What a night! Ripken League tops Valley League
July 15, 2009
Regency Furniture Stadium
LIVE on MASN
Box Score │ Bowman (Luray) belts 18 homers to win Derby
Ripken, Sr. League All-Stars │ Valley League All-Stars
Photo Galleries: Brenda Dunham │ Jeff Lautenberger
DVDs of the Mid-Atlantic Classic are now available for $15 each! Make a check payable to CRSCBL and mail to CRSCBL, P.O. Box 22471, Baltimore, MD 21203-4471. Be sure to include your name and address. Email info@ripkensrcollegebaseball.org with questions.
WALDORF, Md. -- After an awesome Home Run Derby that saw the Valley League's Daniel Bowman (Coastal Carolina) smash 18 home runs en route to the Championship, the Mid-Atlantic Classic lived up to every bit of the hype. College Park's Nick Cicio (CCBC Catonsville) worked the Ripken League out of a sixth-inning no-out bases-loaded jam and heads-up baserunning by Rockville's Ian Leisenheimer (Maine) to grab a run with two-outs in the bottom of the sixth gave the Ripken League a 2-1 win in the inaugural Mid-Atlantic Classic.
Staunton's Aaron Swenson (Youngstown State) and Woodstock's Ian Marshall (Richmond; a former College Park Bomber '05) shut down the first 12 Ripken, Sr. League batters to the tune of zero hits, zero walks, and four strikeouts.
The Valley League also drew first blood when Staunton's Blake McDade (Middle Tennessee State) doubled home Luray's Drew Martinez (Memphis) with two outs in the top of the fifth.
The Ripken League broke through in the bottom of the fifth when Bethesda's Jarrod Parks (Mississippi State) tripled to rightfield to lead off the inning and scored on an RBI-groundout by Herndon's Corey Taylor (Binghamton).
The Valley League seemed on the verge of breaking out, as they loaded the bases to start the next inning. With no outs and the sacks full, Cicio was summoned from the pen. The lefty worked methodically, getting the first batter he faced to pop out in foul territory to a sprinting Corey Jensen (Redbirds/Hillsborough CC) behind first base. Cicio struck the next batter out and induced a ground ball to end the inning and the Valley League's best opportunity to win the game. The Valley left 10 men on base, including the three in the sixth.
The Ripken League Stars took advantage quickly. Leisenheimer entered the game and singled with one out in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, his Rockville teammate Chris Wychock (Towson) lifted a ball into shallow rightfield. The rightfielder broke back on the ball initially, then came charging in and could not secure the catch. Leisenheimer, who had been running on contact, got an excellent read from his third base coach Sal Colangelo (Big Train) and scored the game-winning run from first base.
Cicio then retired the first two batters he faced in the seventh inning before leaving to a standing ovation. Bethesda's Nolan Rudman (Ventura) retired all four batters he faced and Bethesda's Cameron Love (San Francisco), a late addition to the All-Star roster because of injuries, worked a perfect ninth for the save.
Cicio got the win and earned MVP honors for his tight-wire heroics. On a night that began with Swenson and Marshall retiring 12 straight Ripken League batters, it ended with Cicio, Rudman, and Love returning the favor.
