May 17, 2011

Battle Creek, MI—The GRCC Raiders conclude their post season with a 3-2 record after losing in the Loser Bracket Finals of the 2011 NJCAA Region XII Baseball Tournament. The Muskegon CC Jayhawks defeated the Raiders in extra innings by a score of 4-3.

The game was the second part of a double header that the Raiders played on Tuesday. GRCC defeated Cuyahoga in the first game by a score of 3-2 to advance to the finals to take on the fourth seeded Muskegon CC Jayhawks.

Although Grand Rapids pitcher David Frederick and relief pitcher Ben Stemen both had strong games and allowed only 6 hits, the Jayhawks fielding proved to be too much. First basemen Billy Buddle lead the team with 12 putouts. Frederick threw for 6 innings and had 3 strike outs and 0 earned runs. Ben Stemen pitched the final 2.1 innings and had 1 strike out.

EJ Grochowalski led the Raiders in both fielding and hitting with 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 RBI, and 13 putouts. Jo Woo and Nick Jansen both had a pair of hits, while Woo and Steve Hazel were each credited with an RBI.

The Muskegon Jayhawks advanced to the Championship round to take on the hometown Kellogg CC Bruins. The Bruins won by a margin of 8-2 to capture the tournament Championship and will advance to the national competition that will be held in Oklahoma.

The elimination from the tournament closes out a successful season for the GRCC Raiders. They finished the season with an overall record of 31-23, and finished the regular season by winning 15 of their last 17 games. Sophomore Jason Hockemeyer led the team with 60 hits and 40 RBI’s, and Anthony Alarcon led the team in pitching with 5 wins and 43 strikeouts.