With big names graduating in 2023, No. 15 Aurora will have to retool on the fly if they Spartans want to remain at the top of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Aurora athletics photo

By Jim Dixon
D3sports.com

No. 15 Aurora is the only ranked team in the preseason rankings, but not the only team that is expected to compete and win at their level. You don't even need to leave the NACC to see that Benedictine is more experienced in 2024 and will challenge the Spartans not only for top conference team honors but on the national stage as well.

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The CCIW also has two teams that will strive for national attention in Augustana and North Central (Ill.). Both have significant personnel to replace but keep plenty from last season to stay at the top of the standings. Webster is a program that has made the last six Regional Playoffs and is a favorite for a seventh.

If you are looking for a team that has not been on the national stage in the past few years that might be ready to make a splash, you only need to look at Washington U. The Bears' lost a lot of talent to graduation and MLB a few years back but showed last year they were back. Franklin and MSOE are also loaded and could be ready to break out in 2024.

New Faces

Joe Heller gets an opportunity to be a head coach for the Elmhurst Blue Jays after being on the North Central staff for the last 15 years. North Central (Ill.) athletics photo

Lowell Schwartz and Dalton Fisher, Blackburn - Mike Neal, the winninest coach for the Blackburn program, pulled up stakes for the east coast. In his place Lowell Schwartz and Dalton Fisher were named co-head coaches. Schwartz moved from a Beaver pitcher to the Blackburn pitching coach three years ago. Fisher also is a graduate of the Blackburn program, last donning the uniform in 2019.

Joe Heller, Elmhurst - Elmhurst hired Heller as the 13th head coach in the history of Elmhurst Baseball. "I am extremely excited to be the head baseball coach at Elmhurst University and cannot wait to get started," Heller said. Heller comes to Elmhurst after spending 15 seasons at North Central, beginning as a graduate assistant coach from 2009-12 and serving as assistant baseball coach/recruiting coordinator for the past 11 seasons. At North Central, Heller helped guide the Cardinals to eight CCIW regular season championships, qualifying for the NCAA Division III tournament six times and earning a spot in the NCAA Division III College World Series in 2017, finishing third in the country.

Kevin Post, Lakeland - Lakeland promoted Post to the position of head coach this winter. He moves up to the head spot after two-plus years as an assistant with the program. He joined the Muskies in 2021 first as a volunteer assistant coach, then as a part-time assistant and was most recently hired as the team's full-time assistant coach. Post has nearly 20 years of experience coaching at the collegiate level and came to Lakeland with a wealth of successful collegiate coaching experience at multiple levels. Most of his experience in the assistant ranks comes as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at DII Upper Iowa from 2004-15. He spent time as an associate scout for the Seattle Mariners during the mid-2000s.

Key Games

Webster at the Snowbird Classic: Webster will not face Top 25 competition until their first game on their spring trip. On March 8, they open with Kean and play No. 8 Marietta later that afternoon. In all they are scheduled to play four teams in the Top 25 in Florida and just one the rest of the season.

Illinois Wesleyan at Washington: This series is the seventh, eighth and ninth games of the season for Washington. We will know whether the Bears are reloaded if they come out of this series 9-0 or 7-2. If they are 5-4 or worse, there is still some work to do. Not all would be lost but the rest of the season will be getting out of an early hole, something that might hurt their resume when bids are handed out in mid-May. Illinois Wesleyan will not have as many games under their belt but getting wins at Washington would be confidence boosters.

Aurora at Benedictine: The top teams in the NACC play a doubleheader on March 27. It will still be early in the NACC season but this two-game set will be important in determining the regular season champion.

North Central at Augustana: The top teams in the CCIW will meet in Rock Island for a double-dip on April 20 and then cross Illinois for a game at Naperville. North Central has had Augustana's number in recent years and the Vikings would like nothing better than to flip the script and take a series from the Cardinals.

Franklin at Anderson: Both teams finish the conference season against each other. Franklin is a preseason favorite while Anderson is poised to move up the standings. Both teams are built to make the tournament and a sweep by either team will give one an additional advantage come tournament time.

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Conference Previews

Augustana pitcher Harrison Boushele was named a Preseason D3baseball.com All-American in January. Augustana athletics photo

College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin: Augustana (39-9) posted their fourth consecutive 30 win season in 2023. Despite losing half their infield and a top line pitcher, there is plenty left on the 2024 roster. Augustana has the Region 8 Pitcher of the Year, Harrison Boushele (8-3, 1.63 ERA, 109 SO), back to top the rotation. The bullpen is more experienced with a trio of seniors, Addison Southwick (5-0, 2.76 ERA, 32K, 3 Saves), Anthony Sus (4-0, 3.62 ERA, 26K, 1 Save) and Adam Bendoraitis (4-1, 5.40 ERA, 30K), that can be called upon to save a win. For the starting nine, Cole Green (.330, 41 RBI, 19 SB) and Dymitri Kanellakis (.388, 3 HR, 57 RBI, 15 SB) will be swinging a big bat.

North Central (Ill.) (27-14) will have a lot to replace in 2024 and with their lowest win total in eight years is not the place that NCC head coach Ed Mathey would chose to start. Gone are their All-American catcher and starting pitcher, another four All-Region performers and two that were merely All-CCIW. The solution to this problem will need to be found quickly as the early non-conference schedule is full of 2023 playoff teams. The rebuilding will be around defensive wiz - centerfielder Luke Lehnen (.284, 2 HR, 25 RBI), who is pretty good at football too (2023 Gagliardi Trophy winning quarterback). Junior AJ Kutcher (5-2, 6.28 ERA, 31K) is the best starting pitcher returning. One place that is set is the bullpen headed by D3baseball.com All-American Nolan Shannon (4-0, 0.52 ERA, 27K, 5 Saves).

Milikin (26-17) will feature perhaps the most veteran and athletic group that have ever played at Sunnyside Park. All pitchers are back from last year and two-time all region pitcher Caleb Buehrle (2-2, 3.21 ERA, 37K), who was hurt at the beginning of last year, will boost a loaded pitching staff. While the strength of the team will be pitching and defense, it is the eight returning position players that might make this a special season. Junior Kyle Gibson (.404, 2 HR, 29 RBI, 23 SB) is the best hitter and a healthy Tyler Gade (.316, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 13 SB) the offense should be very dangerous. A healthy year for the Big Blue might become the best year in the program.

Illinois Wesleyan (22-23) and North Park (15-27) finished fourth, fifth in 2023. For Illinois Wesleyan it will be a farewell tour for Dennis Martel, the winningest coach in Illinois Wesleyan baseball history, as he will retire after the conclusion of the 2024 season. Nothing would cap off a successful career than a second national championship. The odds of his first were long and they are this season as well. Three All-CCIW players are back with outfielder Louis Perona (.432, 2 HR, 35 RBI, 31 SB) earning first team honors. From the second team are infielder Tristan Figus (.374, 23 RBI) and pitcher Dalen Banks (6-3, 4.50, 60K, 1 Save). If title chances for IWU are long, they are also for North Park. On the watch list for the Vikings are catcher Garrett Bragg (.259, 11 RBI, .987 FLD%), infielder Justin Swanson (.369, 8 HR, 35 RBI, 10 SB) and outfielder Nathan Sommerfeld (.326, 3 HR, 25 RBI).

Carroll (16-23), Wheaton (Ill.) (16-22) and Elmhurst (15-21) were at the backend of the standings. Elmhurst will have to deal with the graduation of All-American Trey Romay and Freddie March (.308, 6 HR, 30 RBI) will be looked to keep providing production is a conference tournament berth is in the Blue Jay's future. For the pitching staff one or more of the 12 new faces on the roster will need to step forward to join seniors Cole Bozzi (4-4, 6.17 ERA, 44K) and Eric Zbinden (1-2, 7.59 ERA, 27K). Carthage (10-28) continues to search for the winning formula that made them a top national program. Wheaton (Ill.) has able to return most of their starters as they give freshmen a chance to play. This year is no different with seven starting position players and five key pitchers back in 2024. One person missing this year is Ben Weaver who graduated and is taking his talents to D-I Duke this spring. Senior infielders Kyle Wu (.364, 2 HR, 16 RBI) and Noah Yi (.342, 8 RBI) will join Joe Klein (.296, 10 HR, 16 RBI) at the plate but all need to become run producers. The pitching staff is a mix of seniors and sophomores but like the offense will also need to take a step forward if the Thunder is to make some noise this season.

FAVORITE: Milikin

Since automatic bids have been awarded to conference winners, seven of the ten HCAC members have advanced to the regional playoffs. Franklin athletics photo

Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference: The HCAC will be tougher to win this year as the amount of talent returning is impressive. One player not returning for Franklin (33-13) is Jonathon Laguire-Cruz who earned HCAC Conference Player of the Year honors and after graduation signed a pro contract. AJ Sanders (.402, 4 HR, 44 RBI, 19 SB) is one player on the Grizzlies that has all the skills to make it two HCAC POTY for Franklin. Joining Sanders are Sean Sullivan (.312, 16 HR, 52 RBI) and Tysen Lipscomb (.317, 7 HR, 45 RBI) and four other players that flirted around the .300 bar. Pitching has Matthew Johnson (6-1, 3.93 ERA, 73K) to head the starters and Maddox Manes (7-1, 3.49, 28K, 3 Saves) as the top returning reliever.

Transylvania (24-19) had a really good bounce-back-year last season, with a handful of seniors providing leadership to the young guys. One of those guys is one of the best players in the conference - Trent Youngblood (.420, 4 HR, 21 RBI; 1-0, 1.20 ERA, 2K, 1 Save). Youngblood has been a top talent from the day he played his first game for the Pioneers (3 shutout innings, 3-for-4, 2 runs in first start). Transylvania's effort in 2023 was a team effort as they had no members in the first team All-HCAC but was well represented in the second team. Starter Connor Arnold (5-2, 3.80 ERA, 51K) and reliever Brennan Perry (6-0, 3.18 ERA, 25K) are the best pitchers returning. Expect the Pioneers to make another run at the conference title.

Blufton (22-18) and Rose-Hulman (23-21) qualified for the Heartland tournament but neither made it to Championship Sunday. Bluffton will be in the best position to return with the entire infield from last year and a solid core of pitchers who were succesful in key games last year. Part of the infield is the key position of shortstop. Jack Towell (.390, 9 HR, 54 RBI) has been a mainstay at shortstop his entire career and had a breakout year offensively in 2023. Grad students Jaden Jaques (6-4, 4.32 ERA, 33K) and Jacob Boelkens (3-2, 6.35 ERA, 31K) lead a rotation that is filled with upperclassmen. Question marks exist at catcher and centerfield but there is a lot to be very excited about for the Beavers. Rose-Hulman was young in 2023 and had a few key players injured but still made the conference tournament. With much of the team back, the experienced gained last year will move the Engineers up the standings in 2024. Keep an eye on junior outfielder Kade Kline (.339, 3 HR, 30 RBI, 23 SB) who has a dynamic combination of speed and power. With all the youth on the squad, it will be the senior duo of Michael Yager (3-2, 6.02 ERA, 38K) and Ian Kline (4-6, 6.97 ERA, 62K) who will front the starting staff.

Anderson (27-19) and Manchester (22-21) were the final seeds in the 2023 HCAC tournament. Anderson made the best of a five seed, getting to the conference final and falling to Franklin. The Ravens will be a balanced team with a lot of returning experience on the field, as well as great young talent that will push for playing time. Anderson grabbed a top pitcher recruit from Indiana that should make a dent in last years 6.20 ERA, adding to the pitching depth. Justin Reed (.350, 10 HR, 54 RBI) is a 5-tool player with elite ball to bat skills. The future can be found in a pair of sophomores in Trey Dorton (.402, 3 HR, 43 RBI, 10 SB) and Griffin Wolf (.347, 7 HR, 34 RBI). Manchester 's future was seen with Joel Kennedy voted as the 2023 HCAC Baseball Newcomer of the Year. The first year was a leader at the plate, with a top-10 mark in conference in both batting average (.378) and home runs (5).

Earlham (20-18) and Hanover (16-23) tied in conference but the non-conference fortunes were different for both programs. Earlham is two years from their last conference title and should be in the mix to get some regional success. Max Fries (.328, 4 HR, 44 RBI) will be back once again to provide leadership for a sophomore core. On the mound for the Quakers are senior Dillon Fischer (3-4, 4.38 ERA, 65K) and sophomore Hayden Scalf (3-2, 5.36 ERA, 40K). for Hanover they have an All-American caliber player in Alex Christie (.369, 15 HR, 51 RBI). On the mound, Marcus Goodpaster (8-0, 2.13 ERA, 61K) returns as the reigning Pitcher of the Year.

Mt. St. Joseph (15-24) and Defiance (4-34) ended the season at the bottom of the standings. Defiance will need to change things in a hurry if they want to make their mark in DIII as they will return to the NAIA for the 2025 season. Mt. St. Joseph's will need to stay healthy as was not the case in 2023. Last year three starting position players were lost to injury early last season. Keep your eye on Ethan Mason (.393, 6 HR, 27 RBI; 2-3, 4.76 ERA, 22K) who is building on a successful freshman season. Expect the Lions to surprise some teams that take them lightly and make a run at getting in the conference tournament.

FAVORITE: Franklin

Benedictine's Logan Gregorio is starting to pile up awards. He is the reigning NACC Rookie of the Year and was tabbed by D3baseball.com as a 2024 Preseason All-American. Benedictine athletics photo

Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference: For Aurora (42-6), the short run at the top of the conference is in jeopardy with big losses to graduation. Offense has been a mainstay for the Spartans and this is the phase of the game that lost the most key players. Back are seniors Nico Bermeo (.340, 7 HR 46 RBI), Dominick Curcio (.331, 2 HR, 39 RBI) and Sean Rivera (.246, 2 HR, 21 RBI) who will be counted on to continue to power Aurora offense. On the mound the story is different as a trio of seniors, Justin Zimmerman (10-2, 3.32 ERA, 86K), Jack Fisher (9-1, 3.58 ERA, 104K) and Bryce Miller (4-1, 5.68 ERA, 31K) should keep the team competitive.

Benedictine (30-14) is expected to be a top regional squad in 2024. The lineup will be full of players with All-Region or All-NACC honors in the past seasons and a 17 member recruiting class will provide lots of depth to already deep team. With three senior pitchers, Jackson Bahn (5-0, 2.91 ERA, 78K), Nick Kosmetatos (5-2, 2.61 ERA, 55K) and Andrew Kurcz (6-1, 4.55 ERA, 40K), who return with a combined record of 16-3, games will be won off the mound. The offense is just as experienced from a team that batter 50 points higher than their opposition, leading to wins via the bats. Former NACC Rookies of the year, Logan Gregorio (.390, 8 HR, 57 RBI) will join a past All-American, Kevin Bushnell (.349, 9 HR, 41 RBI), to provide the runs. While pitching and offense are key to wining, the Eagles also were a top 50 program fielding the ball. The ceiling for this team is as high as it gets.

MSOE (26-14) ended the season with a 1-2 record in the NACC tournament, taking the opening round game against Concordia-Chicago 5-3 but dropped their final two games. With all the talent back from the 20223 squad, more is expected of Raiders in 2024. Good news for MSOE is that 2023 Position Player of the Year Blake Hall (.460, 6 HR, 34 RBI, 19 SB) is back along with three other honorees. Two more, Micah Overley (.335, 2 HR, 43 RBI) and Collin Truitt (.331, 7 HR, 39 RBI) are on offense that batted 70 points higher than their opposition in 2023. Tyler Gronert (7-1, 2.98 ERA, 77K) will toe the rubber in the starting rotation that excelled over their opponents.

Edgewood (26-18) and Illinois Tech (22-21) found it hard to get past the top two teams in the conference, going a combined 0-10. Edgewood took the series against Illinois Tech 4-0 last year and turn to 2024. The first step for Edgewood is finding a way to replace the numbers posted by Joe Kalafut, a 3-time All-Region, 4-time All-Conference player. With every other player returning, this is not a catastrophic. The big man in the lineup falls to Kyle Sagan (.398, 8 HR, 35 RBI, 10 SB) but you will not be able to pitch around him with plenty of good hitters like Connor Goodwin (.354, 3 HR, 20 RBI, 37 SB), Dylan Carrington (.366, 1 HR, 19 RBI) and Kyle Pindle (.354, 3 HR, 44 RBI, 13 SB) to protect him. Senior Gavin Vrana (2-3, 4.08 ERA, 29K) is part of a deep pitching staff. Illinois Tech returns a lot of talent of both the mound and at that plate. While Illionis Tech lost two top of the line bats, they return an all-region player in Connor Blake (.344, 6 HR, 23 RBI) and all NACC players Tyler Gutsfeld (.357, 9 HR, 52 RBI) Sam Sproule (.376, 22 RBI, 22 SB) and Michael Paxson (.342, 5 HR, 33 RBI). Pitching will need to improve as a team ERA near seven is not a recipe for success. If the Eagles and Scarlet Hawks can solve the juggernaut of Aurora and Benedictine, look for them to move closer to the top of the standings in 2024.

Concordia (Wis.) (21-18) and Concordia-Chicago (20-22) battled it out for the final tournament spot and it was Concordia-Chicago who qualified for the final spot. They could not take advantage of the opportunity, going 0-2 with an early exit. To try to get back to the pre-COVID success the Cougars will look for a pair of juniors, Mike Kasik (.366, 11 HR, 53 RBI) and Tyler Dorsch (.396, 5 HR, 33 RBI) and last years super freshman Brandon Mahler (.351, 4 HR, 30 RBI) to lead the charge. The Concordia (Wis) coaching staff believes in their team and expects the Falcons to suprise a lot of teams with the combination of the youth and experience on the 2024 squad. Jimmy Juergensen (.331, 7 HR, 44 RBI), Kyle Flynn (.291, 3 HR, 25 RBI), and Matt Miller (.331, 2 HR, 23 RBI) are a trio to build upon and are expected to step into larger leadership roles.

Marian (18-21), Rockford (16-22) and Dominican (16-22) all finished outside the NACC tournament field because of short losing streaks. A new spring gives each team a chance to change their fortunes. Keep an eye on Jared Herzog (4-4, 4.58 ERA, 70K) and Joe Stagowski (.421, 4 HR, 22 RBI) on the Rockford squad. Dominican returns two of their own All-NACC honorees in Grayson Downing (.447, 27 RBI 25 SB) and Ethan Shepherd (2-3, 3.86 ERA, 62K). St. Norbert (12-28), Lakeland (7-29) and Wisconsin Lutheran (5-31) rounds out the rest of the NACC. While the top teams are showing that they have retained much of the talent in the NACC, these teams have a way to go to become competitive. With just a few All-NACC players selected last year, only St. Norbert's Trevor Reinhardt (.361, 6 HR, 37 RBI) is returning for the 2024 season.

FAVORITE: Benedictine

The Webster Gorloks are picked to win the SLIAC for the 17th straight season. Webster athletics photo

St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Webster (33-16) maintained their grip on the top spot in the SLIAC in 2023 and will continue to do so. Familiar faces returning include three all-conference hitters in R.J. LaRocco (.314, 9 HR, 33 RBI), Evan Evola (.346, 12 HR, 44 RBI), and Nathaniel Martinez (.305, 11 HR, 51 RBI). There is experience on the mound as well with Jordan Smevoll (3-2, 5.34 ERA, 52K) heading up the rotation and Joel Arsenault (6-1, 2.81 ERA, 43K, 3 Saves) coming out of the pen. After years with much of the team coming back, it is a rebuilding type of year with 24 new faces. Webster Bill Kurich recruited 11 transfers so he will have plenty of experienced players to put in the holes that came with the 2023 graduation ceremony.

Spalding (35-12) is the closest competitor to the Gorloks having met then for the conference title in each of the last four seasons. Last year it was the Golden Eagles that took the conference championship and joined the at-large Gorloks in the playoffs. Seven hitters and every pitcher but one are back to make it two titles in two years. Hunter Strong (.376, 8 HR, 51 RBI)) and Jacob Spanyer (.374, 7 HT, 49 RBI) will form the heart of the lineup. Ethan Tuttle (.345, 1 HR, 41 RBI, 15 SB) and Matthew McDowell (.317, 32 RBI) will help fill out the lineup. The pitching staff is arguably the deepest in the league with Garrett Mathews (6-1, 3.61 ERA, 65K) and Wesley Clark (6-1, 1.40 ERA, 50 K,. 1 Save) the top pitchers.

Fontbonne (25-16) returns the majority of their pitching staff. That staff will be anchored by Gavin Kinworthy (8-4, 3.18 ERA, 96K). At the plate look for big things from Colby Shivers (.379, 4 HR, 21 RBI) and Ty Kueper (.353, 2 HR, 35 RBI). Westminister (Mo.) (25-19) will have plenty of experience in the infield with most everyone back. All-Conference shortstop Payton Whitehead (.355, 30 RBI) will be joined by Jason Pesold (.310, 15 RBI) and Troy Romero (.329, 2 HR, 18 RBI, 19 SB). Hurler Derek Archer (5-3, 3.43, ERA, 48K) earned SLIAC Co-Newcomer of the Year honors and will be racking up wins for the next three seasons.

Greenville (18-21) and Eureka (13-25) were the final teams to advance from the regular season to the SLIAC tournament. Greenville recorded their first winning season in the SLIAC since 2019, going 11-10. A good mix of veterans and underclassmen will keep them in the title hunt. Landon Mokris (.455, 10 HR, 64 RBI) is back for one more year and will look to follow up his career season in 2023. Eureka welcomes a new head coach in Noah Suarez. He takes over a program that is on the upswing after recording their most conference wins (9) since 2010. They return their top three hitters from a year ago, Nick Rulevish (.353, 1 HR, 17 RBI), Mike Dunn (.309, 2 HR, 13 RBI; 4-6, 4.07 ERA, 76K) and Chase Ulrich (.306,3 HR, 32 RBI). Dunn is the only returning starting pitcher with more than three starts.

Blackburn (7-30) and Principia (3-27) are not expected in the SLIAC preseason poll to move out of the cellar. Blackburn will be under the guidance of co-head coaches Lowell Schwartz and Dalton Fisher after the retirement of long time head coach Mike Neal. The Beavers will look to Isaac Gleaves (7 HR, 18) for power the team to wins. Principia will need a chart to identify all the new faces. Ryan D'Amico (.323, 14 RBI) returns as the top pitcher. MUW (6-25-1) finished their provisional period and will be eligible for the SLIAC tournament. Lyon (NAIA: 20-25) joins the SLIAC for 2024. Lyon will be a young team with just 15 players returning. Coach Justin Cunningham will look to Bradley McLemore (.298, 5 HR, 24 RBI) to lead the lineup. They return their top two inning throwers from a year ago in Ayden Heitmann and Cameron Gordon; who combined for 11 wins and 119 strikeouts. MUW brings back 24 players including outfielder Matthew Windham (.354, 2 HR).

FAVORITE: Webster

Brandon Buday has a career batting average of .337 for Wash U. and is a Gold-Glove caliber center fielder. Washington University athletics photo

Independents: Washington University (26-14) made big strides in 2023 towards national contention and should be a factor in the Pool B selections with the other top UAA teams. Coming off their World Series appearance in 2021, the team became very young right in the midst of extra COVID years and grad transfers. After two years of being young and inexperienced, 2024 will see a veteran, experienced team. Looking over the lineup, you must start at the beginning to find top contributors. Brandon Buday (.355, 2 HR, 27 RBI, 18 SB) is the leadoff hitter and a gold-glove caliber centerfielder. The Bears' cleanup hitter is expected to be sophomore shortstop Shane Pellegrino (.353, 4 HR, 38 RBI, 14 SB). Lefthander Will Henkel (7-2, 2.97 ERA, 66K) and righty Hank Weiss (2-0, 2.84 ERA, 32K) are tops in the starting ranks and bullpen respectively. Joining the returning players are two DI grad transfers that should add depth and talent to the squad - outfielder Sam Polk from St Louis University and third baseman Evan Minarovic from Northwestern. Washington is hungry to be back in the mix and should be in the Pool B discussion when regional playoff bids are handed out. Maranatha is four years away from a season where they had multiple wins in a season and this will not substantially change in 2024.