Winning after loss: LaGrange perseveres death of teammates to make NCAA Division III Baseball World Series debut

CEDAR RAPIDS — Affixed to the left breast of LaGrange College’s baseball uniforms is a black patch.

In the center of that is a heartfelt tribute in white that reads, “SB #4” and “JB #48.”

The emblem honors their late teammates Stephen Bartolotta and Jacob Brown. The freshman pitchers died in a car accident May 14 hours after the Panthers won their fifth straight USA South Conference championship and automatic berth to the national tournament.

“More so than anything, we wanted to get out there and honor Brownie and Bart,” LaGrange Coach David Kelton said. “I know that’s what they wanted us to do. Be able to get back out on the field. These guys have handled it the right way.”

The Panthers persevered the unfathomable loss to claim regional and super regional titles to reach the NCAA Division III Baseball World Series for the first time in school history. They were successful in their debut, trouncing Trinity (Texas), 12-0, in the first round Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“These guys have been competing hard all year long,” Kelton said. “We have a little added something now with Brown and Bart. We want to go out day-in and day-out and play as hard as we can.

“They love playing with each other. An extremely close team that we have.”

Tragedy hit the team and the small LaGrange community that consists of less than 700 total students. Bartolotta, 18, and Brown, 19, attempted to pass another car when it collided head-on to an oncoming vehicle. Brown had just improved to 9-0 and earned the win in the championship earlier in the day.

The tight-knit team rallied around each other in the following weeks but it wasn’t easy.

“It’s been difficult, especially in the beginning,” Kelton said. “The week after the accident it was touch-and-go every single day. This is an extremely close team. We leaned on each other, grieved hard with each other, but each and every day we were able to take a step forward.”

LaGrange pounded its way to the program’s first World Series win, tallying 14 hits and pulling away with 10 runs in its final three at-bats. The Panthers had 11 hits during that stretch, including four straight in the seventh and three reached base in a four-batter stretch in the sixth and eighth.

Cael Chatham, Jack Layrisson, David Smigelski and Jared Aldridge each had two hits and two RBIs.

“We always compete with each other,” said shortstop Cael Chatham, who was one of five Panthers with two hits. “We just feed off each other. It all starts with that man on the end, right there (Joe Ruth).”

Ruth had a hit in each frame, smacking singles in the sixth and eighth with a double in the seventh. He finished Friday with 104 hits this season, setting the D-III single-season mark held by Sean Risley, of Marietta (Ohio) in 1986. Risley had 103 in 63 games. Ruth provided another bright spot in a tough postseason.

“I try not to focus on personal achievements over what we’re doing as a team,” Ruth said. “To be able to hold that record and get it in our first World Series win, it’s really cool. D-III baseball has a very rich history. A lot of great players have come through D-III and to have that hit record, (I’m) grateful.”

Starter Baley Coleman went 7 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and striking out nine with a lone walk. He relied on his teammates and the way they have been there for each other the last few weeks.

“I love everybody on this team, especially all those guys on the field with me when I’m on the mound,” Coleman said. “It’s just a big sigh of relief when I know I have eight other guys that can trust me like I trust them.”