2012 Central Preview

By Dave Kisor for D3baseball.com

Joey Aiello hit .351 for the Carthage Red Men in 2011. Carthage athletics photo

The view is changing atop the Central Region in 2012. Buena Vista, last season’s Central winner out of the IIAC, will be looking for its third trip in a row to postseason play. The Beavers' 2011 run took them to the winner’s bracket finals in the Championship tournament. However in 2012, their No. 1 pitcher and a number of other key contributors have graduated.

Coe, which bested Buena Vista in the IIAC, will look to return to and move beyond the Central Region tournament. Last season the Kohawks put up 32 wins, the most in school history.

The playoff teams from the IIAC will have to contend with perennial powers Carthage and Illinois Wesleyan out of the CCIW.  Carthage has made a playoff appearance each of the last five years and returns all but one starting pitcher. Illinois Wesleyan, the 2010 D3 National Champion, has been to regional tournament play in four of the last five years and returns most of a veteran group that will score plenty of runs.

Ripon, which finished the year just above .500, won the MWC and the Red Hawks are used to tournament play, having qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament in 10 of the last 14 seasons. Webster has had 30 or more wins three of the last four years and with their starting rotation back, are look to return to tournament play in 2012. Overall, seven Central Region teams finished the 2011 campaign ranked in, or receiving votes for, the top 25.

Our favorite is Carthage. Since May 21, 2011, at Horenberger Field, when Carthage gave up four runs in the seventh inning to Buena Vista and lost a trip to Grand Chute, the team has been ready for another chance. In 2012, look for Carthage to take the Central for the eighth time since 1992.

New Faces

Seth Wing, Cornell: Wing brings nine years of coaching experience at Division II Winona State to Cornell. He spent the last three years as the associate head coach, coaching Winona into the D-II national championship game. Wing also brings recruiting expertise to Cornell as he served that role at Winona. Wing will need to instill the winning attitude at Cornell as the Rams finished the 2011 campaign with three wins overall and one IIAC win. He looks to bring the Rams back into IIAC contention and earn a postseason berth.

Alex Smith, Luther: Smith has a clear understanding of the Luther program, having played for the Norse (1999-2002) and being the pitching coach for the past six seasons. In total, Smith has been involved with Luther baseball for the last 12 years and previously served the university as an admissions counselor.

James Clark, Eureka: Clark comes to Eureka from Spoon River, a two-year school, where he was the head baseball coach. In his time at Spoon River, Clark improved the number of wins each year and recorded victories over perennial NJCAA powers John Wood and Illinois Central. Clark’s playing career was with D-III Knox, where as a student-athlete he was a 2007-09 qualifier for the Midwest Conference’s Academic All-Conference Team. Clark was a member of the 2008 MWC champion Prairie Fire team.

Andrew Bartman, MacMurray: Bartman is the 17th head in Highlander baseball history. He played for MacMurray from 2004-2006. Bartman was the recruiting coordinator and pitching coach in 2010 and 2011 at Lincoln College, a D-II junior college team that made the top 20 during the 2011 season. He served in the same capacity at Wabash Valley prior to his tenure at Lincoln. Bartman looks to bring the MacMurray program back to the top of the SLIAC.

Alex Ferguson, Principia: Ferguson spent four years as head coach at Presentation. In addition, he gained experience as an assistant and recruiting coordinator with Northern State (D-II) along with high school and American Legion coaching experience. At Presentation he led the Saints to three consecutive UMAC tournaments, accumulating a 44-31 UMAC record. Taking the Principia position is a homecoming for Ferguson, who played for the Panthers, earning two all conference awards.

Dennis Hughes, Westminster (Mo.): Hughes was hired in November 2011 to replace Luke Harrigan, who left to take a position at NCAA D-II Alderson-Broaddus. Hughes was a successful high school coach, leading the Helias (Jefferson City, Mo.) Crusaders to three state championships. In eight years at Helias, Hughes had a 137-38 record. He will be the second member of the Westminster baseball team with the name Hughes, as his son, Denton, is a member of the Blue Jay squad.

Kevin Callahan was named a 2012 D3baseball.com preseason All-American at first base. Illinois Wesleyan photo by Rebecca Sill

College Conference of Illinois Wisconsin (CCIW): In 2011, Illinois Wesleyan and North Park shared the top place in the always competitive CCIW. Wesleyan has finished at the top of the CCIW three of the last five years, while Carthage has taken the crown twice in that time frame. However, don’t count out North Park and North Central, the 2010 champion. On the mound, the CCIW returns all-region players including Wesleyan’s Nick Mehn (7-2, 3.56 ERA), who will take a leadership role following Jason Pankau’s graduation. North Park’s Steve Kuligowski returns for his senior year after a fine 2011 season, going 7-3 with a 3.38 ERA and Carthage’s Danny Dahm looks to have a good senior season to follow-up on his 2011 5-0, 3.04 ERA effort, on the conference’s top staff (3.18 ERA).

Carthage led the CCIW in team offense last year but lost team offensive leaders, All-American Will Hodges (.422, 17 2B, 8 HR, 44 RBI) and fellow outfielder All-Region player Mike Petti (.418, 13 2B, 4 HR, 24 RBI). The Red Men will look to CCIW all-conference players Joey Aiello (.351, 10 2B, 3 HR, 36 RBI) and Kyle Pusateri (.323, 9 2B, 3 HR, 30 RBI) to drive the offense.

Illinios Wesleyan returns all but two position players, including All-American Kevin Callahan (.398, 11 2B, 15 HR, 51 RBI) at first base and All-Region players Jon Erickson (third base; .368, 11 2B, 24 RBI), Bobby Czarnowski (designated hitter; .315, 6 2B, 5 HR, 29RBI), and A.J. Nathan (All-Region gold glove catcher; .321, 10 2B, 2 HR, 32 RBI). The Titans were second in the CCIW in offense in 2011 and look like they will be at least that good in 2012.

Trey Martin (pictured) and Justin Zeller both were named preseason All-Americans in 2012. Wheaton (Ill.) athletics photo

Junior All-Region selections Trey Martin (1st team; .362, 11 2B, 8 HR, 36 RBI) and Justin Zeller (2nd team; .355, 10 2B, 9 HR, 43 RBI) will look to help Wheaton (Ill.) to exceed the 20-win mark for the fourth time in the last five years. Zeller, who holds the Thunder career home run and slugging percentage records, looks to surpass the career RBI and runs scored marks in 2012.

North Park graduated its entire starting outfield and all but one infield starter. Ryan Javich, a 2010 first team All-Region pick (.393, 16 2B, 4 HR, 29 RBI) returns to third base following an injury in 2011. All-conference players Eric Sousanes and Brad Medina look to be team leaders and will be in a lineup with potentially one D-I transfer and three JUCO transfers.

North Central lost its 2011 starting outfield to graduation, along with its catcher and second baseman. Three-year starter (2008-10) Steve Hlavac will return to the outfield in 2012 after an injury in 2011. In 2010, Hlavac batted .451, with 10 doubles, two home runs and 19 RBIs.

At Elmhurst, fifth-year senior Zach Hofer returns to the left side of the infield and will also serve as the team’s closer. Hofer and sophomore Dave Wolek (2nd team All-Region; .407, 9 2B, 2 HR, 33 RBI), along with All-Region second base Gold Glove winner Brian Evans will look to lead the Blue Jays.

Coe celebrated a 2011 IIAC title and could make it two in a row. Coe athletics photo

Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC): Coe won the IIAC regular season and went on to take the conference tournament, however, it was the IIAC regular season runner-up, Buena Vista that got the proverbial “last laugh” as the Beavers (Pool C bid) came out of the Central Region to make it to Grand Chute.

Coe has also taken a “hit’ with respect to losing players to graduation but return All-Region First Team player and D3baseball.com Third Team All-American Nick Stein (.374, 15 2B, 8 HR, 51 RBI) along with fellow outfielder Tyler Leadley, a Central Region Gold Glove winner. On the mound the Kohawks return two of their top three starters, including junior Wade Morris (First Team All-Region; 10-3, 2.87 ERA) and Sean Raisch (5-2, 3.91 ERA). The Kohawks' 32 wins in 2011 were the most by any Coe team. Eclipsing that mark this year might just put them into the postseason.

In 2012, Buena Vista is welcoming back only four of nine position players (including the designated hitter), counting All-Region first base Gold Glove award winner Ryan Scheetz (.372, 8 2B, 1 HR, 32 RBI) among the four. Buena Vista has had recent success as it set or tied the school record for wins during the last three seasons. When it comes to pitching, the Beavers have All-Region player James Stone (Third Team; 5-4, 2.51), who will be picking up where Luke Probasco (2011 Central Region First Team) left off with his graduation in 2011. As many as five sophomores could be in starting positions for Buena Vista this season as the Beavers look to return to the D-III World Series for the second time in team history.

Wartburg had the same regular season record as Coe and returns its top three offensive players: Ryan Powers, Andrew Krehbiel and Drew Yoder. While the Knights lost All-Region First-Team pitcher Brad Watson (10-4, 2.07 ERA), they return starters Ryan Doty and Joe Moen, who combined for six wins in 2011. Dubuque is returning every starting player from its near-.500 2011 team, and with this experience looks to compete for their first-ever IIAC crown.

Chris Reynolds returns to Luther for his senior year. The second baseman was a 2011 All-Region First team players (.394, 14 2B, 2 HR, 24 RBI) and will lead the Norse offense. On the mound, All-Region third team pitcher Augie Lindmark, who led the Norse with an ERA of 2.28 will look to increase his win total for a team that is used to winning, having put up at least 24 wins each of the last three years.

At Loras , sophomore Kendall Paluch, a 2nd team All-region pitcher (6-3, 1.20 ERA), will be the ace for the Duhawks who look to break the .500 mark after two sub-.500 seasons in 2010-11.

Mike Nodzenski will be looking to add another Conference Player of the Year award for his trophy shelf in 2012. Grinnell athletics photo

Midwest Conference (MWC): Ripon just nkeeps getting the job done. With their 2011 MWC conference tournament championship, the Red Hawks qualified for postseason play for the 10th time in 14 years. Beloit took the MWC North regular season, besting Ripon by one game, but fell to Ripon in the conference tournament final. Beloit won its only MWC championship, making its first D-III tournament appearance in 2009. The Buccaneers look to take the North again in 2012. In the South, Grinnell dominated, besting second place Monmouth by five games. The Pioneers have made the conference tournament the last three seasons but have not finished on top of the conference.

Beloit has won at least 21 games in each of the last three seasons. On the mound Beloit returns first-team All-Region pitcher Alex Norman (7-2, 2.55 ERA), who led the 2011 staff to the most wins (27) and lowest ERA (4.32) of any MWC team. The Buccaneers return seven starters, led by senior Jordan Jaenicke (third team All-Region; .357, 11 2B, 1 HR, 34 RBI).

Grinnell returns 2011 All-American and 2012 preseason All-American catcher Mike Nodzenski. The senior batted .465 with 11 doubles, 12 home runs and 47 runs batted in in 2011. Also returning is senior second team All-Region player Michael Goldfien (.386, 10 2B, 30 RBI). Nodzenski and Goldfien are two of seven returning starting position players. The Pioneers also return the entire pitching staff of 14.

Ripon will look for another MWC title in 2012 with solid defense behind the All-Region Gold Glove outfielder Taylor Koth. Illinois College returns five starting fielders and seven pitchers that saw significant time in 2011 as the Blueboys look to achieve a second consecutive winning season. At Monmouth, the Fighting Scots last won the MWC championship in 2002. In 2012, they return eight position starters, including Third team All-Region first baseman Ross Donnan (.348, 11 2B, 5 HR, 35 RBI) as they try to reach the MWC summit.

St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC): Webster finished at the top of the SLIAC in 2011 with a 21-3 record, marking its fifth straight SLIAC regular season championship. The Gorlocks also won three SLIAC tournaments during that time. The Webster pitching staff returns in total, being led by senior David Mueller, a 2011 third team All-Region pitcher (6-3, 3.66 ERA). On offense, center fielder Cody Stevenson led the nation in steals (47), being a constant threat to advance on the base paths. In the last three years, Greenville, Fontbonne and Spalding (which joined the SLIAC in 2009) have competed for the SLIAC championship, having finished in the top four each year.

Brandon Rogalski will be the Bear's closer in 2012 as well as their clean-up hitter. Washington (Mo.) athletics photo

Independents: The Maroons of Chicago return six starting position players, including catcher Stephen Williams (.402, 2 2B, 2 HR, 32 RBI), a 2011 All-Region third team player. Jack Cinoman, who led the Maroons for the second consecutive season in hitting (.425, 7 2B, 1 HR, 25 RBI), joined Williams on the All-Region third team. The Maroons have finished with 18 wins the past two seasons and are looking to pass the 20-win mark for the eighth time in team history.

The Washington (Mo.) Bears went 29-17 in 2011 and return four position starters to the 2012 squad, including 2011 first team All-American and 2012 preseason All-American Brandon Rogalski (.438, 20 2B, 6 HR, 60 RBI). While the team will be young, sophomore Kyle Billig and junior Stephen Bonsor return to add more experience. Billig was second team All-Region (.342, 14 2B, 1 HR, 22 RBI) and pitcher Bonser was a third team All-Region selection (6-1, 3.33 ERA).