This past weekend pitted Pomona-Pitzer against Chapman in a three-game series for Western Region bragging rights. Over the past three seasons, these two teams have built up their programs to the national stage, culminating in top-25 rankings and regional dominance. Chapman proved why they have the higher ranking this season, as they narrowly dispatched the Sagehens in two games out of three.
This season, P-P and Chapman are two of the top contenders in the West, and so this series served as a potential playoff preview.
Indeed, last season, P-P lost to Chapman in the Western Regional playoffs in its attempt to advance to the D-III College World Series.
The first game of the series was played last Friday on Alumni field at Pomona. Scouts flooded the bleachers as Chapman’s Jordan Sigman measured up against P-P’s David Colvin PI ’11. Both pitchers have gained recognition as top-shelf D-III starters.
Rather than a pitchers’ duel, however, the game featured a good deal of offense. Both sides put many runners on base, but Chapman brought more of them home, as the Sagehens lost 8-4. The bottom of the P-P lineup seemed to struggle against Sigman, batting a combined 2-13. The top of the lineup was mediocre with exception of freshmen Erik Munzer PI ’13 and Nick Gentilli PO ’13, who both hit .500 on the day and produced three of the four P-P runs.
After a rain out Saturday, the remaining two games were scheduled for last Monday. The first game saw the Sagehens on the other side of an offensive explosion. The P-P offense unloaded for 12 runs. Kyle Pokorny PO ’12 went 3-5, and James Kang PI ’10 went 2-4. The two combined for four RBI.
The Sagehen pitching matched the team’s offense in a strong performance. James Brunswick PO ’10 and Travis Rooke-Ley PI ’12 held Chapman to five runs and just eight hits in a combined effort.
The later game finally featured a pitching duel. P-P’s Leo Rosetti PO ’12 and Chapman’s Brian Rauh gave plenty of work to their respective defenses. Chapman’s Rauh held a no-hitter for a good portion of the game, until Kang went yard in the 7th inning for the only P-P run P-P of the game. Rosetti threw for 7 strong innings, but came up short, as Chapman was able to score twice, handing the Sagehens a tough 2-1 loss.
P-P will take on La Verne this weekend in another tough regional battle. Come out to Alumni Field on Saturday to catch the double-header.
