Gloucester County coasts to seventh DIII Baseball Championship
May 29, 2013
CHAMPIONSHIP HOME - BOX SCORE - PHOTOS
TYLER, Texas – Gloucester County College (N.J.) cruised to a 16-4 victory over Century College (Minn.) Wednesday to win the 2013 NJCAA Division III Baseball National Championship. A 10-run fifth inning at Mike Carter Field propelled the Roadrunners to their seventh World Series title.
Freshman outfielder Narciso Crook led the way for Gloucester, going 3-for-5 at the plate with a home run and seven RBIs. The Roadrunners saw sophomore catcher Alex DeBellis go 4-for-5 with two RBIs. Sophomore infielder Bryan Perlmutter also had two RBIs for Gloucester, going 3-for-6 on the night.
On the mound, sophomore hurler Andrew Furber (right) delivered six impressive innings for the Roadrunners. The right-hander recorded eight strikeouts while holding the Wood Ducks to three runs on seven hits. Sophomore Mike Cogliano pitched two scoreless innings in relief, while sophomore Kevin Walsh closed the game out with two strikeouts in a perfect ninth inning.
The Roadrunners got off to a hot start with a three-run home run by Crook in the top of the first inning. After Century tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Gloucester came right back with 10 runs in the fifth that virtually put the game out of reach.
Crook was named Tournament MVP after batting for a .588 average (10-for-17) with two home runs and 13 RBIs in the series. In his eighth season at the helm, Roadrunners manager Mike Dickson claimed Coach of the Tournament honors after winning his second title for Gloucester. One of four Roadrunners that were selected to the All-Tournament team, DeBellis was joined by sophomore pitcher Jeff Singer and sophomore infielders Eric Frain and Thomas Kain.
Opening the tournament against the same team they closed with, Gloucester cruised to a 9-0 win over Century in the first round. The Roadrunners came back with an 8-5 victory against Niagara County (N.Y.), followed by a 13-0 win over Waubonsee (Ill.).
Gloucester’s win Wednesday capped off their national championship season with a 49-3 overall record. Century’s loss dropped their record to 42-13 to close out their 2013 campaign.