SALISBURY, Md. – The second-seeded Christopher Newport baseball team was eliminated from the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship on Friday after falling to Mary Washington (28-13) in game one, 6-5. Senior Dylan Weber made history on the mound and the Captains led, 5-3, after six innings, but the upset-minded Eagles came from behind to advance to the title game against top-seeded Salisbury.
 
The Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament was shortened to a single-elimination single-day event set to be played to completion on Friday. Inclement weather in the forecast Saturday forced the decision to change the format, meaning the winning team between Christopher Newport and Mary Washington would advance to the 2023 championship game against top-seeded Salisbury.
 
A three-run seventh proved to be the difference in the game as Mary Washington snuck the game-winning run home on a wild pitch after tying things up on an RBI single by Xavier Herring. 
 
Mary Washington took a 2-0 lead after two innings and the Captains got off to a slow start offensively with just two hits over the first three innings, but a four-run fourth would flip the script against the Eagles as CNU took a 4-2 lead. Mary Washington and Christopher Newport each tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth, respectively, and CNU held a 5-3 advantage heading into the final three innings. Unfortunately for CNU, though, the Eagles rallied for three runs against the Captains' bullpen in the top of the seventh to re-take the lead, 6-5.
 
Senior Dylan Weber got the start on the mound for CNU and quickly added another impressive individual accolade to his resume in the top of the first inning. Striking out the second batter of the game, Weber recorded his 250^th career punchout, becoming just the fifth player in program history to reach the milestone. The southpaw would go on to strike out seven batters over 5.0 innings pitched, running his career total to 256, passing Eben Brower (251 from 2003-06) for fourth on the all-time list. Weber is the first pitcher to strike out 250 batters as a Captain since Hall of Famer Kenny Moreland finished his career with a record 378 in 2008.
 
The C2C Pitcher of the Year now has 95 strikeouts in 67.1 innings this season and moved into a tie for seventh all-time for the most strikeouts in a season, joining Mike Cosby (2004) and teammate Jay Cassady (2022). Weber left the game with a 4-3 lead having surrendered three runs, two earned, on seven hits allowed and handed the ball off to Jack Braley to start the sixth.
 
The C2C Rookie of the Year, Josh Reinhold, also added to his historic first year with a single in his first at-bat to reach base for a 38^th consecutive game. Already boasting the longest run by a freshman in program history, he passed Keith Roberts (2017) for fifth on the all-time list at Christopher Newport. Reinhold finished the game 1-for-2 with three walks and a run scored for the Captains.

Early in the game, CNU left the bases loaded in the first and stranded another run in the third. Finally breaking through in the fourth, the Captains appeared primed to take control after sending ten men to the plate in the inning. Jake Benedict kicked off the frame with a hit-by-pitch and rookie outfielder Ayden Stuffel laid down a perfect bunt to put two on and chase the starting pitcher. After one out was recorded, Sam Benedict got the Captains on the board by plating his twin brother with a line drive single into center field. 

The line kept moving for CNU with two outs as Justin Liakos walked and Scott Crosson slapped a single into right field to score another run and tie the game. After Reinhold notched the first of his three walks to load the bases, the big blow came off the bat of sophomore catcher Zach Dzarnowski. He laced a 2-2 pitch into left field and both Liakos and Crosson stepped on home plate to give CNU the lead, 4-2. 

After Mary Washington trimmed the lead to one in the fifth, the Captains answered with on in the bottom of the sixth to re-take a two-run lead. Reinhold led off the inning with a walk and would eventually be the run-scoring Captain on a sacrifice fly by Justin Bowers. 

On the mound, Braley worked quickly through the sixth with no harm, but a single and a walk started the seventh against the veteran right-hander. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners up and Luke Guerzon drove in a run with a groundball to third, cutting the lead back to one, 5-4. CNU called on first team All-Conference reliever Kyle Lewis to put out the fire, but an RBI single into right on the first pitch he threw tied the game. After a groundball out, a low breaking ball got away from Dzarnowski and allowed Guerzon to score from third on the wild pitch. 

That would prove to be the difference as Lewis struck out three of the next four batters and Danny Checkosky shut down the Eagles in the ninth. The Captains offense could not muster anything against Jamie Kotula, who earned a three-inning save for the Eagles after giving up just one hit. 

The Captains will now await the decision of the NCAA Division III National Championship Committee, who will release the 2023 selections on Monday afternoon. A selection show is scheduled to air on NCAA.com at Noon as CNU hopes it has done enough to earn an at-large berth into the postseason.