By Erik Buchinger
for D3baseball.com
| UW-Whitewater shortstop
Mikole Pierce is just one reason that the Warhawks top the 2015 Top
25. d3photography.com photo by Larry Radloff |
A top-heavy Midwest Region features four teams in the top 12 of the D3baseball.com preseason Top 25 rankings including the top two teams in the country with No. 1 UW-Whitewater and No. 2 St. Thomas.
John Vodenlich was named the Coach of the Year in 2014, but more importantly his top-ranked Warhawks enter the season as the defending Division III World Series champions. Whitewater won its second Series, both with Vodenlich at the helm. The Warhawks have a lot of pieces returning and are primed for another return to Appleton.
St. Thomas really went through a gauntlet of a schedule during the 2014 Series. Not including themselves, the Tommies faced this year’s top three ranked teams. St. Thomas opened up the tournament with a 10-0 win against Linfield (ranked No. 4 this season) and two-time D3baseball.com Pitcher of the Year Chris Haddeland. The Tommies suffered their first loss of the D-III World Series to the Warhawks (No. 1) and were bounced by runner-up Emory (No. 3). What was most impressive about the Tommies’ run is they were without their best offensive player since the MIAC Playoff semifinal game. St. Thomas will be a contender for another shot at the World Series.
Ninth-ranked Concordia-Chicago will look for its third consecutive NACC title. UW-Stevens Point will pose a threat to Whitewater for a WIAC championship, and the Pointers come in at No. 12. St. Scholastica is the lone Midwest team receiving votes in the initial poll with seven.
New Faces
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Adam Stevens, Aurora: Following a 10-28 season, the Spartans look to get back on track with Adam Stevens. Stevens previously coached at Central (Iowa) for the past 11 seasons with a 253-193 record and Central's first outright IIAC title in 64 years. Stevens played his college baseball at Morningside in 2001 where he was a four-year starter, playing in 110 consecutive games and was named team captain his senior season.
Chris Coste, Concordia-Moorhead: In his first season as a head coach, Coste is presented with the task of replacing Hall of Fame coach Bucky Burgau. Coste has been groomed to be the head man since he was named Burgau’s successor in the fall of 2013. He has been Concordia’s assistant coach for three seasons, so he is ready to take over for his alma mater where he still holds school records for career batting average and career earned run average. Coste played for Burgau from 1993-95 and was the MIAC MVP and an All-American in all three seasons. He went on to play professionally for 16 years and won a World Series with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008.
Conference Previews
| The
2015 St. Thomas Tommies will be looking to earn a 13th consecutive
MIAC title. St. Thomas (Minn.) athletics photo |
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: The St. Thomas Tommies put themselves in good position for a World Series title run last season, but their stud first baseman Tyler Peterson lacerated his spleen in a collision with his catcher during the conference tournament, which ended his season. Peterson will be back with St. Thomas but as the infielders coach. Chris Olean has won the MIAC Championship in all five of his seasons as the head coach, so the Tommies have to be the favorite to win it again. For St. Thomas, it will all start with pitching. Righty Colin Wendinger finished 8-0 with a 2.79 earned run average. Left-hander Eric Veglahn won all nine of his decisions with a 1.55 earned run average. Caleb Fernholz was 5-1 with a 2.15 earned run average. Indiana transfer Kasey Ralston, Tyler Feyersein and Dominic Reed round out the rotation that Olean said is his best and deepest staff he has ever had. St. Thomas graduated a lot of key position players, so somebody will need to replace the production of last year’s top hitters.
Brian Raabe enters his fourth season as the Bethel head coach, and the program has improved in each year he has been there. In 2012, the Royals made the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. In his second season, Bethel won its first playoff game in school history, and the Royals made it to the conference championship in 2014. Bethel will try to take the next step and take St. Thomas out of the top spot of the MIAC.
| Brett Becker was named an
Academic All-American in 2014 for St. John's. St. John's athletics photo |
St. John’s finished in a third-place tie in the MIAC a season ago. The Johnnies’ top hitter Brett Becker had a .384 batting average in 2014 and will return to the team for his senior season. St. John’s graduated its All-American relief pitcher Justin Thompson, who gave up just three runs in 31 innings with 10 saves, so the Johnnies will have to find someone who can hold down the back end of the bullpen.
St. Mary’s Ben Buerkle had a remarkable freshman season last year and led the team in batting average (.405), runs scored (32), RBIs (33) and slugging percentage (.561). Carleton returns junior outfielder Hayden Tsutsui (.428, 41 runs, 35 RBI), who is a D3baseball.com Preseason All-American Second Team selection.
Hamline, Concordia-Moorehead and St. Olaf all finished two games below .500 in the MIAC in 2014. Concordia-Moorhead is looking their new head coach to change their fortunes. In St. Paul, Hamline will bring back 15 players led by first baseman Matt Connell, who hit .393 with four home runs and 30 RBIs. Connell also started six games on the mound for the Pipers.
Augsburg, Macalester and Gustavus Adolphus rounded out the bottom of the conference last season. Macalester catcher Tom Forster hit .416 with a home run, 32 RBIs and nine stolen bases in 2014 and should continue to lead the offensive production for the Scots.
| Concordia-Chicago's Carlos
Olavarria was the 2014 Conference Position Player of the
Year. Concordia-Chicago athletics photo |
Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference: As the two-time defending NACC Champion, Concordia-Chicago remains the favorite in 2015. The Cougars return their best hitter. Senior Carlos Olavarria batted .398 and is a D3baseball.com Preseason All-American Second Team selection. Concordia graduated last year’s pitching ace Dan Kluss, who had a 1.65 earned run average but has a solid rotation coming back. Senior lefties C.J. Selner and Kurt Kempema will return to the Cougars. Selner finished 6-2 with a 3.72 earned run average, while Kempema completed his junior season with a 2.64 earned run average with a 6-1 record in seven starts. Right-hander Eric Palmer had a combined 11-1 record in his first two seasons at rival NACC school Aurora, but transferred to the Cougars last season. He left after 1.1 innings in the second game of the season and was shut down for the year. Sophomore Cody Caballero rounds out the staff.
Benedictine has finished second in the conference in each of the last three seasons and is looking to make that next step. Last season’s top hitter Tim Hendricks will return for the Eagles. John Ostrowski is entering his 43rd season as Benedictine’s head coach. His 917 wins rank fifth among active coaches and No. 11 in D-III history.
| Tony Grannis earned
All-Region honors in 2014 after missing most of 2013 with an
injury. Marian athletics photo |
Concordia (Wis.) finished third in the NACC in 2014, thanks to contribution from the conference’s freshman of the year Andrew Heideman. The right-hander finished 6-1 with a 1.80 earned run average and four complete games in eight starts.
Edgewood finished fourth in the conference last season, while Dominican and Rockford tied for fifth. Edgewood will return its top two hitters, Zach Creekmore (.338, 29 RBI) and Andrew Lauritzen (.335, 14 RBI, 18 SB).
Wisconsin Lutheran and Milwaukee Engineering were four games below .500 for eighth place in the NACC. Marian finished a game ahead of them and will return eight of its nine positional starters from last season, including junior second baseman Tony Grannis (.376, 25 RBI) and senior shortstop/third baseman Jordan DeBoer (.326, 27 RBI). The Sabres will rely heavily on their hitting in 2015.
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: UW-Whitewater had a phenomenal offense last season with nine primary players hitting over .300. Only three of those players graduated. Included of those who return is D3baseball.com Preseason All American First Team shortstop Mikole Pierce. He led the team with a .435 batting average, 62 runs, eight triples, nine home runs, 64 RBIs and slugged .705. The Warhawks top two starters in Scott Plaza, the 2014 World Series MVP, and Brock Liston will not be back for the Warhawks. Connor Hurst (6-2, 3.38 ERA) and Curtis Morgan (6-1, 3.81 ERA) did not graduate, and each had double-digit starts in 2014.
UW-Stevens Point returns four players who had batting averages of .320 or higher in 2014 including Kyle McHugh, who was a 2014 D3baseball.com All-American First Team selection. Starting pitcher JP Feyereisen was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 16th round of the MLB Draft. The Pointers will have to replace him, but Luke Watson actually had better numbers last year. Watson had an 8-1 record with a 1.93 earned run average and is a preseason All-American. Always a top team, the Pointers will need some breaks to catch UW-Whitewater.
| UW-La Crosse's Taylor Kohlwey
is getting national attention as part of the Eagles baseball
team. UW-La Crosse athletics photo by Jim Lund |
UW-La Crosse finished second in the WIAC last year and all six pitchers who started a game will be back in 2015. Outfielder Cole Cefalu hit .436 in 2014, but he was lost to graduation. Fortunately for the Eagles, outfielder Taylor Kohlwey is returning. Kohlwey batted .458 and is the first player ever in program history to earn D3baseball.com preseason All-American First Team honors. Head coach Chris Schwarz’s 214 career victories are three away from the school’s all-time record.
UW-Stout graduated its stud right fielder Ryan Freitag but will return six of its nine starting position players and three starters. The Blue Devils finished fourth in the conference in 2014 and will need to create more offensive production to replace Freitag’s 15 dingers from last season.
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: St. Scholastica was two runs away from running the table in the UMAC in 2014 with its only conference loss coming against Martin Luther. The Saints lost just four players to graduation, but they are big losses. St. Scholastica will be without last year’s ace Andy Davis and its best relief pitcher Thomas Rogers, who finished with a 0.73 earned run average. The five-man rotation consists of Sam Sorenson, Jordan Risse, Mickie Keuning, Pad Getchell and Daniel Wood. Position players Parker Olson and Tyler Henderson are gone as well. Even without some important pieces from last season, the Saints are the favorite to win the conference. Shortstop Tyler Duex led the team by hitting .432 last season, and his slugging percentage was .661. He will be returning as well as designated hitter Trevor Bernsdorf, who hit .361.
| Dan Kollauf was 2-2 on the
mound for the Lumberjacks in 2014. Northland athletics photo |
Northland finished second in the UMAC in 2014 and will be in contention for the conference title again this year. The Lumberjacks return their top hitters Dan Kollauf (.380, 46 RBI, 32 runs) and Mitchell Howard (.347, 39 RBI, 34 runs), as well as right-handed starter Kyle Strom (4-2, 3.52 ERA, 5 CG), who led the team in starts last season.
Northwestern (Minn.), Bethany Lutheran and Minnesota-Morris finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the conference. Minnesota-Morris returns many of their key contributors from last season. The Cougars will bring back eight of nine position players, three of four starters and their closer. Junior Cody Reinke led Minnesota-Morris with a .361 average and started three games on the mound for the Cougars in 2014.
Independent: Maranatha Baptist begins its second season as the lone independent team in the Midwest Region. As freshmen, pitchers Micah Burdett and Adam Courtney were selected to the 2014 All-Independents Second Team as did middle infielders Caleb Prigge and Tim Rogers. Gary Garrison begins his seventh season with the Sabercats and will look to improve on their record of 4-19 from 2014.