FRONT ROW: Michael Rivera, Adrian Kaplan, Clay Mayor, Billy Couchenour, Shawn Pelo, Ben Detrow, Brayan Cacique, Dan Sherrick
BACK ROW: Mike Heus, John Durastante, Daniel Snyder, Kyle Arroyo, Mike Palko, Patrick Gilbert, Brian Laznik, Tim McConnaughy, Matt Wantz
The Athletic Department of Lakeland Community College is proud to announce that three members of our 2009 baseball team will be continuing their baseball careers at schools that compete in Conference Carolinas.
Outfielder Brian Laznik and catcher Matt Wantz, will be playing for Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina. Laznik led the Lakers in batting this past season; while Wantz, a catcher, was injured before the season got off the ground. Laznik played his high school ball at Chardon High School and Wantz is a Cardinal High School graduate.
Pitcher/outfielder Mike Palko will be playing at Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina. Palko was recruited as a pitcher. He is a sports management major who played for Euclid High School.
The Spring 2009 Major League Baseball Draft included two former Lakers. Pitcher Steve Junker, was drafted out of Bellevue College by the Colorado Rockies. He had previously been drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals out of high school. Ryan Dennick was drafted out of Tennessee Technical College by the Kansas City Royals. Congratulations Steve and Ryan.
OCCAC Honors
Congratulations to Brian Laznik and Brayan Cacique for being named to the All-OCCAC team.
Congratulations to Ben Detrow, William Couchenour and Kyle Arroyo for being honored as 2009 OCCAC Academic Award Winners.
Congratulations to the five members of the baseball team who achieved STAR student status this spring.
STAR students achieve at least a 3.0 GPA, while carrying a minimum of 12 credit hours.
The baseball team's STAR students were all above a 3.5, with Kyle Arroyo achieving a perfect 4.0.
Congratulations:
Kyle Arroyo
Brayan Cacique
William Couchenour
Benjamin Detrow
Adrian Kaplan
The Lakers congratulate Brayan Cacique after he hit a game winning double in
the bottom of the seventh, to send the Lakers to the championship game of
the SubRegional Tournament.
SubRegional Baseball Tournament Final Recap
(Original Schedule and Scores Below)
It is tough to pick the most interesting aspect of this weekend’s SubRegional Tournament. Was it the dominate performances of Vincennes’ pitching staff? The surprising elimination of nationally ranked Owens Community College? Or the solid performance of the host Lakers and their right fielder Brian Laznik?
Tournament action was delayed one hour as the Lakeland grounds crew worked to repair the damage done by the previous day’s rain. Action finally got under way at 10:30 a.m. under threatening skies.
The host Lakers (2-25) took on the Vincennes Blazers (26-11) in the opener that was won by Vincennes 6-0. The Blazers Michael Son, gave up his only hit of the game in the first inning, a double to Brian Laznik. He then went on to strike out thirteen.
Cuyahoga Community College stopped an Owens Community College seventh inning rally to hold on for a 5-4 victory in their first round game. Owens had been ranked as high as seventh in the national polls and had a 10-2 record in the OCCAC and were 34-10 overall. Tri-C was 1-9 in the OCCAC and 5-26 overall.
Second baseman Garrett Mayers hit a three run homer in the bottom of the fourth to stake the Challengers to a 4-0 lead. CCC pitcher Alex Smith walked two in the bottom of the fourth and Owens’ Brian Shafer advanced both on a sacrifice bunt. A run scored on a ground out to the second baseman and another on a Jared Gibbons’ double.
Owens’ Shafer reached on a sixth inning triple and scored on an error by the Tri-C shortstop. Owens’ right fielder Casey Winckowski led off the seventh with a walk and advanced on an error by the center fielder. Winckowski scored on a Josh Newman sacrifice fly to center. Smith walked catcher Adam Brentlinger to set up a potential come-from-behind victory; however, Smith struck the next batter for the final out.
The Owens’ Express was forced back on the field for the loser’s bracket showdown with the Lakers. It was a scoreless game into the fifth inning when left fielder Tim Decant reached on an error by shortstop John Durastante; however, Decant was thrown out trying to score on Bryan Daniel’s double to right field. Daniel later scored on a single by Joe Engle to make it a 1-0 ballgame.
The Express tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh on a Winckowski home run to make it 3-0.
Durastante led off the Lakers’ half of the final inning with a single and moved to third on a Dan Sherrick double. Durastante scored on a Shawn Pelo ground out and Sherrick scored on a Michael Rivera ground out.
The Lakers were down to their final out when Adrian Kaplan reached on a base hit, setting the stage for the Lakers’ leading hitter. Brian Laznik did not disappoint. He parked one over the fence for the walk-off home run that sent the Owens Express packing.
Mike Heus was the winning pitcher for the Lakers.
In the winner’s bracket final, Vincennes’ Cy Fraker gave up a two run home run in the first to Jeremy Rowerstein, but then settled in for twelve strike-outs to carry Vincennes to the 8-3 victory over Cuyahoga Community College.
In the semi-final game, Cuyahoga Community College held a 4-3 lead against the Lakers going into the bottom of the seventh when their pitcher walked the bases loaded and Brayan Cacique hit a ground ball through the left side to tie the game.
CCC pulled ahead in the ninth on a Travis Danner home run, but Rivera reached on an error and Laznik hit a double off CCC reliever Danner. Cacique followed that with a double, scoring Rivera and Laznik, to clinch the game 6-5. Tim McConnoughy was the Lakers’ winning pitcher.
Vincennes deep pitching staff was too much for the Lakers’ injury-depleted staff, and Lakeland dropped the championship game 12-2.
Right fielder Brian Laznik came in to pitch five and third innings of relief. He finished the tournament with a .500 average, three home runs (including a walk-off), two doubles, three walks and four RBI.
FRIDAY WEATHER DELAY (posted at 8:27 a.m.) Scheduled start times are moved back one hour. Times posted below are REVISED game times.
Sub-Regional Baseball Tournament – May 1 and 2
Lakeland Community College is hosting a double elimination qualifying tournament for the NJCAA Region XII tournament that will be held on May 7 and 8 in Battlecreek, Michigan.
A full day of games is scheduled for Friday, May 1 . . . hopefully, the weather will cooperate.
Games are scheduled as follows:
FRIDAY, May 1
Game 1 -- 10:30 AM - Lakeland CC 0 vs Vincennes University 6
Vincennes pitcher Michael Son gave up a first inning double to Lakeland's Brian Laznik and then went on to strike out thirteen in a one-hit, 6-0, complete game victory.
Game 2 -- 1:00 PM - Owens CC 4 vs Cuyahoga CC 5
Garrett Mayers had a three run dinger to pace the Challengers in their 5-4 first round victory over Owens CC.
Game 3 -- 3:30 PM - Lakeland CC 4 vs Owens CC 3
The Lakers scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh in this come from behind victory. Brian Laznik hit a two out, two run walk-off home run to clinch the game.
Game 4 -- 6:00 PM - Vincennes 8 vs Cuyahoga CC 3
Cy Fraker gave up a two run home run in the first, but then settled in for twelve strike-outs to carry Vincennes to the championship game at 2:30 on Saturday.
SATURDAY, May 2
Game 5 -- Noon – Winner of Game 3 (Lakeland CC) 6 vs Loser of Game 4 (Cuyahoga CC) 5 (in 9 innings)
Cuyahoga held a 4-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning, when pitcher Rich Banna walked the bases loaded. Brayan Cacique hit a ground ball through the left side of the infield to tie the game at four. In the top of the ninth, Cuyahoga's Travis Danner hit a solo home run to put Tri-C ahead. Lakeland's Michael Rivera reached on an error to start the ninth. After a fly ball out, the Challengers brought in center fielder Danner to face the Lakers' Brian Laznik who had hit a first inning home run. Laznik moved Rivera to third with a double and Cacique followed that with double of his own, knocking in the two game winning runs.
Game 6 – 2:30 – Winner of Game 4 (Vincennes) 12 vs Winner of Game 5 (Lakeland CC) 2
The Lakers' great weekend came to an end at the hands of much deeper pitching staff. Four games in two days was too much for the depleted Lakeland staff to overcome. Vincennes scored seven runs in the first two innings, while the Lakers managed only two runs on five hits over the course of the game. Laznik hit another dinger and pitched five and a third innings of relief. Laznik batted .500 for the weekend, with three home runs (including a walk-off) two doubles, three walks and four RBI.
Vincennes University is the winner of our Sub-Regional and will advance to the Region 12 Tournament.
April 10, 2009
The Lakers split a pair with Cuyahoga Community College today.
Billy Couchenour pitched a complete game in the 4-1 victory. He gave up four hits while striking out seven.
Brayan Cacique had a double, a stolen base, a base on balls and scored two runs. Brian Laznik had a home run and two RBI. Ben Detrow and Adrian Kaplan each contributed a hit.
In the 6-2 loss, Mike Palko only gave up two earned runs, and had four strike outs, in the six innings he pitched.
Unfortunately, on the offensive end, the Lakers could only muster three hits. Cacique had a home run, Kaplan a double and Laznik a single and RBI.
The Lakers will host Monroe Community College in a double header on Tuesday and will host Sinclair Community College in a double header on Saturday. Action begins at 2:00 on Tuesday and 1:00 on Saturday.
March 25, 2009
Conference Carolinas has announced its All-Conference Academic Team for Spring 2009. Student athletes must have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 to be named to the team.
Congratulations to former Lakers Tom Oschip and Rick Deleandro for receiving this prestigious honor. Oschip and Deleandro are members of the baseball team at Coker College.
SPRING TRIP RECAP
The spring trip to Myrtle Beach was a learning experience for the Lakers, who finished 1-8. Only sixteen players comprise this year’s squad, and half the team had a mound appearance on this trip.
The lone victory was an 8-7 game against Raritan Valley Community College. Patrick Gilbert pitched six solid innings, giving up two earned runs, in a no decision. Mike Heus came on in relief, pitching one inning of no-hit ball, striking out two. Matt Wantz knocked in the game winning RBI.
Gilbert currently carries the team’s best ERA at 1.75.
Heus also pitched a solid seven and one third innings against Monroe Community College, giving up only one earned run. The Lakers dropped that contest in extra innings, 7-5. Heus has the team’s second lowest ERA at 2.72.
Billy Couchenour leads the team in innings pitched and batters faced, at twelve and sixty one respectively. He has struck out ten, and his ERA is 4.08.
Wantz and Brian Laznik are the team’s offensive leaders. Wantz is batting .500, with 13 hits, five doubles and a home run. Laznik is hitting .452, with 14 hits. He leads the team with seven doubles, three home runs and nine RBI. They each have stolen three bases.
Brayan Cacique has demonstrated a solid eye at the plate, leading the team with ten walks. He also has four doubles and three stolen bases.
Shawn Pelo leads the team with four stolen bases and two sacrifices.
John Durastante is batting .333.
The team will be traveling to North Carolina this weekend for five games.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 – Lakers Notch First Victory
The Lakers grabbed their first victory of the spring in an 8-7 nail biter against Raritan Valley.
Matt Wantz knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Pat Gilbert pitched a solid six innings in a no-decision outing, giving up only two earned runs while getting six strike-outs. Mike Heus was the winning pitcher. He pitched a solid seventh inning, giving up no hits and striking out two.
Brian Laznik provided plenty of offense in this game. He knocked in two runs and hit two doubles and a home run.
The Lakers dropped the first game of the day, losing to North Central Missouri by a 10-0 score. On Monday, the team dropped two games to Delaware Tech. The Lakers are now 1-4, with three days left in Myrtle Beach.
March 8, 2009 – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
The Lakers dropped their spring trip opener against the Dean College JVs, 10-7.
A trio of Lakers each drove in two runs, but it wasn’t quite enough. Matt Wantz went three for three with two doubles and a home run; Brian Laznik had a double and a dinger, while going two for four; and Brayan Cacique had two doubles, while going two for four.
Adrian Kaplan also went two for four at the plate, and had a double.
January 2009
Congratulations to the following baseball players for attaining STAR status as Lakeland student-athletes who achieved at least a 3.0 GPA for the fall semester.
Kyle Arroyo
William Couchenour
Benjamin Detrow
Michael Palko |
