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Bill Rudick
Atlantic Regional MVP MIke Kacelowicz holds the regional championship trophy.

Baseball Tyler Schueck, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Golden Bears heading to Cary, N.C. for NCAA Division II Baseball Championship

Link to Chris Blum feature story on 300th career victory

WEST LAWN, PA (May 16, 2010) - Mike Kacelowicz ranged to his right and fired a perfect strike to first base to record the final out of the NCAA Atlantic Region championship game to defeat West Chester University, 2-0, and send the Golden Bears back to the College World Series. (Boxscore) (Regional Tournament Central) (Championship Tournament Central)

The Golden Bears (41-13) will head to Cary, North Carolina to play in their first NCAA Championship tournament since 2007, a team that Kacelowicz was a part of.

Kacelowicz was Mr. Clutch with a handful of defensive web gems and broke a scoreless tie en route to being name the All-Atlantic Region Most Valuable Player. Mike Dugan, Shayne Houck, Corey Buletza and Nathan Reed joined Kacelowicz on the All-Region team. 

Dugan punched a one out single to right field for the Golden Bears third hit off of West Chester ace Jordan Lehman in the seventh inning. Kacelowicz followed by slicing the first pitch he saw into the right field corner for a triple. Dugan chugged around the bases and beat the relay throw home for the first run of the game.

After a walk to Brett Wigder; Matt Kulbacki hustled and beat out a possible inning ending double play to score Kacelowicz for a two run cushion heading into the eighth.

Reed gave a gutsy performance on two days rest, blanking the high powered Golden Rams through eight innings. It was the first time this season WCU was shutout and held under four runs. Reed scattered four hits and worked out of what little jams he got into with the help of the supporting cast behind him.

“This is an unreal moment,” said Reed. “I expected to throw well today, but not this good on only two days rest. Whenever a coach gives you a chance to throw in a championship game, it's just something you don't turn down.”

The left-hander set the Golden Rams (39-14) down in order in the first, third and fourth innings. He escaped trouble with inning ending double plays in the second, fifth and sixth innings. Kacelowicz took away a possible line drive to the gap by leaping and stretching, as much as his six foot frame could go, to snag the ball out of the air to end the eighth inning.

“I knew our pitchers were going to go out and throw good games,” said Kacelowicz. “I just wanted to go out there and do my part in the field.”

Adam Maini came on in the ninth and put the Rams down in order to punch the team's ticket to the promised land. Maini missed significant playing time this season due to injury, but none of that mattered after he forced the one hopper into the sure hands of Kacelowicz.

“I am still in awe about the whole thing,” said Maini. “The way our team fought back against a great squad in West Chester. It hasn't hit me yet, I can't believe it just happened.

"To be out there on the mound and get the final three outs to send us to the World Series makes up for everything. I could have been out the entire season and I would have been just fine if I got those last three outs. I just wanted to contribute to the team and I am just so happy right now.”

After the final out settled in first baseman Jared Frey's glove, the celebration the Golden Bears waited for all season began. James Quigley had a Ray Lewis-esque tackle of Maini on the mound. Ryan Cassidy, who had a stellar pitching performance in the 14-5 opener that forced the title game, was sporting a bruise on his forehead the shape of a cleat and Trent Mertz had to check if he chipped or lost a tooth in the scrum.

The Golden Bears didn't take the easiest route to gain the regional title, but that journey made it all the sweeter. After an opening round loss to California in a PSAC title game rematch, the Golden Bears eliminated Mansfield thanks to a four-run ninth inning. On Saturday, the Kutztown bats got hot in a 10-5 win over West Virginia State and they stayed hot in Sunday morning's 14-5 win over West Chester.

“I would have loved to go 4-0, but it wasn't meant to be,” said head coach Chris Blum. “For these seniors it was incredible and from everybody on the team. I asked for them to do a lot for me and they were just phenomenal out there.”

As if being one of the eight remaining Division II teams in the country isn't enough, the win gave Blum his 300th victory as head coach of the Golden Bears. Over the course of that milestone, Blum knows when his team has what it takes to be successful. After the opening loss, he confidently said that the team is built to battle back from the setback and that is just what they did.

Kutztown will meet the East region champion, the Franklin Pierce Ravens in the opening round of the world series on Sunday May 23 at 1 p.m. on USA Baseball National Training Complex. Franklin Pierce took the exact route as the Golden Bears. The Ravens, also the first seed, lost in the opening round and clawed back to take down the second seed twice on Sunday.
--KU--
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