Richland grad Raho, West Chester advance to NCAA Division II Baseball Championship
· Yahoo Sports
Richland High School graduate Luke Raho and his West Chester University teammates will play in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship starting Friday in Cary, North Carolina.
West Chester (44-10) is the top seed and will play No. 8 seed Indianapolis at 6 p.m. Friday in the eight-team field. The Golden Rams will compete in the same double-elimination bracket as No. 4 seed Central Missouri, the 2025 runner-up, and fifth-seeded Texas- Tyler.
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The other bracket has 10-time champion and No. 2 seed Tampa, No. 3 Catawba, No. 6 Point Loma and No. 7 Bentley. Winners of the two brackets will play in a best-of-3 championship series.
Raho and Central High School graduate Hunter Smith both are sophomores at West Chester after transferring from Mansfield in 2025. Raho and Smith are Martella’s Pharmacy teammates in the Johnstown Collegiate Baseball League as well.
Raho is 4-2 with a 4.81 ERA and one save on the mound.
The right-hander has struck out 47 batters compared to walking 12 in 58 innings. He earned a complete-game victory April 17 when he limited Shepherd to one run. Raho also threw a shutout March 7 against Frostburg State, fanning seven. Raho is 3-for-7 at the plate with a double and five RBIs.
In 2025, Raho struck out 29 batters in 33 innings at Mansfield. He also went 12-for-50 (.240) at the plate with three doubles and four RBIs.
Smith is batting .339 (56-for-165) with 38 runs, 17 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 55 RBIs this season.
He hit .284 with seven home runs and 31 RBIs in 44 games as a freshman at Mansfield in 2025.
West Chester went 5-0 through the Atlantic Regional Tournament, including a pair of wins over fellow Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division member Millersville in a super regional after losing to the Marauders in the PSAC title game May 9. The Golden Rams outscored their opponents 67-22 through the five games, scoring seven or more runs in every contest. West Chester has won 18 of its past 20 games.
This is the sixth time in program history West Chester advanced to the final eight teams in the country. The Golden Rams won national championships in 2012 and 2017 under coach Jad Prachniak. Mike LaRosa has led West Chester since 2021.
West Chester is 36-1 when scoring six or more runs this season, including 19-0 when tallying 10 or more runs.
Indianapolis (39-22) was the No. 7 seed in the Midwest Regional. The Greyhounds dropped the first game and have won six consecutive contests, including a sweep over Grand Valley State in a super regional.
Indianapolis also advanced to Cary in 2023 and 2024.