

“I put him on the roster in case we had a Game 5, and it worked out,” Chapman Coach Rex Peters said. “We rolled the dice.”

Cal Lutheran had the momentum after winning the first game when Scott Foli scored on a single by Eric Buben in the 10th inning.

Richard Bell, who made 123 pitches in Thursday’s 7-4 loss, allowed two runs, none earned, in 4 2/3 innings. His successor, Marco Marquez, was even more effective.

After pitching 5 2/3 innings Friday, Marquez (10-1) came back to pitch another 5 2/3, allowing two runs. The senior right-hander shut out Chapman over the final four innings.

Cal Lutheran overcame a 4-2 deficit with two runs in the eighth. Pinch-hitter David Cruz hit a sharp ground ball that bounced off second baseman Matt Barcellona and into right field, enabling Adam Rauch and Buben to score.

“We made another good run at the (national championships) and I think we’ll be doing so for many years to come,” said Slimak, who has a four-year record of 116-48-2. “This was a tremendous season. We had great kids who gave everything they had. We played five games in three days and they left it all on the field.”