Tuesday, May 16, 2000
Mount St. Joseph, Thomas More earn NCAA berths
By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The College of Mount St. Joseph and Thomas More College begin play Thursday in the NCAA Division III baseball tournament, the first appearance in school history for each.
The winner of their six-team Mideast Regional at Thurman Munson Stadium in Canton advances to the College World Series.
“To have two of the 42 teams (in the tournament) from Greater Cincinnati, with Greater Cincinnati kids, is a great thing,” TMC coach Todd Asalon said.
Mount St. Joseph (27-13) is the region's fourth seed and plays No.3 seed Allegheny (Pa.) College (32-7) at 7 p.m. Thursday. Fifth-seeded Thomas More (31-11) meets No.2 seed Marietta College (43-5) at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
Thomas More had 27-victory seasons two of the past three years but missed selection both times; the Mount had a school-record 31-12 season last spring go unrewarded.
The Lions earned an automatic bid by winning the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, beating host Anderson (Ind.) 9-1 in the finals Sunday.
The Saints, who set a single-season victory mark, learned of their at-large selection Monday.
Adam Freeman (8-0, 2.64 ERA), a sophomore from Ross High, is TMC's ace. Other key cogs: Chris Booth (7-1, 4.37) of LaSalle, Brian Motz (7-2, 4.95) of Elder, Robby Kramer (.347, 10 homers, 45 RBI) of Villa Madonna, Jarod Kees (.380, nine HRs, 42 RBI) of Covington Catholic, Mark McMannon (.362) of Moeller, and Zak Zoz (.314) of Badin.
The Lions' ace is Mike McNutt (8-2, 3.30), a junior from Western Hills. Others: Jason Miller (5-1, 4.20) of LaSalle, Zac Hall (6-1, 2.00) of Harrison, Ben Miller (.370, 42 RBI) of Elder, Mark Schorsch (.370, 47 steals) of West Hi, and Chris McKeever (.340, 42 RBI) of LaSalle.
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