Winston-Salem State not surprised by the Rams’ run in the NCAA DII Regionals/West Chester Golden Rams had nothing but respect for the WSSU Rams(Norris, Acuna and Steiner make All-Tournament team)

*****RANDY NORRIS, IVAN ACUNA AND LANDON STEINER, from Winston-Salem State, all made the ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM in the Regional Tournament*****

from John Dell at the Winston-Salem Journal and CLICK HERE to get the full article/post from JD on the WSSU Rams and their deep run into the NCAA Baseball Regionals….

Coach Kevin Ritsche, who is happily married with two children, had been away from home so long, he thought he was single again.

Ritsche, the baseball coach at Winston-Salem State, spent nearly a week with his team at the NCAA Division-II Atlantic Region playoffs in Jamestown, N.Y.

“We were a long way from home but we kept winning and hanging around,” Ritsche said Tuesday after returning from the region playoffs where the Rams finished runner-ups to West Chester.

Not much was expected of the seventh-seeded Rams heading into the seven-team regional. And after losing to West Chester in their opener, the Rams pulled off one of the biggest feats in school history by defeating four Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference schools in their next four games.

from the Post-Journal at West Chester State:
The West Chester Golden Rams defeated the Winston-Salem State Rams, but the Golden Rams had plenty of respect to go around for the WSSU Rams…..

After losing their first game Thursday, the WSSU Rams won four straight to win the losers’ bracket and put themselves into position to knock off the Golden Rams on Monday.

“Sunday took a lot out of us,” Winston-Salem State coach Kevin Ritsche said about a doubleheader that included a four-hour rain delay. “We were cycling arms out of the pen and it was tough.”

West Chester led 7-2 early Monday, but the WSSU Rams, much like they have shown all regional, did not go down without a fight. In fact, Winston-Salem State tied the game at 7-all in the bottom of the seventh before the Golden Rams’ bats came alive in the eighth.

“Watching these guys all tournament, they’ve played really well,” West Chester shortstop Nick Ward said of Winston-Salem State. “We never counted them out even though we were up five. We knew they were going to fight.”