GRAND CHUTE, Wis. - After Sunday night's victory over the College of Wooster - a game that got over at 1:35 a.m. - the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater squad returned to the team's hotel in Appleton. As he was relaxing following the late-night contest, head coach John Vodenlich noticed something interesting with pitcher Kevin Tomasiewicz.

     "We got back at about 2, 2:30 (a.m.)," Vodenlich said. "Everyone else was ordering pizza. I went down and jumped in the pool. The fitness facility is right next to the pool, and he's (Tomasiewicz) on the bike and then he's on the treadmill for over an hour. It was pretty evident at that point that he was planning on trying to prepare himself so he could come back for the championship. That's what coaches like to see, because then it makes it easy for us to decide who should be playing."

     So Vodenlich penciled in Tomasiewicz into the lineup for Tuesday's national championship game with the State University of New York-Cortland -- his third game of the tournament - and the senior threw a complete-game victory for the Whitewater, an 11-4 title-clinching triumph at Fox Cities Stadium.

     Tomasiewicz threw eight innings in the opening game of the tournament, an 8-3 win over Trinity College (Conn.) on Friday, then came in to throw the final two innings of relief in the 10-7 triumph over Wooster to earn the Warhawks a day off before Tuesday's national title game.

     "I just did what I had to do to help the team," said Tomasiewicz, who earned tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. "I really wasn't thinking about the award at all. We needed a stop in Sunday night's game, so I came in and stopped it. Actually, I wasn't planning on starting until yesterday. I got the start again, and once I got to the fifth and sixth inning, I was like, 'I've got to finish this thing.' "

     Tomasiewicz struck out three while walking two in his complete-game effort, his sixth of the season, enabling the Warhawks to finish 45-7 overall and win the national title for the first time in school history.

     "To be a Warhawk and go out on top, people are going to look at you forever and say that you're the team to beat now," said Tomasiewicz, one of seven seniors on the Whitewater roster.

     Whitewater became the first school since North Carolina Wesleyan in 1999 to "run the table" at the national finals, winning the title without a loss in the double-elimination-format tournament. Whitewater is also the second Wisconsin school to win the Division III championship, after Wisconsin-Oshkosh won titles in 1985 and 1994.

     Cortland State finished 43-9-1, advancing to the national title contest for the first time in school history. After losing its first game, the Red Dragons won four straight games, including two games on Monday, to advance to Tuesday's final game. Meanwhile, Whitewater had Monday off after sweeping its first three games.

     "More than anything, it's a mental thing," said Cortland State coach Joe Brown. "The physical thing - these kids are strong, they can keep playing. You saw a yeoman-like effort from their pitcher today, phenomenal. But a mental day off is an amazing thing, sometimes. I think today, not physically but mentally, we were worn. We got down and we've come back so many times, but it's tough."

     The Red Dragons committed four errors, leading to three unearned runs in the game.

     Whitewater pounded out 10 hits against three Cortland pitchers, scoring 10 runs in the first five innings to cruise to the victory.

     Adamson supplied much of the early spark for Whitewater on Tuesday. In the first inning, he laced a double off the left field wall, clearing the bases. Adamson came around to score himself on the play when the preceding runner collided with the catcher, sending the ball to the backstop, giving Whitewater a 4-0 lead. In the fourth, he hit a run-scoring single and later scored himself.

     "I'm seeing the ball well, and I had the guys in front of me heating up," Adamson said. "When those guys are hitting the ball, I'm hitting the ball. My average is about 100 points higher when I've got guys in front of me on-base. So my success is their success."

     Eric Baldwin, Jeff Newcomer and Greg Harder also had two hits for the Warhawks, with Newcomer driving in two runs. Leadoff hitter Ross Klawitter scored three runs, reaching base each of the four times he came to the plate on three walks and a hit-by-pitch.

     Meanwhile, Aaron Guilbault, another All-Tournament Team selection, provided the exclamation point for the convincing victory, launching a towering home run to left field to lead off the eighth inning.

     Cortland State starter Matt Miller lasted just three-and-two-third innings, allowing eight runs. Justin Mattes pitched an inning-and-a-third, and Jason Chyr threw three innings of relief.

     Travis Robinson and Pat D'Auria had two hits each for the Red Dragons.

     Cortland State the loaded the bases in the second inning, and two runs came across as Jimmy Basnight stroked a single to left, advancing to second on a fielding error.

     In the third, Whitewater added to its lead, as Nicholas Teach singled and scored on a single by Baldwin.

     Four more runs came across for the Warhawks in the fourth. Whitewater put two runners aboard with two out, and Adamson drove Cortland State starter Miller from the game with a run-scoring single. Reliever Mattes, gave up a two-run single to Jeff Newcomer. The Warhawks then pulled off a double steal, as Aaron Soto scored while Newcomer stole second.

     Cortland State's D'Auria launched a shot that bounced off the top of the left-field wall and over for a two-run home run in the sixth inning.

     The game was played before a paid attendance of 1,929 at Fox Cities Stadium, the largest gathering for a championship game since 1986. The total attendance for the championships was 24,430, the second-largest in the 30-history of the NCAA Division III finals.

Written By Don Stoner
Augsburg College Sports Information Director

Photos By Lehigh Photo