Penn State DuBois baseball program set out on some lofty goals 3 years ago by Head Coach Tom Calliari. To build a team and program that was built on sound baseball fundamentals; with players and coaches who belived in character, integrity, and hard work. To create a winning enviroment and assemble the players to achieve high standards it takes a great leader / coach - Tom Calliari. Goals achieved on Thursday evening at Showers Field.
In the USCAA tournament the #6 seed Penn State DuBois team defeated # 3 seed Wright State-Lake in game 1 by the score of 9-1. PSUAC "Pitcher of The Year" Caleb Bennett pitched a complete game, where an opportunistic team took advantage of timely hitting and several walks in the 4th inning to break the game open and advance in the winners bracket.
Game 2 DuBois defeated the #10 seed Selma University 7-3. As they came from behind putting up 6 runs in the 5th & 6th to capture another win. DuBois was lead on the mound by Toner Corl who pitched 6 innings for the win and got last inning help from Thomas Plummer and Blaise Roush to close out the game.
Selma had defeated # 2 seed Apprentice School 2-1 in their previous game to advance.
In game 3 DuBois defeated # 5 seed Cleary University 7-6. This game was tight the entire way as Cleary scored 3 runs on a home run blast by Sheldon Rouzan, but DuBois bounced back by scoring 5 runs in the 2nd inning to take the lead they would never relinquish. Pitching in this game was handled by 4 players; Logan Johnson, Thomas Plummer, Dan Bowman, Caleb Bennett. Bowman pitched 4 strong innings giving up only 1 run and Bennett closed out the game in the 7th.
Winners bracket Championship game is slated to be played in 9 innings and # 2 seed Apprentice School (Newport News, VA) emerged from the losers bracket to take on DuBois for the USCAA title. In game 4 Apprentice won 4-3 in a game that was tied at 1-1 early and didn't see additional scoring until Apprentice went a head 3-1 in the top half of the 8th inning. DuBois answered with 2 runs of their own by a 2 run double off the bat of Clayton Butler to tie the game at 3-3. Apprentice scored 1 run in the 9th to win the game forcing a Final Championship game. Austin Amacher pitched a brilliant game, going 8 innings scattering 7 hits and giving up 3 runs; recording 7 strike outs and only 3 walks.
Game 5 The Final game of the USCAA Championship Penn State DuBois was too much for The Apprentice School as they established an early 5-0 lead and cruised to a 10-2 win for the USCAA Championship. The DuBois team was led on the mound by pitcher Brandon Orsich, who pitched 7.1 innings and allowed 2 runs on 8 hits. DuBois took an early lead in the 2nd inning with a towering home run by Clayton Butler. That shot was followed up in the 3rd inning by a Grand Slam homer off the bat of Joey DiPietro. DuBois continued to add runs over the middle innings to pad their lead and cruised to the 10-2 WIN.
USCAA Tournament MVP was Joey DiPietro. All tournament selections were Dan Bowman, Caleb Bennet, Tonner Corl, Clayton Butler.
The PS DuBois baseball team finished the season with a 31-11 record. Congratulations to the players, coaches, and fans of Penn State DuBois Baseball.