Raiders, Freshour earn title

The Tribune-Democrat

May 18, 2008 11:57 pm

— Tim Freshour made his homecoming a memorable one.
The Richland graduate helped Shippensburg capture the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional on Sunday, as the Red Raiders beat West Chester 5-4 at Point Stadium.
Shippensburg (38-24) entered the day with a perfect record in the double-elimination tournament, but West Chester (45-16) forced another game by beating the Red Raiders 12-10 in the first contest on Sunday.
Freshour, who picked up a victory over West Virginia State on Thursday, started the second game on Sunday. After a solid start, Freshour gave up four consecutive singles to begin the fifth and turned the game over to Matt Wright, the North Atlantic Region’s pitcher of the year.
Matt Cotellese greeted Wright with a run-scoring single to tie the game at 4, but Shippensburg responded in the top of the sixth.
The Red Raiders’ Sean Killian drew a leadoff walk in the sixth and eventually scored on a wild pitch by West Chester’s Chris Caldwell.
Wright kept the Golden Rams off the scoreboard before giving way to tournament MVP Tyler Redick in the ninth.
West Chester didn’t go away quietly though and threatened in the ninth. Blair Dameron drew a leadoff walk. Nick Spisak’s single to center two outs later put Rams on first and third, but Redick struck out Cotellese to end the game.
Shippensburg will face West Region champion Sonoma State (Calif.) on Saturday in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship in suburban St. Louis.