There are a number of players from the Sun Gazette’s coverage areas who are members of Division III college baseball teams that will play in NCAA regional tournaments beginning this week.
Four players are from Arlington’s Marymount University Saints, which qualified by winning the recent Atlantic East Conference Tournament with a 3-0 record.
Madison High School graduate Clint Wheeler is a junior relief pitcher for Marymount. He has three saves and a 0.59 earned run average in 15 1/3 innings of work.
McLean High grad Alex Pawlowski is a freshman pitcher. He has thrown two innings with one strikeout.
Bishop O’Connell High graduates Will DiGiulian and James DiGiulian are seniors for Marymount. Will DiGiulian has played in six games and is batting .273. James DiGiulian is hitting .393 with a homer, six doubles and 15 RBI.
Langley High School graduate Kenny Lippman is a member of the Denison University team that is in the region tourney. The junior right-handed pitcher has a 1-1 record in 132/3 innings with 21 strikeouts. He has started six games, including a 10-strikeout performance against DePauw in six innings of work.
Yorktown High School graduate Alec Ellison plays for the University of Rochester as a freshman. He is credited with one RBI.
Oakton High grad Matt Ford is on the roster for region-qualifier Washington & Jefferson College as a freshman catcher.
The Lynchburg University team includes four area players, including sophomore catcher/outfielder Avery Neaves, a former standout summer player for the Vienna Post 180 American Legion team. He was chosen the squad’s Most Valuable Player one summer, helping Vienna win district-and state-tournament titles.
Neaves has had a productive season for Lynchburg. He enters region play leading Lynchburg in almost every offense category.
Neaves is batting .386, has 68 RBI, 16 doubles, 10 home runs, seven triples, 68 hits, 35 stolen bases, walked 37 times and has scored 60 runs.
Madison graduate Josh Gjormand is an infielder/pitcher on the team. He has five RBI in 24 games and has three strikeouts in 11/3 innings of work on the mound.
O’Connell graduate Riley O’Donovan is a freshman catcher/first baseman for Lynchburg, playing in 17 games with four RBI and a double.
Freshman outfielder and Madison High graduate Fitz Halloran also is a member of the Lynchburg team.
Those region-tournament championship teams advance to the eventual eight-team Division III College World Series.