Prince George's Baseball Welcomes Surry For Best-Of-Three Series For NJCAA Division III District D Championship And Trip To World Series

NJCAA Division III DISTRICT D CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
Surry (28-20-1) vs. Prince George's (31-12-1)
Fri-Sat, May 19-20, 2017
Prince George's Baseball Field | Largo, Md.

SCHEDULE
GAME 1: Surry vs. Prince George's | Friday, 12 p.m. | LIVE STATS
GAME 2: Surry vs. Prince George's | Friday, 3 p.m. | LIVE STATS
GAME 3: Surry vs. Prince George's | Saturday, 11 a.m. | LIVE STATS (If Necessary)

PRINCE GEORGE'S: ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
SURRY: ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS

opening pitch… Prince George's and Surry meet in the NJCAA Division III District D Championships on Friday and Saturday for the right to advance to the NJCAA Division III World Series. The two teams will play a best two-out-of-three series with games at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Friday and then if the two teams split on Friday will come back and play a decisive tilt on Saturday at 11 a.m.

where we stand… There are seven NJCAA Division III district championships being decided by Sunday, including District D between Surry and Prince George's. The seven winners will advance to the NJCAA Division III World Series and one at-large team will be selected to also participate in the World Series, which will be held from May 27-June 1 at Pioneer Park in Greeneville, Tennessee.

the word on the knights… Surry comes into the NJCAA Division III District D Championship 28-20-1 after defeating Danville 16-10 in the winner-takes-all game on Monday. Neil Hutchens paces the Knights with a .415 batting average with 44 hits, 26 runs scored, eight doubles, a homer and 22 RBIs. Chase Snyder is second with a .414 batting average with 70 hits, 62 runs scored, 13 doubles, a triple, four homers and 42 RBIs while Jordan Huntley is hitting .396 with 61 hits, 58 runs scored, 15 doubles, six triples, 11 homeruns and 38 RBIs. Matthew Lambert, Tyler Lundy and Tyler Seller is Surry's Top-3 pitchers. Lambert fuels the team with a 7-3 record, one save, 76 strikeouts and a 3.21 ERA in 73.0 innings pitched. Lundy, the current NJCAA Division III Pitcher of the Week, is 8-2 with 74 strikeouts and a 4.71 ERA in 70.2 innings on the hill while Seller is 3-1 with four saves, a 3.75 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 36.0 innings of work.

knights vs. owls in national statistics… Both Surry and Prince George's are ranked in Division III in runs, hits, homeruns and RBIs. The Knights sit in seventh in runs (390) while the Owls are eighth in runs (382). Surry is ninth in hits (509) and Prince George's is 10th in the category (500). The Knights are seventh in RBIs (335) while the Owls are 10th (72). The Largo team ranks third in homeruns (45) while Surry is eighth in long balls (31) while Prince George's also ranks in the Top-10 in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, batting average, doubles, stolen bases.

last time out… Bay To hit a two-run single in the seventh inning to propel Prince George's Community College to its fourth National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XX Baseball Championship with a 6-5 come-from behind victory against Montgomery on Tuesday. To, who had the game-tying hit in the 6-5 win against Butler on Sunday and the game-tying hit in the 8-7 victory against Montgomery on Monday, decided to put Prince George's ahead this time with his at-bat in the seventh. After Dwayne Coleman plated the tying run on an RBI single to left field, To found the hole on the left side of the infield and into left field to bring home Brandon Crosby and Coleman to hand the Owls a 6-4 advantage. The Raptors scored a run on an RBI groundout by Chris Amparo in the eighth to make it a one-run game. Jordan Cissel and Naja Garcia walked with one out, but Ryan Faircloth induced a pair of groundout to maintain a 6-5 edge. James Wilcox III came in and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth on a fly out, strikeout and To groundout at shortstop to secure the victory. Dakota McFadden paced the Owls with two hits, two RBIs and a run scored including his ninth homer of the year. Coleman registered a hit, two runs scored and an RBI while To had a hit and two RBIs to give the squad its fourth region title after also taking home the title in 1978, 1979 and 2014. Michael Hovermill, Jr. allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits with five walks and six strikeouts in seven innings to pick up his team-leading seventh victory of the year. Crosby, Faircloth, McFadden, To and Kevin Kornieck were named to the All-Tournament team.

next on tap… The winner advances to the NJCAA Division III World Series on May 27-June 1 at Pioneer Park in Greeneville, Tennessee.

all-tournament recognition… Crosby went 5-for-11 in the three games with four runs scored, two doubles, three RBIs and three stolen bases. He notched three hits, a run scored and two RBIs on a big base hit in the ninth inning against Butler and then tallied two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI in the first game against Montgomery. Crosby then scored the go-ahead run in the title bout against the Raptors. Faircloth was 3-for-7 with two runs scored, a homer and two RBIs. Faircloth propelled the squad to the win against the Pioneers with a walk-off RBI single in the 10th on Sunday and then smacked a home run down the left field line against Montgomery on Monday. He then allowed a run on the mound in the eighth, but got out of the jam in the frame to maintain the 6-5 edge for the Owls in the championship game. The comeback victories against Butler County and Montgomery might not have been possible without Kornieck. The sophomore tossed two scoreless innings in relief allowing one hit against the Pioneers to earn the win and then came in to throw a scoreless ninth in the comeback win against the Raptors to pick up his second win of the tournament. McFadden started the tournament slow after going 0-for-8 with one run scored, but finished 3-for-5 with a run scored, two doubles, a homer and three RBIs in his last five at-bats. He handed Prince George's the 8-7 win against Montgomery with a walk-off double in the ninth for his first hit of the tournament on Monday and then went 2-for-4 with a double, a solo homerun, a run scored and two RBIs. McFadden smacked an opposite field homer to help tie the game at 2 in the second and then gave the Owls a 3-2 lead with a double in the sixth. On the hill, he allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits with six walks and eight strikeouts in the first contest against Montgomery. To had either the game-tying hit or the go-ahead hit in all three games, posting three hits, two runs scored and five RBIs in the three games. His cue-shot base hit into right against Butler County scored two runs to tie the game at 5 in the bottom of the ninth and then a base hit to center in the ninth against Montgomery on Monday to tie the game in the ninth and then came home to score the decisive run on McFadden's hit for one of his two runs scored on the day. In the championship game, he smacked a two-run single to left to break a 6-4 tie in the seventh to bring home the decisive run for the title.

nationally ranked… Prince George's Community College baseball maintained its No. 10 ranking in National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Baseball Rankings, announced on Tuesday. While the Owls celebrated winning their fourth NJCAA Division III Region XX Tournament Championship on Tuesday, the national poll kept the squad at No. 10 after receiving eight points for the week. Prince George's lone game during the week that counted toward the rankings was the 6-5 come-from-behind victory against Butler County Community College. The squad has been in the national poll in six of the last seven weeks, including two weeks each at No. 8, No. 9 and No. 10. For the second-straight week, the Top-5 spots in the poll remained the same after Cumberland County received all seven first place votes and 70 points to earn the top spot while Niagara County (63 points), St. Cloud Tech (56 points), Rowan Gloucester (45 points) and Northampton (40 points) sit 2-5 in the poll. There was some movement in the bottom half of the rankings with Tyler (35 points) and Century (42 points) switching No. 6 and No. 7 for the second-straight week while Brookhaven (16 points), Onondaga (13 points) and Prince George's (8 points) rounded out the 10-team poll.

all-conference honors… Brandon Crosby and Dakota McFadden were named to the All-Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference (MD JUCO) team. Crosby was selected to the first team as an outfielder while McFadden garnered second-team recognition as a designated hitter.Crosby paces the team in hits (63), runs (68), stolen bases (42), batting average (.450) and on-base percentage (.538) while ranking second in RBIs (43), third in doubles (14), third in triples (2) and fourth in slugging percentage (.609). The freshman leads the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III in steals and ranks eighth in the nation in runs.  Along with leading the conference in stolen bases, Crosby sits second in batting average, third in hits, third in on-base percentage, fifth in runs and ninth in doubles. He has posted a hit in 35 of the 41 games played, including nine two-hit games and 11 three-hit performances. Crosby has also scored two or more runs 18 times and registered two or more stolen bases in 12 games. McFadden fuels the team in doubles (20), RBIs (50) and is tied with teammate Harold Marte (Haymarket, Va./Battlefield) for the team-lead in homeruns (8) while sitting second in hits (59), second in batting average (.434), second in slugging percentage (.772), third in runs (41) and third in on-base percentage (.477). McFadden is fifth in NJCAA Division III in doubles and 10th in slugging percentage while ranking second in doubles, fifth in batting average, seventh in RBIs and eighth in slugging percentage in Maryland JUCO. He has recorded a hit in 32 of the 41 games this season, including 12 two-hit games, three three-hit performances and three games with four hits. In those three games with four hits, McFadden was perfect at the plate going 4-for-4.

the comeback kids… Prince George's has come back to win a game in its last offensive inning seven times at home this season, including four walk-off base hits. The Owls hit a pair of walk-offs in the NJCAA Division III Region XX Tournament on Monday and Tuesday.

milestone numbers… Prince George's has won 20 games and 30 games for the first time under head coach Buddy Foster. The Owls reached the 20-win milestone with a 3-2 win against No. 17 Frederick on Apr. 15 and then with an 8-7 win against Montgomery in the NJCAA Division III Region XX Tournament notched win No. 30 on the year. Foster is now just one win shy of 100 wins for his career.

theft master… With three steals against Allegany of Maryland on Apr. 23, freshman Brandon Crosby became the first Prince George's player in the last five years to swipe 40 bases in a season and now has 45 stolen bases on the year. Crosby became just the third player in the last five years on the squad to have 20 thefts, joining Roland Eusesio (26, 2016) and Abdiel Marcano (29, 2014 and 20, 2013) as the only players with 20 steals in that stretch. Freshman Bay To can became the fourth player in that span with 20 steals and currently has 23 steals on the year.

in the last five years… Along with Brandon Crosby being the first Prince George's player in the last five years with 40 steals, Crosby is the first player to score 60 runs in a season and the fifth player with 50 hits in a season during that stretch. Crosby currently sits at 67 runs to post the most runs scored in the last five years for the team while his 73 base hits are the most in the last five years. Dakota McFadden has posted 22 doubles this season to notch the most doubles in the last five years while his 53 RBIs are also a best in the last five years. McFadden and Harold Marte's nine homers are the most for the team in the last five years while Michael Hovermill is only the second pitcher in the last five years to notch seven wins.

this is how we roll… Prince George's players have recorded at least two hits in a game 139 times this season. The squad has also had three hits in a game by a player 34 times, four hits by a player seven times and four five-hit performances. Brandon Crosby leads the way with 24 multi-hit games this season while Dakota McFadden (19), Bay To (16), Harold Marte (17), Dwayne Coleman (12), Siri-Jacob Ramirez (8), Kilian Bloat (7), Ryan Faircloth (7), Austin Adams (6), Jared Davis (5), Thomas Thorgersen (4), Quentin Rohrbaugh (5), Naquan Holden (3), Bryan Waltemath (2) and Thomas Decker III (1) have also notch multi-hit contests this season. Crosby has tallied 12 games with three hits while Marte (4), Bloat (3), McFadden (3), Coleman (2), Faircloth (1), Holden (1), Ramirez (1) and Rohrbaugh (1). McFadden has three four-hit games while Adams has two four-hit games and Coleman and Waltemath each have one four-hit performance this season while To has two five-hit games and Coleman and Ramirez each recorded a five-hit performance this season.

punch out kings… Five Prince George's pitchers have recorded nine strikeouts or more in a game this season. Jonathan Mahoney posted 11 strikeouts in a five-inning game against Central Virginia on Feb. 8 while Michael Hovermill, Jr. registered 11 strikeouts in nine innings against Anne Arundel on Mar. 28 for the top strikeout mark this season. Dakota McFadden struck out 10 College of Faith hitters on Feb. 18 in seven innings while Mahoney posted nine punch outs against Orange County on Feb. 26 and Kilian Bloat registered nine strikeouts against UVAA on Feb. 17. Thomas Thorgersen recorded nine of his 12 outs recorded via the strikeout against Harford on Apr. 4. Hovermill had nine strikeouts against Westmoreland on Apr. 29 and MdFadden had nine punchouts against Garrett on Apr. 30 while Mahoney posted nine K's against Cecil on May 4. The Owls are 6-3 when a pitcher has nine or more strikeouts in a game.

hovermill honored again… Michael Hovermill, Jr. was named the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Pitcher of the Week for the week of Apr. 24-30. It is second time this season the freshman has received the top pitcher in the nation award after also garnering the recognition for the week of Mar. 27-Apr. 2. Hovermill, a right-handed pitcher, tossed a four-hit complete-game shutout with nine strikeouts and two walks in a 3-0 win against Westmoreland County Community College on Saturday. With the win, the freshman picked up his team-leading sixth win on the mound this season.

hovermill honored… Michael Hovermill, Jr. was named the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Pitcher of the Week for the week of March 27-April 2. It is Hovermill's first honor of the season. Hovermill pitched a nine inning complete-game gem in a 7-1 win against Anne Arundel Community College on Mar. 28, allowing one run on four hits with one walk and 11 strikeouts on 117 pitches. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning five times and retired 12 of 13 batters faced from the second to the fifth inning with the only hitter reaching base on an error in that stretch. The Riverhawks were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and twice Anne Arundel had runners in scoring position with no outs and the freshman got out of both innings unscathed. 

what a stretch… After going through a five-game winless streak, Prince George's has won 21 of its last 28 games, including going 11-0 against NJCAA Division III teams and have won all nine games against Division III Region XX competition and won the NJCAA Division III Region XX Championship on May 16. The squad has posted 185 runs in the 21 wins and has tallied 44 innings with two or more runs scored, including eight four-run frames, six five-run innings, two six-run inning outburst, a seven-run inning and a nine-run outburst against Montgomery. The team has pounded out 228 hits in the 21 victories, including 88 extra base hits (59 doubles, 6 triples, 23 home runs).

in the nation… Brandon Crosby leads the National Junior College Athletic Association with 45 stolen bases while ranking eighth in runs (67). Dakota McFadden ranks third in doubles (22) and 10th in slugging percentage (.758). As a team, the Owls lead Division III in slugging percentage (.574) while ranking third in home runs (45), fourth in batting average (.367), fifth in doubles (110), sixth in on-base percentage (.450), sixth in stolen bases (112), eighth in runs (382), 10th in hits (520) and 10th in RBIs (327). NOTE: Prince George's is an NJCAA Division III member so these rankings only include Division III programs in the nation.

in the league… Brandon Crosby fuels Maryland JUCO lead in stolen bases (45) while ranking second in batting average (.451), third in on-base percentage (.540), third in hits (73), fourth in runs scored (67) and ninth in doubles (16). Dakota McFadden ranks third in the circuit in doubles (22), fifth in in ERA (3.04), fifth in batting average (.416), seventh in slugging percentage (.758), eighth in RBIs (53) and eighth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.29). Bay To sits fourth in triples (4), eighth in doubles (17), eighth in stolen bases (21), ninth in slugging percentage (.729) and ninth in on-base percentage (.497). Michael Hovermill, Jr. is second in ERA (1.94) and fifth in wins (7) while Jonathan Mahoney ranks seventh in strikeouts per nine innings (10.95), eighth in innings pitched (60.0) and ninth in strikeouts (73). Siri-Jacob Ramirez is ninth in triples (3). As a team, the Owls rank second in batting average (.367), second in on-base percentage (.450), second in slugging percentage (.574), second in triples (19), third in ERA (4.98third in home runs (45), third in doubles (110), third in stolen bases (112), fourth in hits (500), fourth in RBIs (327) and fourth in runs (382). NOTE: The Maryland JUCO is comprised of all the teams from Maryland no matter what division affiliation (Division I, II or III).

the long ball… Prince George's has smacked 45 home runs this season. Harold Marte and Dakota McFadden are tied for the team lead with nine homers. McFadden hit a homer in the NJCAA Region XX Championship Game and held the lead for two pitches before Marte came back to tie him for the team-lead. Bay To has hit seven bombs, Dwayne Coleman and Ryan Faircloth have four homers while Kilian Bloat and Siri-Jacob Ramirez have gone deep three times. Brandon Crosby and Naquan Holden two balls over the fence this year.

the roster… Head coach Buddy Foster has added 11 freshmen to his team in 2017 while returning 10 players from last year's team.

a loss to the owls family... Legendary Prince George's baseball coach William "Bumps" Vaughan passed away at the age of 90 on Feb. 25. In his long career as a head coach includes 20 years at the helm of the Owls from 1986-2005. The Owls will be wearing a special patch on their uniforms in honor of Vaughan and the athletic department paid tribute to Vaughan with a tip of the cap moment of silence before its doubleheader against Westmoreland County on Apr. 29.

about the coach… Head coach Buddy Foster enters his sixth season as the head coach of the baseball team. Foster has been at Prince George's since the 2009 campaign after serving as the squad's pitching coach for three seasons before being elevated to the head coach position. He guided the 2014 Owls to the NJCAA Region XX Division III title and advanced to the NJCAA Division III World Series.

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