COLLEGE UPDATE: Former Glendale Community College players take to NAIA World Series
The following are updates on area athletes at the collegiate level.
Thomas Korn (Glendale Community College, 2011) York College baseball senior: A historic season came to a close for the Panthers Saturday, as their first trip to the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics World Series ended quickly.
York lost the first two games it’s ever played in the NAIA championship double-elimination tournament on Friday and Saturday.
Korn looked to keep the Panthers’ season alive with a quality start Saturday. He gave up three runs (one earned) in 6 2/3 innings, but didn’t have the offensive and defensive support in a season-ending loss to Rogers State, 4-1.
The right-handed pitcher gave up seven hits and a walk, as York, which fell to No. 3 Embry-Riddle, 8-3 Friday, was hurt by a pair of errors in the game. The contest was tied at 1 after both teams got on the board in the fourth, but Rogers State struck for two more runs in the sixth.
Korn gave up a leadoff single and saw the next batter reach on error, which put runners at second and third. Another single scored the lead runner and a groundout to third scored the other.
Korn (10-3) improved on the 2.69 earned-run average he took into Saturday. He threw five complete games, which was second-best on the team, and one shutout in 13 starts and 15 appearance this year. He also struck out 53 batters and walked 17.
Korn ended his collegiate career with a strong year in the Panthers’ starting rotation. He earned second-team All-Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference honors after York won the conference title for the second year in a row with a 44-12 (19-3 in conference) record.
One of Korn’s most important performances came May 9. He struck out eight and allowed six hits and three walks through seven innings to lead York to a 5-1 victory over Mayville State University in the Panthers’ opener in the Joliet Bracket of the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round, an NAIA World Series qualifier.
Sako Chapjian (Hoover High, 2008) Lewis-Clark State baseball senior: The Warriors assured their season and Chapjian’s collegiate career would continue Friday with a victory in their first-round game of the NAIA World Series.
Lewis-Clark, the seventh seed, defeated Rogers State, 6-1, Friday and was set to face No. 2 Lee University Saturday night. The Warriors advanced to the NAIA World Series by winning the Cascade Collegiate Conference with a 42-13, 22-6 in conference record.
Chapjian appeared as a pinch hitter but didn’t log a hit Friday. The senior’s playing time has dipped after he missed a month due to an injury this year.
Still, Chapjian proved he’s still a dangerous hitter just before the NAIA championship by going six for eight in the Inland Cellular Tournament on May 5.
The former Tornado and former Glendale Community College player was three for four with two runs and a double in a 10-1 win over Pacific Lutheran, and went two for four with a homer, two runs batted in and three runs scored in a 20-9 victory over Whitworth the same day.
Chapjian’s injury has limited him to appearances in 26 — 11 starts — of 55 games. In that span, he put together a .310 batting average (18 for 58) with 13 RBI and 11 runs. He also had a .534 slugging percentage with five doubles, two home runs and a triple.
Another former GCC player with Lewis-Clark, Michael Noteware, also had his season shortened by injury. Noteware, a right-handed pitcher, was given a medical redshirt in his senior season after one appearance this season.
Noteware was dominant in his only start of the year. He allowed two hits, struck out three and used just 68 pitches in six innings of Lewis-Clark’s 15-0 win over Concordia in the NAIA West Tournament.
Mark Saatzer (St. Francis High, 2011) Chapman University baseball junior: The former Golden Knight continued to anchor the Panthers’ offense, evidenced by him being voted to the All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference second team.
Saatzer led Chapman with a team- and career-high .365 batting average (50 for 137), 23 RBI, 21 runs and 11 doubles. The first baseman stepped up in conference play, as he hit .370 with 20 runs in 27 games. Three of Saatzer’s RBI came in the Panthers’ season finale, a 15-1 win over Caltech.
The St. Francis graduate’s best game of the year came April 13 in a 13-0 win over Caltech. He went three for three with two runs batted and two scored. Saatzer also went three for three with an RBI and two runs in a 15-13 loss to Ithaca on March 17 and in a 9-5 loss to Cal State San Marcos on Feb. 12.
Chapman finished the year with an 18-21 (15-13 in conference) and sixth in conference.