MADISON, WISC. - Nine years after Madison College set a NJCAA-record by earning its sixth consecutive trip to the national tournament, coach Mike Davenport and the WolfPack have matched that record-setting accomplishment. Saturday's 11-2 win over #4-seed Kankakee Community College at Robin Roberts Field. The Cavaliers upset the top-seeded Pack with a 9-0 win in the first championship game, setting up a winner-take-all second game that resulted in the school's 11th Region 4 Tournament Championship and qualifies Madison College for its 18th overall appearance at a national tournament, including 13 trips to the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma, since 2015. Freshman Jalen Gellings was named the Region 4 Tournament MVP, while Davenport received Region 4 Coach of the Year accolades.

Championship #2: (1) Madison College 11, (4) Kankakee Community College 2

After being shutout in the day's first try at winning a region title, Madison College wasted no time rectifying the situation. Playing as the visiting team, the WolfPack took advantage of two errors and a hit to take a quick 2-0 lead in the game's first half inning. An error allowed Nick Nowak to score, and then Payton Frehner drove in Charlie Schau with a single to left.

Kankakee Community College (38-23-1) seemed ready to match the Pack in the bottom half until starter Grant Ross struck out the Cavs number six hitter to strand the bases loaded.

Two doubles in the second gave the WolfPack a three-run lead. Jake Petasek led off the inning with a two bagger to left, and Nowak came through with a clutch two-out double to right. 

Madison College busted the game open in the third with three more runs on two hits, two walks, and a balk. The came came during the third hitter of the inning, allowing Charlie Marion to touch home. Ross then helped his own cause with a run-scoring single to the opposite field that plated Schau. And Frehner scored on a double-play ball off the bat of Petasek to make it 6-0. 

Four more runs in the top of the fourth opened up a ten-run advantage. Dayton Rozinski-Hicks and Nowak both reached on singles to start the inning, and a sacrifice bunt from Gellings brought in Rozinski-Hicks. Marion then drove a line drive up the middle to plate Nowak for an 8-0 lead. A two-out triple by Frehner down the right field line plated Marion, and Frehner crossed home with a Ross base knock to right.

The Cavaliers were able to score their first run in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run. They added another run in the eighth before the Pack got it back on a Howie Rickett sac fly to right field that saw Chris Calico tag up and score on. 

Ross, a native of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, and a transfer from Valparaiso University, earned the win on the mound to improve to 3-2 on the season. He worked five innings of shutout baseball, scattering six Cavs hits, and recording a career-high nine strikeouts. The sophomore also finished 2 for 4 with a walk and two runs batted in at the plate.

Shortstop Jalen Gellings drove in a run in the day's final game, but finished the tournament with several highlight-worthy plays in the field and executed a team-first approach at the plate.



Nowak, a native of Waukesha, Wisconsin, led the offensive charge with four hits that yielded two runs and a RBI. Frehner, Ross, and Petasek each had two hits as the WolfPack's five through seven hitters combined for six hits, four runs batted in, and three runs scored. Frehner, who shares a hometown with Nowak, was the only player with two runs scored and two runs driven in.

Freshmen Noah Musolf and Sam Steuber combined to work the final four innings in relief of Ross. Musolf struck out four and allowed one earned run and one hit in his three innings.

Championship #1: (4) Kankakee Community College 9, (1) Madison College 0

Madison College had an opportunity to grab an early lead in the second inning after two hit batters and a walk loaded the bases with two out; however, Dayton Rozinski-Hicks was unable to get his ground ball through the infield and was thrown out at first to end the threat. 

Kankakee Community College seized that momentum and responded with two runs on three hits in the top of the third. 

Neither team had more than a single runner on base again until the top of the sixth when the Cavaliers filled the bases with one out. Madison College was able to get out of the jam with an inning-ending double play that saw third baseman Charlie Schau field a ground ball, step on third, and then throw to first to get the runner.

Kankakee Community College began to pull away in the seventh. Two singles sandwiched around a sac bunt and a wild pitch pushed the differential to 3-0, and after back-to-back walks loaded the bases, pitcher Evan Iwinski was called for a balk to allow in the game's fourth run. Two run-scoring base hits followed to give KCC a 7-0 advantage. Two more runs in the eight put the Cavs comfortably in front by nine going into the final two at-bats for Madison College.

The WolfPack did load the bases in the eighth inning before a strikeout and a pop out ended the frame. They went down in order in the ninth as Madison College was held to just four hits, marking the seventh time this season in which they produced four or fewer hits in a game.

Sophomore infielder Jake Petasek was 2 for 3 to account for half of the team's hits, with Jalen Gellings and Rozinski-Hicks registering the other two.

Starter Liam Stumpf (5-4) was tagged for three runs on eight hits and two walks. He struck out three batters over his 6.1 innings. Fellow sophomore Evan Iwinski tossed the next two-thirds of an inning, allowing five runs on three hits and three walks with one K. First year arm Camden Broske entered for the final two innings and surrendered two hits and one run.

Semifinal: (1) Madison College 9, (3) Rock Valley College 1 (8 innings)

For the seventh consecutive game, Madison College managed to generate at least one run in the first inning. Lead off hitter Nick Nowak reached on an error and was able to advance an extra base. Freshman Jalen Gellings followed with a bunt, and a throwing error on the play allowed Nowak to score and Gellings to take second base. A Charlie Marion ground out moved the runner up another 90 feet, and first year infielder Charlie Schau took advantage with a sacrifice fly to center to plate Gellings.

The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the fourth when the WolfPack loaded the bases on a walk, a hit by pitch, and a single. A wild pitch scored Grant Ross to make it a three-run advantage. Another run came in the fifth as Marion crossed home after opening the frame with a double, and eventually scoring on Will Johannes' sac bunt.

After several missed opportunities, Rock Valley College was able to get a run on the board in the seventh with a run-scoring single; however, the Golden Eagles gave the run right back in the home half. Three straight two-out walks filled the bases ahead of Ross, who blooped a single to shallow left center that pushed the score to 6-1 with Schau and Payton Frehner stepping on home plate.

The game eventually ended in a run-rule in the eighth as the Pack added three more runs. Dayton Rozinski-Hicks, Nowak, and Gellings started with three straight hits, and Marion hit a sac fly to bring in the first run. Frehner picked up a RBI with an infield single that plated Nowak, and the game ended with a bases-loaded walk of freshman Marcelino Alonso forced in Gellings for the game-ending run.

The Madison College pitchers and defense did work themselves out of several jams to keep the Golden Eagles at bay. Starter Eli Hoyt stranded two runners in the second with an infield pop out, and again left two in scoring position in the fourth with a backwards K and a ground out to Gellings at short. After RVC left runners on base in the fifth and sixth, the WolfPack turned a 5-4-3 double play in the seventh to erase a lead off walk limit the visitors to one run in the inning. Rock Valley had the bases loaded in the eighth looking to cut into a five-run deficit, but the Pack defense was able to turn a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Hoyt, a native of Waukesha, Wisconsin, put together the longest outing of his career with six innings of scoreless baseball. He fanned eight batters to match a career-best set on April 12, 2022, as he improved to 2-1 on the season. Ryan Karst, a transfer from University of Illinois-Chicago, tossed one inning and allowed a run on two hits and three walks. He struck out one before Allen Leitner came in to pitch the eighth inning, recording a strikeout and a walk. 

The top of the WolfPack order combined for six hits, five runs scored, and a run batted in. Nowak and Gellings each had two hits and two runs scored, while Marion used his two hits to score one run and drive in another. 

Rozinski-Hicks was the fourth WolfPack hitter with multiple hits, going 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. 

Ross led Madison College with two RBI on a hit and two walks, to go along with a run scored. Frehner finished with one hit, one walk, one run, and one run batted in.



Up Next:

Madison College (37-12) advances to the 2024 NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series in Enid, Oklahoma, from May 25 to June 1 at David Allen Memorial Ballpark. The tournament seeds, pairings, and game times will be announced on Tuesday, May 21. This year's tournament features a new 12-team format, with two at-large teams being added to the ten district winners. The top four seeds will earn a Round 1 bye in the double-elimination format, and the championship round will now resemble a more traditional double-elimination tournament conclusion, as opposed to the former best-of-three series format. Madison College finished runner-up 

2024 NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series Information

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