Campus News

May 12th, 2026

Lakers punch Final Four ticket

Garrett draws top-seeded Frederick for Thursday’s opener

Momentum can switch in a heartbeat in playoff baseball.

Fifth-seeded Montgomery College (31-19) seemed to have all the momentum as Saturday’s Region 20 play-in moved through the ninth inning. Zachary Pyles’ two-out, three-run homer in the top of the ninth got the Raptors even, and Montgomery quickly recorded the first two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

And then momentum became Garrett College’s best friend.

Parker Ferraro’s routine grounder looked like an inning-ending out – until it wasn’t. Raptors shortstop Diego Llanes double-clutched after fielding the grounder, allowed Ferraro to reach base as the inning stayed alive.

Montgomery reliever Garrett Campbell then hit GC’s Grayden Gillott, and Bryce Madden singled to load the bases. That brought up Noah Broadwater, April’s Player of the Month in NJCAA Division II Region 20.

Campbell got ahead in the count, 1-2 – and then uncorked the wild pitch that allowed Ferraro to scamper home with the winning run in a wild, 12-11 victory. The Lakers rallied from a 6-2 deficit, and overcame losing an 11-6 lead to punch their ticket to the Region 20 Final Four.

“We just didn’t want the season to end,” said GC head coach Eric Hallenbeck of the motivation behind the Lakers’ latest win. “I want to keep seeing them. They want to keep seeing me.”

The fourth-seeded Lakers (31-16) will take on top-seeded Frederick Community College (33-13) at 3 p.m. Thursday in the second of two NJCAA Division II Region 20 winners’ bracket semifinals. Second-seeded Community College of Baltimore County Essex (36-13) takes on seventh-seeded Allegany College of Maryland (28-26), which upset third-seeded Hagerstown Community College, 15-6, to reach the region semifinals.

ACM earned its shot at Hagerstown by edging sixth-seeded College of Southern Maryland, 8-7 in 10 innings, in the opening game of the region’s other play-in tournament.

The double-elimination Final Four runs through Sunday’s championship and “if” games.

Jackson Freeman hit a two-run homer in the first and Eromosele Okojie slammed a three-run, third-inning homer as the Raptors built a 6-2 lead against GC. Both were two-out blasts, with Okojie going deep one pitch after seemingly taking what the vociferous Garrett bench thought should have been a called “strike three”.

The Lakers got untracked with a four-run third that included Sebastian Mayfield’s two-run homer and a two-out, game-tying single from Ferraro. Meyer Cabrera (4-for-5, double) gave Garrett its first lead with a solo homer leading off the sixth.

GC appeared to break the game open while combining small ball and long ball in the home seventh. Broadwater (2-for-5) led off with a single before Mayfield (3-for-4) and pinch-hitter Nick Suitte followed with bunt singles – Mayfield’s was a straight bunt for base hit, and Suitte’s came as he was attempting to move up the runners with a sacrifice.

“Mayfield’s was on his own,” said Hallenbeck, who hadn’t called for a bunt. “When Broadwater got on, I told Nick, ‘If he [Mayfield] gets on, you’re going in to sacrifice.’ ”

Jesus Fermin (3-for-5, five RBI) then crushed a grand slam that suddenly gave the Lakers an 11-6 cushion.

While pleased with the five-run lead, Hallenbeck said he knew the game wasn’t over.

“In nine-inning games, you never have enough runs,” Hallenbeck observed.

The Raptors scored twice in the eighth to pull within 11-8. In the ninth, GC reliever Hunter Dakan yielded a single and a walk around two strikeouts, getting the Lakers within an out of the Final Four. Instead, Pyles drilled his tying blast to right-center field.

Dakan then walked Freeman, leading Hallenbeck to bring in Keaton Walsh to pitch to Okojie. Walsh induced an inning-ending pop-up from Okojie.

The game looked headed to extra innings – until Llanes double-pumped after cleanly fielding Ferraro’s two-out grounder.

“That’s just livin’ right,” remarked Hallenbeck with a laugh, before turning serious.

“You’ll get breaks in this game if you hustle out grounders and play hard,” he noted.

Walsh – who threw just one pitch – picked up the win.

Garrett qualified for the regional Final Four for the first time since 2021.