Courtesy Williams Sports Information

Box Score

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Senior Ryan Fote pitched eight strong innings and crushed a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to lead Williams to a 6-3 victory over Amherst in the 2007 NESCAC Baseball Championship on Saturday morning at Bobby Coombs field. With the win, the Ephs advanced to Sunday's championship and will face Tufts at 10:00 a.m.

Williams, the top seed in the NESCAC West and host of the Tournament, improved to 24-8 on the year, while Amherst, the second seed in the West, fell to 20-13. This afternoon at 2:30 p.m. on Bobby Coombs Field, Amherst will face Tufts, an 11-6 winner over Bowdoin in its morning matchup. The winner will play Williams on Saturday morning, the loser will be eliminated.

Williams did not take its first lead until the top of the seventh inning. Leading 3-2 through six, Amherst went to its bullpen, calling on rookie Teddy Blank to come on in relief of junior starter Chris Edgar. Eph senior Chris Kenney, last year's NESCAC Player of the Year, stepped to the plate to lead off the inning for the Ephs. He sent Blank's first offering over the fence in right to tie the game, 3-3.

After walking senior Paul Morgan, Blank settled in and retired the next two batters he faced. But with two outs, first-year Chad Brown dropped in a bloop hit to shallow left to drive in Morgan and give the Ephs a 4-3 lead.

Fote made quick work of the Jeffs in the bottom half of the inning, retiring the side on seven pitches. In the bottom of the eighth, Fote escaped a two-on and two-out jam by inducing a groundout to first.

Then, with two outs and Brown on first in the top of the ninth, Fote iced a solid day on the mound by coming through at the plate for the Ephs. He delivered a two-run homerun to center to extend the Williams lead to 6-3.

Senior Sam Tuttle closed out the win for the Ephs, pitching a one-two-three ninth to earn the save. He struck out the last batter of the contest.

With the win, Fote improved to 6-0 on the year. He went eight innings, surrendering three runs, one earned, on five hits and two walks. He struck out one.

Fote also got some help from his infield, as rookie Rob Allemand made a pair of nifty plays at third base. With a man on third and two outs in the bottom of the third, Allemand charged a weak grounder up the line and made the throw to first to save a run. In the bottom of the seventh, with the Ephs holding a slim 4-3 lead, Allemand made a clean play on a hard hit ball to his left to get the first out of the inning.

Amherst had gotten on the board first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. A series of bunts and weak grounders gave the Eph infield some problems in the inning, as the Jeffs managed to put runners on second and third with no outs. Junior Neal Allar singled to center to start the rally, and sophomore Angus Schaller reached on an error by Fote. After a groundout advanced them, sophomore Nat Pedley drove both runners in with a basehit through the rightside, putting the Jeffs on top, 2-0.

Williams got one back in the top of the third. Fote and Allemand led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Then, junior James DiCosmo moved them over with a grounder to the first baseman. After Kenney walked, Morgan hit a potential double-play ball to the Amherst shortstop, but he hustled down the line and beat the throw to first, allowing Fote to score.

The Ephs tied things up in the top of the fourth. After Brown was hit by a pitch, junior Kevin Flynn singled. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch. One out later, Allemand grounded to the shortstop to drive in Brown, making it 2-2.

Amherst took a 3-2 lead in bottom of the fifth. Sophomore Mike Neff reached on an error to lead off the inning. Two outs later, junior catcher Josh Card capitalized, driving him in with a line drive down the leftfield line.

Edgar pitched six innings for the Jeffs. He allowed just two runs, both earned, on four hits and five walks, striking out three. Blank took the loss for the Jeffs. He tossed the final three frames, giving up four runs, two earned, on five hits and two walks while striking out one.

Fote finished the day 2-for-4 with a walk at the plate, scoring a pair of runs and knocking in two more. Flynn chipped in with a 3-for-5 effort, while Morgan and Kenney both went 1-for-4 with a walk, an RBI, and a run scored. The Ephs left 13 men on base, as they stranded runners in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth.

Allar was the offensive sparkplug for the Jeffs. He went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, and a run scored. Schaller was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored, and Card finished 1-for-4 with an RBI.