DuBois, PA – CMCC Baseball saw its time at the 2026 USCAA Small College World Series come to a heartbreaking end on Tuesday night. The #7 seeded Mustangs fell 6-4 at the hands of #6 Miami University Hamilton for their second loss of the national tournament in the double elimination format. Down to their final outs, Central Maine loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but fell just short of the runs they needed to extend their season.
"We came to the World Series and competed," said head coach Ryan Palmer. "Despite losing at the national tournament, the guys should not lose sight of what they accomplished this season. Between back-to-back YSCC championships, another 25+ win season, two All-Americans, and finishing the season ranked in the USCAA top ten, there's a lot to be proud of."
This marked CMCC's second-straight trip to the national stage after winning the Yankee Small College Conference Tournament for the second season in a row. The Mustangs won their first game played at the Small College World Series for the first time in program history, and only second game in total at the national tournament, before losses to the #2 and #6 seeds knocked them out. Coach Palmer's squad ends the year with a 27-10 overall record, tied for the third-most wins in a single season.
The game started well for Central Maine, scoring twice in the bottom of the first. T.J. Kramarz was hit by a pitch and reached third when Jake Calver hit a towering fly ball off the wall to dead-center field. Brendan Mahaney drove in the first run with a sharply hit groundout to first. Caleb Oickle then dropped a single into shallow left field to plate Calver for a 2-0 lead.
The Harriers pulled one back in the top of the second off starting pitcher Camden Miller. The first two batters reached safely, and Dale Ellis put them both in scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Cade Combs then delivered a sacrifice fly to center before Miller struck out Mason Wise to end the inning.
Both sides went down in order in the third, before the bats came back in the fourth. Miami-Hamilton loaded the bases with one out in the top half before Ty Bernier and Garren Post turned a 4-3 double play to get out of the jam. In the bottom half, Gorman lined a single into center field with Mathew Charrette coming in as a courtesy runner. With two outs, Dawson Babineau went opposite field. The lefty lined a shot down the left-field line that rolled all the way into the corner, scoring Charrette from first for an RBI double and a 3-1 lead.
Things came undone in the top of the fifth though. Wise led things off getting hit by a pitch and Cooper Sandhaus doubled to put two in scoring position. Miller battled back to strike out Thomas Boster and got Jarrod Mays to hit a grounder to third. However, Kramarz left his throw across the diamond short, bouncing out of play. That allowed two runs to score and tied the game. Parker Geshan followed with a double to right that hopped over the fence for a ground rule double, making it 4-3 Harriers. Then Keyln Dallio lined a single past a diving Cody Cleaveland at short for a 5-3 advantage.
The Mustangs suddenly had nine outs to try and save their season. In the bottom of the fifth, Calver and Oickle advanced into scoring position, but a Gorman groundout ended the threat. In the sixth, the bottom of the CMCC lineup went down in order.
Miami-Hamilton added another run to lead 6-3 in the top of the seventh. Cleaveland came to the mound in relief, replacing Miller who ended the season as the team leader in innings pitched. Boster scored on a wild pitch, but Cleaveland dug deep with two on and nobody out. The Richmond, ME native got two strikeouts and a pop out to give his team a fighting chance.
Meanwhile, the Harriers starter, Jake Westerkamp, was also showing signs of tiring. Cleaveland led off with a single straight up the middle over the second base bag, then took second and third on wild pitches. A four-pitch walk to Kramarz spelled the end of his night with Dallio coming on to try and pick up the save.
Calver worked a walk on a full count to load the bases with nobody out. Mahaney then hit a high, bouncing chopper that eluded Geshan at short stop, scoring Cleaveland to cut the deficit to 6-4. It was the team-leading 44th RBI for the sophomore All-American Honorable Mention from Old Town, ME.
The stage was set for a dramatic come-from-behind, walk-off victory, but Miami-Hamilton had other plans. Dallio recovered to mow down the next three straight batters, striking out Oickle, Gorman, and Post to end both the game and the Mustangs' season.
It marks the end of another successful season for the Baseball program, which only returned six players, Jake Calver, Cody Cleaveland, Zac Gorman, Brendan Mahaney, Garren Post, and Owen Scott, from the squad that reached the Small College World Series last year. Along with T.J. Kramarz being named USCAA 2nd-Team All-American and Mahaney an Honorable Mention, Calver and Gorman also reached Academic All-American status. The young squad looks set to return next year in search of a third straight YSCC title in 2026-27.
