Leave it to the Beavers
By Shannon Blansette
for D3sports.com
For all of the talk in 2010 about the Central Region being the weakest of the NCAA’s eight regions, the final result told a different story. Illinois Wesleyan, the bottom seed in the CCIW's conference tournament and the bottom seed in the NCAA’s Central Regional, rode a late season hot streak all the way to Appleton and walked away with the Walnut and Bronze hardware in the process.
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Illinios Wesleyan celebrated a regional championship
with a victory over Buena Vista in 2010 but 2011 is expected to be
a different story. |
The 2011 season appears to be a wide open race for the top spot in the region. The CCIW will be led by defending national champion Illinois Wesleyan, regular season CCIW champion North Central, a rising force in the conference in North Park and perennial national power Carthage. A strong push from the IIAC is expected as Buena Vista returns a potent roster of talented ball players and will be chased by a hungry Wartburg squad that missed the 2010 regional for only the fourth time since 1997.
The SLIAC has thrust itself on the national scene primarily due to the emergence of Webster who has won the league four of the past five seasons and is perched in the catbird seat to do it once again in 2011. If they are to be challenged in the conference, it could come from Spalding who returns three first team all-conference players. MWC shoves Ripon into the national picture along a pesky St. Norbert squad that always finds a way to hang around when NCAA selections are announced. Washington U. rounds out the preview of teams expected to make a run at the Central Region crown.
Look for 2011 to be a knock-down, drag-out battle that rewards
the teams that grind it out week after week with deep pitching
staffs required in order to survive. Our pick to wear the regional
crown is the Buena Vista Beavers as they return three
all-conference pitchers, including two first-teamers from 2010.
New Faces: Steve Duncan, Washington U.: Steve
Duncan was named skipper of the Bears last summer after three years
as an assistant for national power Johns Hopkins. It is no
coincidence that Johns Hopkins rise from a great baseball program
to an elite program overlapped with Duncan’s tenure there.
Prior to his coaching career, he was a four-year starter for
another Central Region program at Wheaton (Ill.).
Derek Hassell, Carroll: When looking for a new coach after the
2010 program, Carroll turned to one of its own to lead the Pioneers
into the future. Hassell, a 2001 graduate of Carroll, was tabbed as
the guy to bring the program back from obscurity. He was an
assistant coach in 2003 at Pomona-Pitzer when the SageHens began
their rise into the national scene. From there he crossed the
country coaching in programs while working his up the coaching
ladder with stops at Gardner-Webb, Charleston Southern, Texas
Christian and Furman.
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
(CCIW): First the first time ever, a CCIW team has a
massive target on its back as the defending national champion. The
Titans of Illinois Wesleyan (31-21) head into 2011 with that target
as they carry lofty expectations from multiple pre-season polls.
The Titans are lead by senior All-American pitcher Jason Pankau
(11-2, 2.60 ERA) who put the Titans on his back for the second half
of 2010 and carried them to a CCIW crown as the No. 4 seed.
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Four Cardinals were selected to the All-CCIW First
Team in 2010, including CCIW Player of the Year Michael
Corrigan. |
Looking to challenge the Titans, who some consider to be the darkhorse in the region, is North Park (28-15). The Vikings return CCIW co-Pitcher of the Year Pete Sparacino (8-1, 3.83 ERA) along with utility man Trevor Popp (.371, 38 SBs) and infielder Ryan Javech (.393, 16 2B).
Lurking in the shadows is Carthage (29-18). The Red Men's success will rely on a set of mostly unproven arms as they lack the big gun on the mound that has come to define this program in the past two decades. Second team all-CCIW pitcher Eric Rohe (4-2, 4.11 ERA) looks to lead the charge along with two time all-CCIW pitcher Mario Perez (5-3, 3.69 ERA). At the plate, the Red Men are led by a pair of 2010 all-CCIW and all-Region performers in Joey Aiello (.400, 18 2Bs) and outfielder Will Hodges (.358, 60 RBI). Hodges is a pre-season all-American and Aiello is making the switch from first to second base in 2011.
The Cardinals of North Central (31-11) return six all-CCIW players (three first-team and three second-team). Was 2010’s success a flash in the pan or are they for real? They are led by catcher Michael Corrigan (2010 CCIW Player of the Year, .406, 67 RBI) and they return two all-CCIW arms in Nate Arenson and TJ Hecimovich.
The CCIW looks to be a four-team race with the above mentioned
battling for league and region supremacy. While the other teams may
find themselves in a battle for a playoff spot, they certainly
offer some talent to help make their case. If Augustana (25-15) and
Wheaton (Ill.) (24-16) are expecting promise this season, it will
have to be built on the shoulders of Dave Hoffman and Kurt Schmidt
of Augustana, and Justin Zeller and Drew Golz of Wheaton. Though
each is a fantastic offensive force, they do not appear to have the
arms in their own dugouts to make them postseason factors.
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC):
Buena Vista, Buena Vista, Buena Vista! The Beavers (32-13)
steamrolled through the IIAC last year and earned a No. 1 seed in
the NCAA Central Regional where they ran into the buzz saw named
Illinois Wesleyan, losing twice to the eventual national champion.
Gone is the big bat of IIAC Player of the Year Brandon Pietrzyk,
but seniors Brad Blum (.390, 24 SB) and Mike Hoffman (.383, 51 RBI)
look to pick up the slack at the plate. The Beavers are the
regional favorite based on their return of three all-IIAC arms.
Luke Probasco (8-3, 3.32 ERA), Ryan Wuebker (10-2, 4.14 ERA), and
James Stone (4-1, 3.32 ERA) give Buena Vista a chance against
nearly anyone in the nation.
Chasing the Beavers will be the Knights of Wartburg (25-19). Wartburg won twelve consecutive IIAC titles through the 2008 season. The Knights return four all-IIAC players with Brad Watson (7-5) and Nate Rost (4-1) leading the way on the bump. Patrick Grau and Drew Yoder need to provide a one-two punch for the offense if they plan to advance past the post-season tourney.
The Central Dutch (27-14) return seven second-team all-conference players so when looking for an upset surprise, you might want to speak “freaky-deaky Dutch.” If even half of those players rise to another level, they will be a force to be reckoned with at playoff time.
Coe (25-18), Loras (15-27), Luther (25-18) and Simpson (23-18)
will battle for the final playoff spots in the IIAC which send its
top six teams into the postseason tournament. On the outside
looking will be Cornell (3-30) and Dubuque (11-28).
Midwest Conference (MWC): North Division: After
winning a conference dogfight in 2010, Ripon (24-17) has another
MWC title in its sights. The Red Hawks return two all-MWC pitchers
including Pitcher of the Year Kurt Roeder (5-3, 2.54 ERA). On the
other side of the ball, pre-season all-American Nick Beaman (.439,
10 HR) leads a potent offense that hit .331 as a team last
year.
Expect Ripon's top competition in the North Division to be St. Norbert (24-12) who returns three all-conference players including pitcher Brian Stoppenbach. Third baseman Garrick Fisher and outfielder Matt Hannon need to fill the hole left by graduated All-American utility player Tony Jandron if the Green Knights have any chance in making a splash on the national scene.
The Beloit Buccaneers (21-12) and Carroll Pioneers (8-25) will
challenge St. Norbert for the second and final North Division
playoff spot. Carroll is led by Mike Karpinski (.389) and their
pitching rests on the arm of Jason Pattengale who led the team in
wins despite missing the second half of the season with an injury.
Beloit will be led by Andrew Heer (.439) but they must replace the
leadership and talents of seven graduated senior starters. Lawrence
(7-29) will struggle to win in this tough division, but they return
all-conference outfielder Robert Rashid (.366, 32 SB) to anchor
their offense.
South Division: Grinnell (23-16) returns four all-conference
players in 2011 and should contend for the South Division crown.
Junior Ben Pope (8-1, 1.82 ERA) leads the pitching staff while Mike
Nodzenski (.403, 11HR) is South’s two time Player of the Year
as a catcher. The combination of these two will push Grinnell to
the top in 2011.
Illinois College (15-16), Monmouth (12-23) and Knox (8-25) all will battle for the final spot in the post-season as the MWC send its top two from each division into the post-season. Illinois rests its hopes on senior shortstop Ian Vandeford (.299, 28 R, 12 SB), while Monmouth turns to utility man Rob Hinkle (.309, 5 HR) for leadership between the lines.
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Webster's David Mueller is expected to take over top
spot in the Gorloks' pitching rotation. |
St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC): Can they keep up this pace? The Webster Gorloks (35-11) have destroyed the rest of the conference by amassing an 80-9 conference record since 2007 and gaining four of the past five NCAA bids. The 2011 season will force them to replace one of the most decorated SLIAC pitchers in recent history as All-American Will Savage graduated and moved on to professional baseball. If the Gorloks are to continue their success, they need to find some arms to fill the massive hole left by Savage ... but they may have to look no further than junior pitcher David Mueller (8-1, 2.08 ERA) who served as Webster’s No. 2 last year. How he handles the role of staff ace will determine their season. Sophomore Cody Stephenson(.360, 27 SB) returns to lead the offense.
One potential rival is second-year member Spalding (19-20), led by the all-conference arm of Jake Wardrip (5-4, 55 SO). They return two sophomores in P Frank Carter and DH Zane Wheatley who were both given second-team accolades in 2010. Spalding will not be taking the SLIAC automatic bid this year as they are still a provisional team.
Greenville made quite a run in 2010, but gone are both conference Player of the Year, Stefan Neece and Pitcher of the Year, Matt Leefers. Greenville will lean heavily on sophomore utility man Kyle Winter (.310, 29 R) to spark an offense that may have lost more than it can handle this year.
The SLIAC will most likely be a one bid conference when they NCAA comes calling in May so just getting into the post-season conference tournament gives anyone a fighting chance (see Greenville (28-14) in 2009 who knocked off a 24-0 Webster squad). Where a team finishes in this conference is not nearly as important as how they finish, provided they can make it into the top four.
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University of Chicago junior Stephen Williams was a
selection to the 2010 All-Central Region Team. |
Independents: While the UAA encompasses schools
from all over, only one resides in the Central Region, Washington
U. (17-15). Washington has made seven trips to the NCAA postseason
and has the talent to do it again in 2011. On the mound, they will
be lead by Bryce Hrovat (4-2, 5.36 ERA, 44 SO) and Adam Merze (3-1,
9.00 ERA). Their pitching staff struggled mightily in 2010 with a
team ERA over 7.00, but the addition of former Johns Hopkins
assistant coach, Steve Duncan as their coach should help calm the
nerves of the Bear faithful. As a Pool B contender, they must fare
well right out of the gates to stay in that race for the few bids
that are awarded as their competition stiffens greatly if they fall
out of Pool B and into the Pool C category on Selection Sunday.
Chicago (18-16) will be led by junior Stephen Williams (.402, 44
RBI), a 2010 all-region selection. As an independent member of the
NCAA’s Central Region, they also fall into the Pool B
category when bids are handed out in May. While the Maroons piled
up runs in 2010 averaging over nine runs per game, they also
allowed quite a few leading to an 18-16 record. They do not appear
to have the ammunition to move into the elite status in the region,
but with many games against the region’s top team, the
Maroons can still be a big factor in who gets in and who is left
home.
