Yesavage helps ECU capture AAC title
Baseball
TREY YESAVAGE (BARTO/ BOYERTOWN) » The East Carolina freshman pitcher saw action in three games for the Pirates during ECU’s American Athletic Conference championship run last week.
The biggest moment came when Yesavage entered the game during a semifinal win over Tulane, when he replaced starter Danny Beal with his team down 4-0 already and two runners on. Yesavage’s two strikeouts to end the inning helped allow the Pirates to mount an 8-5 comeback win. Yesavage also saw work in a quarterfinal win over Cincinnati and recorded an out in a 6-1 championship game win over Houston on Sunday.
Yesavage has made 29 appearances out of the ECU bullpen this season, posting a 3.91 ERA. He has 41 strikeouts compared to 19 walks in 23 innings. Yesavage and ECU will host the Greenville regional to open the NCAA Tournament, starting Friday when they face Coppin State. HUNTER CURLEY (COLLEGEVILLE/SPRING-FORD) » The Arcadia sophomore utility player earned D-III Baseball All-Region 4 first team honors on Tuesday.
Curley finished the season at the plate with a .308 batting average in 143 at-bats, totalling 44 hits, 13 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 45 runs scored, 20 RBI, and 25 stolen bases. On the mound, Curley went 4-3 with a 3.92 ERA, striking out 43 batters in 62 innings.
The sophomore also earned First Team All-MAC Freedom honors as a utility player earlier this season, helping his team to a 40-9 overall record and a MAC Freedom Championship. MICHAEL EZE (HILL SCHOOL) » The Georgetown sophomore utility player and the Hoyas saw their season end with back-to-back losses in this weekend’s Big East Conference tournament. Eze went 1-for-4 and scored a run in a season-ending loss to Xavier.
Eze played in 52 games, including 32 start for the Hoya this season, playing both infield and outfield. He hit .224 with four doubles and six homers and drove in 21 runs, while scoring 30 himself. He also went 9-for-11 on stole-base attempts.
Track and field
The Ursinus men’s 4x400 relay team of senior Tyler Reilly, junior Daniel Tabor (Collegeville/ Methacton), junior Payton Stanziani (Gilbertsville/ Boyertown) and sophomore Devon Greaves finished 11th in the prelims with a time of 3:16.75 at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships last weekend in Geneva, Ohio.
They entered the race seeded 13th as they became the first relay team in Ursinus program history to compete at the NCAA Championships.
Ursinus junior Isabelle Deal repeated as an AllAmerican in the javelin by finishing in sixth place.
Deal built off her eighthplace finish last season by marking at 137-0 feet on her sixth and final throw and became the first Ursinus female to achieve twotime All-American status.
DARIUS SMALLWOOD (POTTSTOWN/POTTSTOWN) » The Penn State freshman earned a place at the NCAA East Prelims where athletes competed to qualify for the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships, to be held this weekend in Eugene, Ore.
Smallwood was fifth in his heat and placed 27th in the 800-meter preliminaries in a time of 1:50.20. He narrowly missed advancing to quarterfinals, which included the top 24 from prelims.
MARY BERNOTAS (PHOENIXVILLE/OWEN J. ROBERTS) » The Eastern University senior capped her career by competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships.
Bernotas placed 18th in 11:20.87 and did not advance to the finals. It was her second time qualifying for the NCAAs, achieving All-American status by placing seventh in 2021. In her career, Bernotas finished as a three-time MAC Champion, All-MAC Second Team twice, and AllMAC Third Team across both cross country and track and field.
TEAGAN SCHEIN-BECKER (TRAPPE/PERKIOMEN VALLEY) » The Rider University senior finished 23rd in the quarterfinals of the 1500 meters Saturday at the NCAA East Preliminary Championships, hosted by Indiana University. Schein-Becker ran a time of 4:34.34.
Schein-Becker had an historic year for the Broncs, earning All-MAAC and AllEast in cross country, before winning the mile at ECAC Indoor Championships to earn All-East. She then broke former teammate Kristin Siegle’s program record in the 1,500 during the outdoor season and repeatedly shaved time off her mark until it reached 4:18.32 at the Penn Relays on April 28.