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Lynchburg wins it all
Hornets lose first game of championship series Thursday, overcoming a 4-0 deficit after a half-inning to win the true title game of the NCAA Division III World Series, 7-6, and the school’s first national baseball title
Jeff Johnson
Jun. 8, 2023 7:24 pm
CEDAR RAPIDS - Not quite a perfect tournament. But still a greatly productive one.
The University of Lynchburg overcame a 4-0 deficit after a half-inning and beat Johns Hopkins, 7-6, Thursday night to win the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship tournament at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Virginia school made its first D-III World Series a memorable one, winning four of five games at this eight-team, week-long tournament. Johns Hopkins forced a deciding Game 3 in the championship series of the tourney with an 11-6 win earlier Thursday.
Johns Hopkins’ early flurry in what turned out to be a true title game looked like it might just give the renowned academic school in Maryland its first baseball national championship. Instead Lynchburg (47-8) persevered.
“From my perspective, the mood in the dugout was a little down after that first inning,” said Lynchburg’s Jackson Harding. “But nothing like towards the end of the first game. It kind of flipped, and we knew this game was going to be a dog fight. All the credit to Johns Hopkins for continuing to battle ... We just knew this was going to be a fight, and we could get back into the game.”
Harding’s three-run double to the gap in right-center field gave Lynchburg a 7-5 lead. Johns Hopkins (48-7) got a RBI single with the bases loaded and one away in the eighth from Dylan Whitney, but the tying run was cut down at home plate by quite a ways on a strong throw from Lynchburg center fielder Carsson Atkins.
Bob Babb, the head coach at Johns Hopkins for 44 years, took the blame for what he labeled a bad send, calling it “a blunder.”
“We’re obviously very disappointed,” he said. “We felt we could win both games today, were confident we could do that. Didn’t do some things that we needed to do to win that second game ... Overall, our kids battled, and I’ve very proud of the way they battled the whole game.”
Lynchburg pitcher Brandon Pond was named the tournament’s MVP. He threw two complete games.
The Hornets were an interesting mix of seniors (Potts), graduate students (Harding) and freshmen (three in the starting lineup). One of those freshmen, Benton Jones, hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first to slice his team’s deficit in half.
“I’ve been waiting to run into one for a couple of weeks. Finally did,” he said. “Glad it went a long way, but just rounding the bases, I knew I gave our team a chance to get back into the game.”
“It was a good mesh in terms of on the field with a bunch of fifth-year guys and a lot of freshmen that contributed over the course of the week in great ways,” said Lynchburg Coach Lucas Jones. “That’s just the evolution of our program and hopefully the continuity of it.”
This is the end of this tournament’s four-year run in Cedar Rapids. It will be played next year in Eastlake, Ohio, home of the professional Lake County Captains of the Midwest League.
Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com