Listening to Villa Julie first baseman Andy Welling describe what would have been a game-winning home run until it curved foul by 5 feet, one gets a real appreciation for how they play the game at the Stevenson school.
There is a certain innocence about baseball in the peaceful, countryside setting.
"We were losing 6-5 in the last of the seventh, and I came up with a chance to win it with a two-run homer," said Welling, who batted cleanup but had only two home runs. "The pitcher busted me inside, and I had no choice but to pull it down the line. The ball stayed fair until the last second. There goes my first walk-off home run. I did get a hit to tie the game, but we lost in extra innings."
That loss to Frostburg State pretty much summed up the season for the Mustangs, who finished 16-21 for a second straight year.
But it hasn't diminished the kind of year Welling put together for the Division III school, which is playing an independent schedule.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior from Archbishop Curley soared to a team-best .421 batting average and also led the Mustangs in RBIs (39), hits (53), doubles (12) and total bases (71).
Toss in a .563 slugging percentage, a .490 on-base average and eight steals in 11 attempts, and it adds up to an impressive run.
There also was a scorching seven-game binge early in the season that featured a 20-for-28 streak (.714) at the plate.
Welling was a member of Villa Julie's first baseball recruiting class three years ago, when the school started a baseball program. He had hoped for the school to become a member of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference before his four-year career ended, but that won't happen now.
'The earliest we could get in the PAC is two years from now," he said. "But when you look at it, I'm playing against a lot of the top schools [six in Division III's top 20] in the country and hitting against their tough pitching."
Top 25 in baseball
Johns Hopkins finished No. 21 and Salisbury wound up No. 24 in the final American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Division III poll.
The Blue Jays (35-9) won their second straight Centennial Conference title but were eliminated from postseason play in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic regional tournament despite being the top seeds.
Salisbury (30-13-3) won its third straight Capital Athletic Conference title, won the NCAA South title, and was fourth (2-2) in its first Division III World Series.
Academic All-Americans
Maryland senior gymnast Gillian Cote and Loyola senior tennis standout Nancy Turnblacer were among 10 scholar-athletes named to the 2001-2002 Verizon Academic All-America Women's At-Large District 2 team.
Cote, with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average, was a four-year standout for the Terps' nationally ranked team.
Turnblacer, who had a 3.91 GPA, has been labeled Loyola's best women's tennis player. Her 58-37 career singles record helped the Greyhounds to four straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles.
Et cetera
Two former Morgan State football standouts, defensive back Werner Herndon and wide receiver Anthony Collins, have signed Canadian Football League contracts with the British Columbia Lions and Toronto Argonauts, respectively. ... Senior track star Beth Frey has been named Villa Julie's Female Athlete of the Year and was nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year. ... Coppin State middle-distance runners Beryl Harris and Nickie Peters have been named to the 2001-02 Verizon Academic All-District 2 men's track/cross country team. ... Four Salisbury lacrosse players have been named to the USILA Division III men's All-America teams. Sophomore midfielder Andy Murray was chosen for the first team, senior defenseman Jon Cline was a second-team choice, and sophomores Andy Arnold and Scott Simmons received honorable mention.