Published: May 16, 2008 12:20 am            

Local star has Ship off to good start

Home sweet home.

Back in the town he grew up in, Richland graduate Tim Freshour seemed like the sentimental choice for Shippensburg to start in its first game of the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional tournament at Johnstown’s Point Stadium.

And not only was Freshour a sentimental choice, he was a sensational choice.

The former Rams star struck out seven and retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced as Shippensburg won 10-2 over West Virginia State on Thursday at Point Stadium.

“It was pretty important,” said Freshour, a junior. “This was our first game of the tournament. We struggled with the first game of the past couple tournaments we’ve been in.”

The Raiders (35-23) face Pitt-Johnstown today during the second round of the double-elimination tournament. UPJ rallied for a victory to knock off Concord 6-3 late Thursday night.

West Virginia State faces defending regional champion Kutztown in an 11 a.m. elimination today.

Shippensburg set the tone with a Justin Garber infield single and a Kyle Rhoades bunt hit to open the game. Tyler Redick moved both runners up with a sacrifice before Garber scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch from West Virginia State starter Todd McQuiston.

Kevin Scholly then singled to bring Rhoades around for a 2-0 Raiders lead. Rick Shumway followed with a hit and

Kasey Kuhns added a two-out, two-run single for a 4-0 Shippensburg edge.

It looked like West Virginia State (36-16) would respond with a big inning of their own as Eric Workman doubled and Josh Bower added a bunt single. But Freshour (10-4) worked out of the jam, allowing only one run.

“I didn’t start out too strong,” said Freshour, an All-PSAC West Division pick. “I couldn’t locate a couple of my fastballs. As the game progressed, I felt like I got stronger and stronger.”

While Freshour was undoubtedly happy to be back in town, it wasn’t a true homecoming for the pitcher, who played for Delweld in the AAABA League. He has been to a pair of national AAABA tournaments, once as a member of Delweld and also as a pick-up player for Principle Development.

“It was a little bit weird,” Freshour said. “I felt comfortable. But it’s weird having to stay in a hotel room when I’m five minutes from my house. But it brought back a lot of good memories.”

In other action Thursday

West Chester 5, Kutztown 3

Drew Pare's two-run, two-out homer in the bottom of the eighth was the decisive blow as top-seeded West Chester (42-14) rallied for a 5-3 victory over conference rival Kutztown (30-25) in the opening game of the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional at Point Stadium.

The Golden Rams exploded for three runs and four hits in the eighth inning after KU starter Darin Gorski had handcuffed the WCU attack for most of the day. Pare's blast over Point Stadium’s nearly 60-foot left field wall put the Golden Rams up 4-3. WCU added an insurance run as Bechter doubled to chase Gorski.

Kevin McGrath then singled off reliever Derick Reis to wrap up the day's scoring.

Kutztown took an early 2-0 lead with single runs in the third and fourth innings. Michael Dugan helped the Golden Bears draw first blood with a leadoff triple in the third. Mark Renda's sacrifice fly to center brought Dugan home with the game's first run.

James Quigley and Corey Buletza sparked Kutztown in the fourth with back-to-back singles to open the frame. Matt Kulbacki advanced both runners 90 feet with a sacrifice before Jared Frey's groundout to shortstop plated Quigley for a 2-0 Golden Bear lead.

        

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