Campus News
May 6th, 2024
GC storms into region baseball playoffs
Lakers split with first-place Frederick, sweep CCBC-Dundalk
Stefan Machkovski
Dundalk, MD – Garrett College certainly didn't back into the NJCAA Division II Region 20 baseball playoffs.
The Lakers stunned first-place Frederick Community College, 7-1, last Wednesday in the second game of a doubleheader to move to the brink of a playoff berth. GC then swept CCBC-Dundalk, 7-1 and 12-2, on Saturday to clinch a spot in this week's regional tournament.
"Our pitching the last three games was lights-out," said GC head coach Eric Hallenbeck.
Brandon Metivier and Stefan Machkovski earned pitching victories against Frederick and Dundalk, respectively, before seven Laker hurlers combined to complete the Dundalk sweep. And Ethan Sebold threw well enough to beat Frederick in last Wednesday's opener, coming out on the wrong end of a 2-1 decision despite yielding just six hits in a complete-game effort.
"Stefan Machkovski threw great for us Saturday," said Hallenbeck. "And we got two really well-pitched games against Frederick. Eric Sebold was a hard-luck loser – we just couldn't get a run for him."
Hallenbeck said the pitching performance against Frederick was particularly impressive.
"They came in hitting .357 – giving up three runs in two games against them was great," said Hallenbeck.
GC's strong finish simply illustrated the balance within the region.
"A couple of weeks ago, everyone thought Frederick and Catonsville [would battle for the region title]," said Hallenbeck. "All of a sudden, Montgomery starts winning, Catonsville loses a couple of close games, and the region really tightened up.
"It's pretty tight," added Hallenbeck. "It's anybody's ballgame."
Top-seeded Frederick (47-6 overall, 22-2 region) and second-seeded Montgomery (30-18, 17-7) earned byes into this weekend's four-team, double-elimination tournament. Third-seeded CCBC-Catonsville (27-23, 17-7) and fourth-seeded Anne Arundel Community College (27-23, 14-10) will host sub-regionals on Tuesday.
The final four playoff participants – fifth-seeded Chesapeake College (24-21), sixth-seeded CCBC-Essex (19-25), seventh-seeded Allegany College of Maryland (28-22), and eighth-seeded Garrett (28-28) – all finished 13-11 in the region.
CCBC-Essex and ACM will play Tuesday at 11 a.m. at CCBC-Catonsville, with the winner playing the host Cardinals 30 minutes after conclusion of the opener. In the other sub-regional, Chesapeake will play Garrett Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Anne Arundel Community College, with the winner playing the host Pioneers 30 minutes after conclusion of the opener.
The two sub-regional survivors will join Frederick and Montgomery for this weekend's double-elimination region tournament at Frederick. The biggest challenge for a team like Garrett, according to Hallenbeck, is winning twice in the sub-region and then getting through Friday's opener when a team's pitching might be depleted.
"You have to get in [by winning twice in the sub-region], win your Game 1 [on Friday], and then your pitching comes back around," said Hallenbeck, whose 2018 and 2019 teams each won twice in the sub-region to reach the Final Four.
The Region 20 champion also wins the Mid-Atlantic district crown and advances to the NJCAA Division II national tournament in Enid, Oklahoma May 25-June 1.
Hallenbeck said returning to the region playoffs was a significant achievement. The Lakers had an 18-year streak of making the playoffs snapped in 2023.
"We were dead last in the region last year," noted Hallenbeck. "We started this season 2-9 and now we're .500 overall with a winning record in the region."
Hallenbeck also noted the Lakers were very close to a much higher seed this season.
"We lost to Allegany, 9-8; to Montgomery, 8-7; and to Southern Maryland, 3-2," said Hallenbeck. "You win one or two of those and now you're hosting [a sub-regional] on Tuesday."
Hallenbeck, however, is just happy to be back in the playoffs.
"Once you get in, everybody's record is 0-0," said Hallenbeck. "We're hoping to catch lightning in a bottle again and make it back to the Final Four."
The win over Frederick may have been Garrett's most impressive victory of the season. Colby Schmitz went 3-for-4, homered twice, scored three times, and drove in three runs in the second game against Frederick to lead the Lakers. Metivier (3-3) earned the complete-game victory, spacing two runs on seven hits with three walks and a strikeout.
The Frederick split left Garrett needing one win against Dundalk to clinch a spot in the playoffs. Schmitz and Zach Hallenbeck (two runs, two RBI) each homered in Saturday's opener, and Machkovski allowed just one run on four hits over six innings to earn the win.
Having clinched a playoff berth in the opener, Hallenbeck used his whole roster in Game 2. Nine different Lakers had hits and seven pitchers each tossed an inning as the Lakers completed the sweep.
Schmitz (double) and Ty Giblin each drove in two runs in the Dundalk nightcap.
