RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Felician College baseball team has reached the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference playoffs as the No. 2 seed. After earning a bye past the tournament's playdown round, Felician will take on No. 6 seed Post University during first-round play of the main draw on Thursday. First pitch is set for 11:30 a.m. in New Castle, Del.
Guided by 11th-year head coach Chris Langan of Hazlet, Felician (26-18, 15-5) is making its third consecutive playoff appearance and the 11th in the 15-year history of the program. The Golden Falcons are seeking their first conference championship.
The CACC Baseball Tournament began as a six-team event. No. 5 seed Dominican (N.Y.) College and Post (17-20-1, 10-10) won in the single-elimination playdown round on May 3 to join top-seed and No. 11 nationally-ranked Wilmington (Del.) University and Felician in the four-team, double-elimination main draw. The tournament homepage can be viewed at http://www.caccathletics.org/sports/bsb/2013-14/championship.
"The first goal we set every year is reaching the playoffs, and getting the bye was particularly important to us," Langan said. "So I'm very proud of the way our guys fought and grinded and found a way to get here. Now we have to find a way to do something we haven't done before and that's win it."
The main draw will be hosted by Wilmington at Wilson Field in New Castle. Directions are available at http://www.wilmu.edu/athletics/facilities/wilsonfield.aspx.
With a win on Thursday, Felician would advance to the winners' bracket final on Friday at 11 a.m. Should the Golden Falcons fall, they would have to come right back and play again on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. The two remaining schools after Friday's losers' bracket final at 2 p.m. will play in Saturday's championship round at 11 a.m
"Being experienced in tournament play is to our benefit," Langan said. "Obviously this time we're looking for a different result. We've played a lot of high-level, high-pressure games this year, both in and out of conference, and that can only help us this weekend."
Felician swept a regular-season doubleheader from the Eagles, 7-1, and 6-1, on April 12 in Lyndhurst, N.J. The Golden Falcons went 6-1 this season against the teams in the tournament field.
Ticket prices for each day of competition are $6 for adults and $3 for children, students (with ID) and senior citizens. Children age three years and under will be admitted free. The CACC will also offer an online Live Stats feed at http://www.wilmu.edu/athletics/livestats/baseball/xlive.htm and a free video stream at http://tinyurl.com/o7cy6d3.
The winner of the 2014 CACC Tournament receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II East Regional, to be hosted by one of the regional participants.
