| Webster first baseman Jeff
Kammer will be counted on for some punch in the Gorlok
lineup. Webster athletics photo |
By Jim Dioxn
for D3sports.com
Thirty-seven wins. Top fielding team in the country. Arguably the best pitching in school history. A top seed in the Central regional in Moline. Regular season wins over national powers Cortland State and Marietta. It was all set up for Webster in 2014. Then after scoring 10+ runs in five straight games, Webster managed only three runs in 20 innings, and fell out of the Central regional in two games.
This is all motivation the Gorloks will need to repeat as the top seed in this season’s Central Regional. No. 24 Buena Vista and Washington University have both garnered votes in the preseason polls and will be the primary competition for Webster. Never discount the CCIW powers of Augustana, Carthage and Illinois Weseyan as the CCIW has placed multiple teams in the regional round six times in the last eight years.
New Faces
John Fitzgerald, Chicago: John Fitzgerald was hired as the head coach for the Maroons, replacing Brian Baldea, who served as head coach for 24 years. He comes to Hyde Park after spending the previous seven years at North Central College in Naperville, Ill. The Cardinals won 143 games during his tenure, which made him the third-winningest coach in the 153-year history of the program.
Larry Frank, Principia: Larry Frank is the third head coach for Principia in five years. Frank, a familiar name in baseball circles around the St. Louis area, was head coach at the College from 1995-2001 and was named SLIAC Conference Coach of the Year in 1996. Franks' appointment is for the 2015 season only as Principia will be looking for a permanent head coach following the end of this season.
| Ed Mathey returned to coach
at North Central in 2015 after a 294-371-2 record at Northern
Illinios. NIU athletics photo |
Ed Mathey, North Central: Ed Mathey has returned to North Central, his second stint with the Cardinal program. He previously guided the team to three CCIW Championships over his nine-year tenure from 1994-2002. "It's probably the one school in the region that I could envision myself being," said Mathey. "It's home to me and North Central will always be in my blood. Having played here, becoming an assistant and having my first head coaching opportunity here, it's an exciting time.“
Bryan Nikkel , Luther: Luther hired Bryan Nikkel as the Norse’s new head coach. Nikkel replaced Alex Smith who resigned after two years at the helm of the program. A 2008 graduate of Southwest Minnesota State, Nikkel takes over the Norse program after spending the past four years as the head assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Augustana (S.D.).
Matt Schirm, Central (Iowa): Matt Schirm, most recently an assistant at IIAC rival Wartburg, will replace Adam Stevens, who left after a successful 11-year run to take a similar post at Aurora. Schirm was an assistant coach at Anamosa High School while a catcher at Coe and also assisted at the University of the Cumberlands from 2001-03 before spending 2004-06 as assistant director and instructor at the North Carolina Baseball Academy. “I couldn’t be more excited,” Schirm said. “There’s a lot of momentum built up in the program.”
Adam Stevens, Aurora: Adam Stevens became Aurora's 17th head coach last fall, coming to Aurora after serving as the head coach at Central College in Pella, Iowa for the past 11 seasons. "I am very excited to be the next head baseball coach at Aurora University. The baseball program has such a rich tradition of success and I am going to work as hard as I can to help add to that wonderful tradition," said Stevens. "We want to recruit quality student-athletes that are committed to being on a nationally competitive baseball team.”
Conference Previews
| John Munyon was 2-2 in games
where he pitched more than three innings in 2014. Illinois Wesleyan athletics photo |
Collegiate Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin: Since 2007, the CCIW has been represented in the postseason by five different teams, averaging just over two teams per year. In 2015, it will be a repeat of 2014 when the top of the conference was dominated by the regular season champ Augustana and the tournament champion, Illinois Wesleyan.
Illinois Wesleyan, along with Webster, has been the most consistent in making the playoffs as they have made seven of the last eight regional rounds. The Titans should make it eight with seven returning position players.
Gone are the outfield duo of John Frericks and Bobby Czarnoski but head coach Dennis Martel has replacements at the ready in Junior Adam Glogovsky (.353, 14 RBI) and sophomore Nick Huskisson. Newcomer Josh Jimenez is slated to be the top pitcher, with converted reliever John Munyon (3-2, 5 saves, 2.73 ERA) taking the second spot in the rotation.
In 2014, the CCIW regular season champion was Augustana and expect head coach Greg Wallace to lead the Vikings to an 18th straight winning season. Three of four infield positions return but the Vikings will miss All-American and the 2014 CCIW Player of the Year, 1B Grant Stewart.
The strength of the Augustana squad will be the pitching staff. Seth Davis (5-2, 3.45 ERA, 89 SO), Chris Sauer (6-2, 3.82 ERA), and Walter White (6-1, 2.86 ERA, 63 IP) is one of the better pitching rotations in the country. With Zach Morgenstern (5-1, 4 saves, 2.01 ERA) in the bull pen, opponents will find scoring opportunities scarce.
| Dan Sabin started in 16 of
the 20 games for the North Park Vikings in 2014. North Park athletics photo |
North Park has the potential to make it a three team race but major pieces of last years team are gone. Missing for the first time in five years will be the defense of 2014 Gold Glove second baseman Mike Coduto. Add in Eric Sousanes and Nick Soldano ending their careers in 2014 and you have big shoes to fill. Catcher Dan Sabin (.360, 31 RBI, 984 FLD%) is the lone All-CCIW player to return in 2015.
North Central will have a new head coach, well sorta. Ed Mathey returns for a second tenure for the Cardinals and it is expected that he will bring the program back to the level he enjoyed in his first coaching stint. There is enough to start with but it may be a couple years before the program makes the jump to the next level.
Millikin has a team that is poised to make an improvement in the standings. With Brandon Townsend’s first full recruiting class, four freshmen are penciled in as everyday starters with more expected to compete for others. Big Blue was 14 games out of first place and a CCIW tournament spot may still be out of range for Millikin but coach Townsend is building for the future.
Elmhurst, Carthage and Wheaton (Ill.) all have significant questions that if an answer can be found, will have a chance for the end of the season tournament. Illinois Wesleyan proved in 2010 that you can overcome a poor non-conference season and come out National champions. This will be the hope for the Redmen, Thunder and Bluejays.
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: In 2014, Buena Vista came back from so-so seasons in 2012 and ’13 to win 34 regular-season games and the Iowa Conference regular season and tournament championships. The Beavers’ 37 total wins was a school record.
The next step in program-building is to develop consistency and be able to bounce back from losing key players, and the Beavers will get their chance at that this year as head coach Steve Eddie tries to replace four all-region players. D3baseball.com voters are betting he can manage it, as Buena Vista is ranked 24th in the preseason poll.
Eddie would have been expecting to lose ace and 2014 All-American Jon Ringblom, but may not have planning on losing junior Scott Harris to the MLB draft. At the same, his entire starting infield has graduated.
| Buena Vista catcher Brandon
Wessels was an All-Region performer for his first two years for the
Beavers. Buena Vista athletics photo |
Eddie will look to a pair of brothers to supplement junior CF Neil Marshall and senior closer-turned-ace Ian Grigsby. Junior C Brandon Wessels (.362, 7 3B, 5 HR, 36 RBI) is a first-team Preseason All-American and his brother, sophomore SS Bryce Wessels (.291, 11 2B), is the Beavers’ most experienced returner in the infield.
Meanwhile, senior Lucas Hadaway (27.2 IP, 2.28 ERA, 13 H, 41 SO) will move into the closer Grigsby vacates. Sophomore Jacob Hadaway (23.2 IP, 34 SO, 26 BB) showed he can overpower hitters, but better control will be expected. Buena Vista has a total of seven junior or senior pitchers that saw 10 or more innings of mound time last year.
Longtime contenders Wartburg finished second to the Beavers last season but flamed out in the conference tournament, dropping two straight. Reigning Iowa Conference Position Player of the Year, senior 1B/P D.J. Utley (.407, 14 2B, 7 HR, 37 RBI) returns to lead the Knights.
Wartburg will need to find two new starting pitchers to go with Utley and junior Parker Bolt (6-5, 3.32 ERA, 78.2 IP). Junior OF Ryan Kemp (.331, 14 2B) returns as well and was a first-team all-league pick.
Central has solidified itself in the conference’s top four over the past half-decade, finishing fourth or higher four times and going 28-15 last year. But former coach Adam Stevens has moved on to Aurora, and Central looks to a former Wartburg assistant to keep the momentum going.
Matt Schirm has been around the Iowa Conference, graduating from Coe in 2001 before leaving the state, only to return in 2011 on Wartburg’s staff. The job of keeping Central in the upper echelon will be a challenge, as all five all-IIAC players from last year have graduated.
Other returning first-team all conference players are Luther P Alec Knop, Coe 1B A.J. Reuter, Loras 3B Patrick Walsh, Dubuque OF Daniel Casanova, Simpson UT Jake Scieszinski.
Midwest Conference: Knox and Beloit have made the regionals in the past ten years but the conference automatic bid has gone to either Ripon or St. Norbert in the last five years. Over the last few years the conference championship alternated between the Green Knights and the Red Hawks and if this trend continues, it is Ripon’s turn to take a trip to the 2015 regional round.
| Michael Polcyn led the
Midwest Conference in home runs with twelve in
2014. Ripon athletics photo |
Ripon swept the major awards in the Midwest North last year and all three are back. Third year head coach Eric Cruise has two Midwest Conference North Coach of the Year awards on his mantle and is hoping to make 2015 a third. Also the MWC North Player and MWC North Pitcher of the Year awards went to SS Michael Polcyn (.426, 44 RBI, 12 HR) and SP Marshall Zahn (5-1, 2.37 ERA, 52 SO). Polcyn and the rest of the Red Hawks will open their season against Amherst on their spring trip and when they return home they open the home slate with a doubleheader against the defending Division-III national champions and number one ranked UW-Whitewater.
St. Norbert set a program record in wins two years ago and nine players from that team will be back on the squad in 2015. Gone is All-Region performer 1B Travis Mason, and two more of the top hitters for the Green Knights. The only returning .300 hitter is sophomore 3B Derek Klegin (.322, 18 RBI, 18 SB). The news is better on the mound as pitchers with 15 of 24 wins in 2014 are back. With sophomore’s Jake McMahon (4-3, 2.72 ERA) and Matt Freeman (5-4, 2.76 ERA) the fortunes for the Green Knights will be bright past the 2015 season.
Beloit is poise to make-up ground in the standings in 2015. Experience is always critical at the college level and the Bucs have six of eight position starters and three of top four starting pitchers returning. LHP Ryan Kaveney (3-3, 1.84 ERA, 72 SO) will join Janssen award winner 1B/DH Alex Lawrence (.388, 26 RBI, 11 2B) as the top players on the mound and at the plate for the Buccaneers.
Grinnell and Cornell will compete for the southern division title. Give the edge to the Pioneers. Junior CF Anthony Mack (.423, 29 RBI, 15 SB, 36 runs), the 2014 MWC South Division Position Player of the Year is back for another season for Grinnell. Joining Mack is the reigning South Division Pitcher of the Year in Sam Tinkham (6-1, 2.03 ERA 62 SO).
Carroll and Lawrence will find it hard to crack the juggernaut of Ripon and St. Norbert in the MWC North. Illinois College, Knox, and Monmouth will find is just as hard in the South. For Illinois College, Nick Dalfonso set program's single-season stolen base record in 2014 and expect him to continue to put pressure on the defenses again in 2015.
| Issac Behme
was tied with Dylan Dean Smith with eight wins in
2014. Webster athletics photo |
St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: There may not be a more motivated team in the country than the 8th-ranked Webster Gorloks. There may also not be a team returning more experienced pitchers. Of the 44 combined starts last season, pitchers accounting for 42 of them are back, and the top six in innings last year all return. Five of them are seniors. Isaac Behme (8-1, 79.1 IP) was the workhorse and classmate Dylan Dean Smith (8-1, 2.80 ERA) managed more wins than starts as almost all Webster pitchers are used in both starting and relief roles. Sophomore C.J. Lee (47.2 IP, 5-1, 1.89 ERA, 52 SO) was arguably the most dominant Gorlok pitcher, especially in the second half of his freshman year. Seniors Zach Schneider (4-1, 3.06 ERA) and Chris Jansen (5-1, 3.39 ERA) ensure Bill Kurich will not lack for experienced options in his pitching staff.
The same cannot be said in the batting order. Webster’s top three hitters from last season do not return, and only three players with more than 80 at-bats last season are back. Leading the list is senior Charlie Gandolfi (.356), but Kurich will need to find him lots of help. Junior 1B Jeff Kammer (.273, 8 HR, 36 RBI) showed a lot of power, but better contact is needed.
The non-conference schedule is loaded this season just like last. In Florida alone Webster will play Wheaton, Marietta, UW-Stevens Point and Eastern Connecticut State in a five-game swing.
Top competition to Webster in the SLIAC lately has usually been Spalding, which isn’t that close to St. Louis at all, but from its outpost in Louisville, Ky. has adjusted nicely to D3 since coming from the scholarship ranks.
With just one senior in 2015, competing at that level again may be a challenge, but that one senior is the SLIAC’s returning leader in batting average from last year – P/OF Ryan Mosby (.396, 11 2B, 3 HR, 14 SB). P/IF Kyle Vire (.367, 5 HR, 18SB) combines average, power and speed while junior C J.R. Belt (17 SB) is a rare breed; a catcher among the league’s leaders in stolen bases.
| Utility Deion Hughes is the
only SLIAC player to find a spot on the 2015 D3baseball.com
Preseason All-American team. Westminister athletics photo |
Westminster has been near the top of the SLIAC for a number of years, and with just two starters to replace should have another competitive team. Junior IF Tyler Branneky (.366, 4 HR), senior infielder Tim Chambliss (.346, 10 2B, 3 HR) and utility man Deion Hughes (8-1, 1.94 ERA; .361 BA), are returning all-conference performers for the Blue Jays.
Other returning first-team all-league players: Fontbonne P Tanner Carter, Greenville C Trevor Montgomery, Blackburn OF Matt Mokriakow. Somehow not a first-team all-league pick last year was Greenville OF Tim Osborne, and all he did was hit 12 HR and drive in 52 runs.
Independents: The class of the Central region independents is Washington University. Chicago saw their playoff bubble burst in 2012 leaving Washington as the only independent team to advance to the playoff round in the last eight years (three). Washington returns a trio of All-UAA players to the 2015 roster in Zach Kessinger, Chris Lowery, and CJ.. Price. Kessinger (.387, 40 RBI) is the offensive leader as he led the Bears in six offensive categories and was one of just three players to start all 44 games in 2014. Joining Kessinger on the all-UAA teams for Washington were third baseman Lowery (.358, 33 RBI) and second baseman/catcher Price (.378, 24 RBI).