Concordia (Ill.), Aurora control NATHC in 2011

By Ricky Nelson, D3sports.com

Northern Athletics Conference (NATHC): Concordia Chicago and Aurora were entrenched in the top two spots in the NATHC standings throughout the season, but it was a scramble to fill the last two entrants for the conference tournament. The intrigue included upwards of seven teams for two spots in the last several days of the season. The free-for-all had fans searching for conference tie-breaking minutia as nearly every team had a shot given certain scenarios.

After the final out of the regular season, it was Concordia Wisconsin and Benedictine that claimed the third and fourth seeds at the NATHC Tournament. No tiebreakers were even needed, although four teams were within two games of fourth-seeded Benedictine. The excitement in the standings helped overshadow the fact that only three of the 12 NATHC teams finished over .500 overall.

No. 2 seed Aurora won the NATHC Tournament and went 0-2 at the UW-Whitewater Regional.

NATHC regular season champion: Concordia Chicago
NATHC Tournament champion: Aurora
NCAA Tournament participant: Aurora
NATHC Position Player of the Year: Nick Skala, Concordia Chicago
NATHC Co-Pitchers of the Year: Derrick Pankow, Concordia Wisconsin; Drew Gay, Aurora
NATHC Freshman of the Year: Brenden Schulz, Concordia Chicago
NATHC Coach of the Year: Adam Smith, Concordia Chicago

Aurora (30-14, 18-4 NATHC): The Spartans lived up to the preseason billing and made their second consecutive and 19th overall NCAA Tournament appearance after repeating as the NATHC Tournament champion. The NATHC coaches predicted Aurora to win the conference, but it took some time for the Spartans round into form and reach the 30-win mark for the first time since 2006.

Drew Gay was named NATHC co-Pitcher of the year in 2011. Aurora athletics photo

Aurora went 3-4 on its Florida trip, including losses in four of the last five games down south. But the wins came in bunches once the Spartans returned north. In fact, after the Florida kinks were worked out, Aurora lost consecutive games just one more time – a two-game blip in early April – during the regular season. The Spartans responded to that minor hiccup, with a nine-game winning streak that included handing NATHC regular season champion Concordia Chicago its only two conference losses of the year. During the nine-game skein the speedy Spartans stole 42 bases (4.7 per game) and averaged 11.2 runs per game.

Another regular season highlight was a comeback win over Division-I Northern Illinois. Trailing NIU, 6-2, in the eighth inning, Aurora rallied four runs to tie and eventually won, 7-6, in 11 innings. The Spartans also defeated Coe, the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season champion.

Head coach Shaun Neitzel’s team went into the NATHC Tournament as the No. 2 seed and survived a marathon in the tournament opener. The Spartans rallied to erase two extra-inning deficits and won the longest NATHC game, 12-11 over No. 3 seed Concordia Wisconsin, with a two-out, two run single in the 16th inning. An 8-4 win over No. 4 seed Benedictine later in the day put the Spartans in the NATHC Tournament championship. No. 1 seed Concordia Chicago routed the Spartans, 14-4, to set up the winner-take-all championship, and Aurora responded with a rout of its own, 11-3, over a Concordia Chicago team playing its third game of the day.

D3baseball.com Third Team All-American Josh Davidson ranked fifth in the country with 39 stolen bases. Aurora athletics photo

Playing as the No. 6 seed at the UW-Whitewater Regional, the Spartans gave top-seeded UW-Stevens Point all it could handle before falling, 3-2, in 10 innings. Aurora led UW-Stevens Point, 2-0, in the second inning, but after tying the game in the fifth inning, a Pointer suicide squeeze with no outs in the 10th sent the Spartans to the loser’s bracket. St. Thomas never trailed Aurora in the ensuing elimination game and ousted the Spartans, 8-3, and dashed their hopes of making a third trip to Appleton. Aurora, one of two NATHC programs to appear in Appleton, last made the World Series in 2006. The Spartans finished third at the 2004 World Series.

All season long the Spartans attacked teams with an onslaught of hits and stolen bases. Aurora scored 393 runs, eighth in the nation, behind an offense that rapped 541 hits (sixth in the country) and stole 142 bases (fifth in the nation). When the dust settled, the Spartans scored 8.9 runs per game to rank fifth in country. And there wasn’t a lull in the batting order – nine players had 47 or more hits, and six players stole 12 or more bases.

Not to be overshadowed, the Spartan pitching held a 4.20 earned run average, and the defense was far-and-away the best in the NATHC with a .961 fielding percentage.

D3baseball.com Third Team All-Americans Josh Davidson and Mike Foley sparked the Aurora lineup. Davidson, a junior outfielder, ranked fifth in the country with 39 stolen bases while batting fifth in the lineup. Davidson was also second in the NATHC with a .429 batting average and led the conference with 72 hits to go along with a .489 on-base percentage, 48 runs, 35 runs batted in, and 83 total bases. Foley, a sophomore third baseman who didn’t even receive all-NATHC accolades, batted .362 and led the team with a .597 slugging percentage, 14 doubles, six triples, 57 runs batted in, and 97 total bases.

Mike Foley was a D3baseball.com All-American as a designated hitter for Aurora. Aurora athletics photo

The Spartan offensive stars joining Davidson on the all-NATHC First Team were senior second baseman Anthony Amedei (.325 AVG, 40 R, 64 H, 11 2B, 3 HR, 34 RBI, 90 TB, 33 SB), junior outfielder Ryan Adams (.369 AVG, .480 OBP, 54 R, 3 HR, 39 RBI, 81 TB, 36 BB, 17 SB) and junior third baseman Tim Mackey (.357 AVG, 44 R, 27 RBI, 22 SB). Mackey suffered an injury and didn’t play in the team’s last nine games.

Sophomore Drew Gay was named the NATHC Co-Pitcher of the Year. Gay, a transfer from Joliet Junior College, went 7-3 with a 2.84 earned run average, three shutouts and 60 strikeouts in an NATHC-leading 79.1 innings pitched.

The sixth Spartan to make the all-NATHC teams was junior pitcher Steve Sitterly, an Honorable Mention selection, after going 5-3 with a 3.64 earned run average and a 34:12 strikeout-to-walk ratio in in 54.1 innings pitched.

Aurora’s 2012 team could be even better than this year’s version. The Spartans lose their sparkplug atop the order in Amedei and middle-of-the-order right fielder Joe Singraber on offense, but seven other starters are eligible to return. They also lose rotation mainstay Dan McCarthy (a two-time all-NATHC performer) and reliable reliever Jorge Hernandez (1.59 ERA, 2 SV, 17 IP) in addition to two other pitchers.

However, with a loaded sophomore and junior class eligible to return, the Spartans are set up to be the team to beat in the NATHC and potentially be a major player in the 2012 postseason.

Cam Stephens, a D3baseball.com All-American, was 10th in the nation with a .453 batting average. Concordia Chicago athletics photo

Concordia Chicago (35-10, 20-2, NATHC): First-year head coach Adam Smith kept the Cougar train rolling after the abrupt departure of longtime helmsman Spiro Lempesis in September 2010. Smith’s team went 9-5 before conference play but proceeded to romp through the NATHC schedule. Romp past everyone but Aurora, that is. The only blemishes on Concordia Chicago’s NATHC regular season record were two losses on Aurora’s field in late April. Aurora also proved to be Concordia Chicago’s roadblock at the NATHC Tournament.

The Cougars run-ruled NATHC opponents nine times and had to win only one conference game by one run. Outside of conference, Concordia Chicago counted defending national champion Illinois Wesleyan among its school-record 35 wins. The Cougars were ranked in the D3baseball.com top 25 for four consecutive weeks late in the season and received votes in all but the first three polls. The team with the best conference record in NATHC history had a second NCAA Regional appearance in three years in its sights heading into the conference tournament. Then it met Aurora again.

A torrential rain washed away the first day of the NATHC Tournament, and the location was changed due to unplayable conditions at Rockford. Concordia Chicago was now tasked to play at No. 4 seed Benedictine’s home field. The Cougars were then run-ruled for the first time all season, 13-3, in the NATHC tourney opener. They bounced back and beat Concordia Wisconsin later in the day, setting up the need to win three games on the final day – something that’s never been done at the NATHC Tournament – to win the truncated event. But they would have to win three games at Aurora’s home field as the location changed for the final day. The Cougars disposed of Benedictine, leaving season-long nemesis Aurora in the way of the NATHC automatic bid. Concordia Chicago scored eight runs over the final two innings to salt away a 14-4 win over its archrival and set up the true championship game. However, Aurora never trailed in an 11-3 win in the title game and took the season series from Concordia Chicago three games to one. There was a chance of a miracle at-large bid for the Cougars, but it never came. Concordia Chicago had to settle for the best regular season in program history.

NATHC Position Player of the Year, junior catcher Nick Skala, was a 37th round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 2011. Concordia Chicago athletics photo

The Cougars were fifth in the nation with a .344 batting average and scored the seventh most runs in the country with 396 (8.8 runs per game). They rapped out 26 hits in a conference game in early April. But it wasn’t all about the bats; the defense turned 43 double plays to rank 10th in the nation despite a middling .946 fielding percentage. And the pitching staff sported a 3.24 earned run average to outdistance the nearest NATHC team by nearly a run.

D3baseball.com Second Team All-America designated hitter Cam Stephens and NATHC Position Player of the Year, junior catcher Nick Skala, led the Cougar offense. Stephens, a junior, had 34 at-bats in two seasons before his breakout 2011 in which he led the team and was 10th in the nation with a .453 batting average, a .533 on-base percentage, a .691 slugging percentage and 19 doubles to go along with 34 runs, four home runs, 45 runs batted in and 96 total bases.

Skala, a 37th-round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles, set a single-season Cougar record and was fourth in the country with 63 runs batted in. Skala batted .390, slugged .678 and led the team with 47 runs, 69 hits, four triples, 10 home runs and 120 total bases. Skala had a three-game stretch in April when he hit five home runs and drove in 15.

Joining Stephens and Skala on the all-NATHC First Team were sophomore outfielder Dan Eichholzer (.353 AVG, 35 R, 2 HR, 29 RBI, 13 SB), senior pitcher Micah Buss (5-1, 2.57 ERA, 63 IP, 49 K) and senior pitcher Anthony Collaro (7-2, 2.73 ERA, 56 IP, 50 K).

Cougars named to the all-NATHC Honorable Mention Team were senior shortstop Eric Ignatowski (.304 AVG, 42 R, 38 RBI) and NATHC Freshman of the Year, utility Brenden Schulz (.377 AVG, .504 OBP, 42 R, 27 BB; 7-1, 2.83 ERA, 60.1 IP, 11 BB, 46 K, .234 OBA). Head coach Smith was named the NATHC Coach of the Year.

The Cougars had eight seniors on the roster and could lose Skala if he signs with the Orioles (he was unsigned as of July 22). Included in the losses are the starting middle infield, Ignatowski and Steve Brown, and two of the top three starting pitchers in Buss and Collaro. But depending upon Skala’s status, the potential returning players are enough to make another run at the NCAA Tournament in 2012.

Concordia Wisconsin (18-23, 14-8 NATHC): The Falcons had a streaky season, but it was enough to secure the No. 3 seed at the NATHC Tournament. Concordia Wisconsin won five consecutive NATHC games in April to help offset five losing streaks of at least three games.

Co-Pitcher of the Year, Derrick Pankow had 83 strikeouts to lead the conference. Concordia Wisconsin athletics photo

The Falcons lost their NATHC Tournament opener against Aurora, 12-11, in 16 innings, the longest game in NATHC history. Concordia Wisconsin was one out from victory in both the 10th and 16th innings, but a two-run single dashed the Falcons’ hopes of upsetting the eventual NATHC Tournament champion. The day after the marathon, the Falcons never fully recovered after falling behind Concordia Chicago, 7-0, in the second inning of the 9-6 season-ending loss. The Falcons had their chances; they left 10 runners stranded in the last five innings of the game.

It was a standout season statistically for head coach Val Keiper’s Falcons. Their 430 hits were the second most in program history, and the pitching staff had the second most strikeouts ever with 214. The offense batted .302 and scored 7.1 runs per game. Their defense ranked second in the NATHC with a .951 fielding percentage, but the pitching lagged behind with a 6.96 earned run average, which ranked 10th in the 12-team NATHC. Only one NATHC team ceded more than the Falcons’ 332 (8.1 run per game).

It was often a matter of winning slugfests. Concordia Wisconsin scored 10 or more runs 15 times, but opponents reached double figures 14 times and the Falcons lost three games in which they scored 10 or more. There was a seven-game stretch in early April when they gave up 104 runs (14.9 per game), including a three-game skid in which they allowed 65 of those runs. All told, Concordia gave up four or fewer runs in just 11 games, going 7-4 in those contests.

The NATHC Co-Pitcher of the Year, senior pitcher Derrick Pankow, and senior first baseman Dan Shea were selected to the all-NATHC First Team. Pankow accounted for one-third of Concordia Wisconsin’s wins in going 6-4 with a 4.02 earned run average and an NATHC-leading 83 strikeouts in 78.1 innings pitched. Pankow was also a designated hitter in the cleanup spot, batting .340 with a .452 on-base percentage and 27 runs scored. Shea led the Falcons with a .377 batting average, a .616 slugging percentage, eight home runs, 46 runs batted in and 85 total bases. Junior outfielder Adam Martz was named to the Honorable Mention all-NATHC team after batting .308 with 27 runs, 15 doubles, three home runs and 36 runs batted in.

The Falcons had nine seniors on the roster. Besides key clogs Pankow and Shea, they also lose their leadoff hitter and starting second baseman, Matt Schilter, and two other pitchers who logged more than 35 innings. The 2012 staff will be without two pitchers (Pankow and Matt Parrent) who accounted for 10 of Concordia Wisconsin’s 18 wins.

The university broke ground on a new baseball stadium on May 3. The stadium, which will be the second in the state with an artificial playing surface, will be located on campus. The Falcons played many home games in nearby West Bend, Wis.

Benedictine (24-18, 13-9 NATHC): The Eagles earned their third trip to the NATHC Tournament in four years in dramatic fashion. Needing to beat Rockford on the road, Benedictine won Game 1 of the doubleheader handily and scored seven runs in the top of the ninth inning of Game 2 to clinch the NATHC Tournament berth with a 9-4 victory and nary a game to spare. The wins put an exclamation point on an 8-4 finish to the conference schedule that included a pivotal win over Aurora in early May.

Benedictine outfielder Kevin Hendricks was selected to the all-NATHC First Team. Benedictine athletics photo

Benedictine thumped No. 1 seed Concordia Chicago, 13-3, in the NATHC Tournament opener before losing the next two to Aurora and Concordia Chicago, which returned the favor with a 10-0 win. Benedictine was the de facto host of the NATHC Tournament after heavy rains left original host Rockford’s field unplayable.

Head coach John Ostrowski’s team got out to a 3-0 start to the season before taking some lumps on the Florida spring trip. After a 6-7 record in nonconference play, the Eagles started the NATHC schedule with a 5-5 record until a four-game spurt got them back in the race. Besides the Rockford and Aurora wins, Benedictine’s signature win was over defending champion Illinois Wesleyan. The NATHC coaches picked the Eagles to finish a distant sixth in the preseason.

The Eagles had a banner year statistically, finishing in the NATHC’s top five in batting average (.301), earned run average (4.23) and fielding percentage (.950). Sophomore outfielder Kevin Hendricks was selected to the all-NATHC First Team after leading the team with a .387 batting average, a .525 slugging percentage, a .468 on-base percentage, 61 hits, three home runs, 44 runs batted in, 83 total bases and 24 walks. Hendricks had six hits in one game in early April. Sophomore pitcher Kevin Crowley earned all-NATHC Honorable Mention honors after going 4-0 with a 3.49 earned run average and 37 strikeouts in 38.2 innings pitched.

If Benedictine is to make the NATHC Tournament for the fourth time in five seasons in 2012, it will have to do it without six departing seniors, including two starting outfielders from the middle of the lineup and two pitchers who tossed a combined 73 innings in 18 appearances. The good news is that the Eagles roster, thanks in part to a thriving varsity reserve program, had 54 players listed and their two all-NATHC players are underclassmen.

Rockford (17-20, 12-10 NATHC): The Regents were cruising to the NATHC Tournament until a season-ending tailspin left them on the outside of the postseason event that they were about to host. Rockford was the 2010 NATHC regular season co-champion and had been one of the top two seeds at the NATHC Tourney every year since 2007. The Regents had a 2011 berth on lockdown until they split a doubleheader with Dominican. That Game 2 loss ballooned into three-game NATHC losing streak, setting up a season-deciding showdown at home against Benedictine on the last day of the regular season. Rockford lost to Benedictine in Game 1, but the Regents led 4-2 in the ninth inning of Game 2. However, Benedictine scored seven runs in the top of the ninth to steal the game and the tournament berth.

The Regents didn’t just struggle in conference play at the end of the season. Besides the five straight NATHC losses, Rockford also sandwiched three nonconference defeats to end the year with one win in its last nine games. To be fair, it was a season of fits and starts for the Regents, like it was for most teams around the region. But Rockford had 19 dates either postponed or cancelled.

Aided by two first-place preseason votes, Rockford was tabbed to finish second in the NATHC by the coaches. In hindsight, that projection had more to do with pedigree than the makeup of the roster. Rockford went into the 2011 season without a single returning all-NATHC player. The Regents had five seniors on the 2010 all-NATHC teams, including D3baseball.com All-America third baseman Kyle Standridge. Rockford didn’t have a player on the 2010 NATHC All-Freshman team either.

Rockford’s benchmark wins came over Appleton qualifier Western New England and defending national champion Illinois Wesleyan. The Regents are usually one of the top offensive teams in the region, and they backed up that reputation for the most part with a .291 batting average and 6.4 runs per game. But their earned run average of 5.78 was above the NATHC average and they walked more batters (177) than they struck out (169). The Regent defense allowed 67 unearned runs.

Junior shortstop Jimmy Dercks was selected to the all-NATHC First Team after batting .345 with 22 runs and 23 runs batted in while leading the Regents with 49 hits, 11 doubles, three home runs and 71 total bases. Junior outfielder Ryne Billesbach was named Honorable Mention all-NATHC after leading the team with a .372 batting average, 29 runs and two triples in addition to two home runs, 63 total bases and a .443 on-base percentage.

The Regents won’t lose anyone from the all-NATHC teams like last season, but they did have nine seniors on the 2011 roster, including the starting catcher and six pitchers who accounted for 49 percent of the team’s innings. Reloading shouldn’t be a problem for Rockford as there were 45 players in the program, 16 of whom were freshman in 2011.

Sophomore Blake O’Brien led the NATHC with a 2.32 earned run average. Edgewood athletics photo

Edgewood (18-22, 12-10 NATHC): The Eagles had to win one game in a doubleheader against Lakeland on the last day of the regular season in order to qualify for the NATHC Tournament. Not only did Edgewood lose both games, it didn’t score a run in the doubleheader. The losses also snapped the Eagles’ streak of 20-win seasons at seven.

After winning 29 games and being the No. 1 seed in the 2010 NATHC Tournament, Edgewood was projected to make the postseason this season; the coaches had the Eagles pegged for third in the NATHC and even received a first-place vote in the preseason. But the Eagles put themselves in the season-ending must-win situation by sweeping just three NATHC doubleheaders – Maranatha, Dominican and Marian.

But there was plenty of good news for head coach Al Brisack’s club. The Eagles played one of the most challenging schedules in the region, taking on Division I Illinois-Chicago, Division II UW-Parkside, UW-Whitewater, UW-Stevens Point, Bowdoin and St. Olaf in addition to NATHC heavyweights Concordia Chicago and Aurora, and an exhibition game against the Minnesota Twins rookie team. The downside was that the Eagles went 1-13 against those nine teams, including a narrow 6-3 loss to the Twins. Besides the Lakeland stunner at the end of the season, Edgewood beat every other D-III team on its schedule at least once. Their 17-10 record against the rest of the schedule is in line with preseason expectations, and their 18 wins are good enough for 10-best in school history.

Sophomore outfielder Jake Zadra supplied the power to the Eagles line up, leading the team in home runs and total bases. Edgewood athletics photo

The Eagles pitching staff was fourth in the NATHC with a 4.87 earned run average and set a program record with nine saves. The offense ranked eighth in runs scored and ninth in batting average. The team tied atop the NATHC 2011 leaderboard with 11 stolen bases in a game against Maranatha, but its season totals of 43 doubles and four triples are the fewest in program history. The six team home runs are third-fewest in school annuls. Their defense was also a middling eighth with a .942 fielding percentage. The Eagles committed seven errors in a conference loss to Wisconsin Lutheran.

Sophomore pitcher Blake O’Brien and sophomore outfielder Jake Zadra were named to the all-NATHC Honorable Mention team. O’Brien led the NATHC with a 2.32 earned run average to go along with a 3-2 record, 55 strikeouts in 59.1 innings pitched and a .215 opponents’ batting average. Zadra batted .387 with a .488 on-base percentage, 26 runs and nine stolen bases while leading the team with two home runs and 51 total bases.

Also making headlines for Edgewood was senior outfielder Treye Dennison, who had a program-record five stolen bases in one game. Junior outfielder Ryan Walker is already Edgewood’s all-time leader with 20 sacrifice hits. Sophomore Conner Lenz not only set Edgewood’s single-season save record with five, those five also tie for the most in an Eagle career.

There were seven seniors on Edgewood’s roster, including the starting catcher and Dennison, starting right fielder. But the Eagles have the potential to be one of the most veteran NATHC teams heading into next season with most of their lineup and pitching staff eligible to return.

Lakeland (16-19, 11-11 NATHC): The Muskie lineage continues. Former Lakeland player Michael Bachar was promoted to head coach in early July after Chris Thousand resigned. Bachar was an assistant under Thousand for the past five seasons. Thousand, the 2010 NATHC Coach of the Year and former Lakeland player, stepped down after his wife accepted a job in another city. Bachar and Thousand were teammates on the 2002 Lakeland team that went to Appleton.

Bachar inherits a program that finished the season strong, winners of its last eight NATHC games, including five by one run, in 2011. It was a season filled with tight games as the Muskies went 7-6 in one-run contests. Lakeland also denied NATHC foe Edgewood a spot in the conference tournament with two shutout wins on the last day of the regular season.

The Muskies batted .262 to place 11th in the 12-team NATHC, but they sported the fifth-best earned run average (4.94) and the third-best defense (.950). The pitching staff notched seven shutouts and five saves, one shy of the program record in both categories.

Senior outfielder Andrew Schartner and junior utility Mike Ruzek were name to the all-NATHC Honorable Mention team. Schartner batted .323 while leading the Muskies with 29 runs, 10 doubles, 59 total bases, 19 walks and 23 stolen bases. Ruzek led Lakeland with a .402 batting average and a .462 on-base percentage while scoring 19 runs and driving in 24. Ruzek also went 2-3 with a 4.15 earned run average with three complete games and a team-best 51 strikeouts in 56.1 innings pitched.

Besides Schartner, the Muskies had three other seniors on the roster, including starting catcher David Novak and one of their top three starting pitchers. Novak ended his career as Lakeland’s all-time leader in runs batted in. All things considered, the Muskies have plenty of potential returning players to build upon the momentum and promised they showed at the end of the season.

Junior Anthony Porcaro was named First-Team All-NATHC in 2011. Marian athletics photo by Steven Smith

Marian (15-21, 11-11 NATHC): It was an up-and-down season for the Sabres. Highlights included a sweep of perennial NATHC contender Rockford, a doubleheader split with NATHC Tournament champion Aurora, and a win over local rival and NCAA Regional participant Ripon. However, for every highlight win, there was a reciprocal loss. But by far the toughest losses of the season were on the final day of the season, when Marian lost two one-run games to Concordia Wisconsin that cost the Sabres a spot in the NATHC Tournament.

Head coach Jason Bartelt’s club was third in the NATHC with a .302 batting average but scored just 5.4 runs per game. The pitching staff’s earned run average of 5.54 was near the NATHC average of 5.62. The Sabres avoided long, unexpected losing streaks, but their longest winning streak was four games.

Junior utility Anthony Porcaro was named First-Team all-NATHC. Porcaro led the Sabres with a .410 batting average, a .538 on-base percentage, 35 runs, 34 walks, 60 total bases and 11 stolen bases. Catcher Beau Burgert (.271 AVG, 11 RBI) was selected to the NATHC All-Freshman team.

Senior outfielder Ryan Hiller tallied 12 total bases and nine runs batted in in one game against Aurora in April. Besides Hiller the Sabres lose two other seniors, outfielder Tim Holtz (.320 AVG in 50 AB) and No. 1 pitcher Dustin Andrus (5-3, 3.02 ERA, 44.2 IP, 34 K, .213 OBA).

With nearly the entire roster eligible to return to avenge the season-ending defeats, Marian will be considered a contender for the 2012 NATHC Tournament.

Wisconsin Lutheran (19-21, 10-12 NATHC): The Warriors were 12-5 overall, 4-0 in conference, and riding an eight-game winning streak in early April. They also split doubleheaders with NATHC contenders Edgewood and Benedictine, but a six-game skid as April turned to May put an end to any thought of shocking the league by making a run at the NATHC Tournament.

Justin Barkhurst led the Warrior offense in his senior season. Wisconsin Lutheran athletics photo

Head coach Dave Reinemann’s team outpaced most projections. The Warriors were picked to finish tied for 10th in the preseason coaches’ poll, and the ninth-place finish wasn’t far off. But beyond the standings, 2011 was one of the best in program history. The 19 wins tied the school record that stood since 2002. The 10 conference wins also tied the program record. Wisconsin Lutheran had won a total of 12 NATHC games from 2009-10.

The Warriors stole 104 bases, with seven players stealing 11 or more, while batting .289. The pitching staff tossed 17 complete games and had a 5.72 earned run average but struggled with control, finishing with a 163:140 strikeout-to-walk ratio in just under 320 innings pitched.

Senior shortstop Justin Barkhurst was named to the all-NATHC Honorable Mention team after leading the team with a .346 batting average, 53 hits and 66 total bases to go along with 33 runs, 10 doubles, 32 runs batted in and 11 stolen bases.

Wisconsin Lutheran had six seniors on the roster, including the top three in the regular batting order and five of the top seven. The Warriors also lose their No. 2 starting pitcher, but the 21-man roster also had 14 players in the freshman and sophomore classes. One potential returnee, freshman pitcher Alex Raver, ended the season among the leaders of the staff after going 4-4 with a 5.43 earned run average and 56 strikeouts (third in the NATHC) in 58 innings pitched. Raver, an all-NATHC Freshman Team selection, struck out 13 Millikin batters in March.

Dominican (9-31, 6-16 NATHC): Steve Hardman was named the Stars’ new head coach in late June. Hardman was the top assistant at North Park for the past five seasons. The hire was made weeks after Dominican elevated the head coach position to full-time status. Hardman replaces Terry Casey, who led the Stars to the 2006 conference tournament championship. Casey (41-67 record since 2006) will remain at Dominican, in the admissions office.

Freshmen Jonathan Basinski (pictured) and Casimir Zwiazek will be key for Dominican to make to the NATHC tournament in the 2012 season. Dominican athletics photo

Casey’s 2011 squad pulled upsets over Washington (Mo.) and Rockford, leaving the latter outside the NATHC Tournament field by one game. Picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll, the Stars placed 10th.

In their losses the Stars defense and pitching struggled. Dominican led the NATHC with 94 errors and 348 runs allowed, and opponents batted .342. Opponents scored nine or more runs 22 times. Dominican pitchers also hit 10 batters in one game.

No Stars made the all-NATHC teams, but four Stars starters hit above .300: junior third baseman Chris Kemp (.338 AVG, 49 H, 30 RBI), freshman shortstop Jonathan Basinski (.331 AVG, .478 OBP, 36 R), senior catcher Chris Anderson (.318 AVG, 23 R, 35 RBI) and freshman outfielder Casimir Zwiazek (.305 AVG, 25 R).

Heading into Hardman’s first recruiting season, Dominican loses five seniors. Those five – two pitchers, two batters and one utility – accounted for 42 percent of the team’s innings pitched, 32 percent of the runs batted in, 34 percent of the total bases and 31 percent of the runs scored.

Milwaukee School of Engineering (9-28, 5-17 NATHC): The Raiders opened the season with a win over eventual regional participant Franklin but proceeded to go 3-9 on their spring trips to Florida and Missouri. MSOE then lost its first five conference games and had three NATHC losing streaks of five games or more. However, the Raiders provided a signature NATHC win in mid-April that played a large part in Edgewood missing the conference tournament, and there was a stretch in April when the Raiders went 5-3.

MSOE out-homered opponents 14-9 but was on the wrong side of most every statistical comparison. The Raiders hit a respectable .287 but allowed opponents to hit .334. MSOE had just eight games decided by two runs or fewer, going 2-6 in those contests. The 11th-place NATHC finish is in line with 2011 preseason coaches’ poll that had the Raiders pegged for a 10th-place tie.

Junior third baseman Mike Riccardi was an all-NATHC Honorable Mention selection after batting .330 with two home runs and 22 runs batted in.

Head coach Troy Doering will lose four seniors next season, including his top starting pitcher, Ben Hansen, whose 76 innings pitched and 11 starts more than doubled the next highest totals on the team; and outfielder Emery Hull, who had team bests with a .341 batting average, a .453 on-base percentage, a .583 slugging percentage, seven home runs, nine doubles, 45 hits, 28 runs scored, seven stolen bases, 26 bases on balls and 77 total bases.

Junior second baseman Jason Garrison led the Crusaders with a .321 batting average. Maranatha athletics photo

Maranatha (2-25, 0-22 NATHC): The Crusaders eschewed spring games in favor of a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, and while their record may not reflect improvement over last season’s 4-25 mark, the numbers suggest a different story.

Head coach Gary Garrison’s club shaved nearly four runs from the 2010 earned run average to finish at 9.97, the first time it’s been below 10 since 2007. The Crusaders also had their best fielding percentage since 2001 and cut the number of times they were run-ruled in half, from 18 to nine. Despite the statistical improvements, the Crusaders had the worst earned run average, batting average and fielding percentage in the NATHC.

However young the team is – Maranatha had two seniors on the 2011 roster – the fact remains that the Crusaders have not won an NATHC game since 2008. They won one NATHC game in both 2007 and 2008, going 2-106 in conference games the past five seasons. The conference coaches were prophetic in unanimously picking Maranatha to place last in 2011.

Despite the conference woes, Maranatha was one out from winning this year’s National Christian College Athletic Association Midwest Regional. A two-out, two-run hit dealt the Crusaders a 2-1 loss, preventing Maranatha a bid to the NCCAA World Series.

Maranatha didn’t place a player on the all-NATHC teams, but junior second baseman Jason Garrison led the team with a .321 batting average, a .462 on-base percentage, 33 total bases, 27 hits and 16 runs scored.