UIC Billed as League's Baseball Favorite Again
Jan. 31, 2007
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INDIANAPOLIS -- Defending regular-season champion University of Illinois at Chicago is the favorite to finish atop the Horizon League baseball standings for the sixth consecutive year, according to the results of the preseason coaches' poll released by the League office on Wednesday (Jan. 31).
The Flames were the choice of four of the League's six head coaches and topped the poll with 24 points, while 2006 tournament champion Wright State University grabbed the other two first-place votes among its total of 21 points. Regular-season runner-up University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee finished third in the voting with 16 points, followed by Butler University (14 points), Youngstown State University (10) and Cleveland State University (five). Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own squads in the projected standings.
UIC has won each of the last five regular-season League titles, including last year's pennant following a 22-7 loop ledger. The Flames own a composite 79-32 record in League play during the past five seasons, but have won the League Championship only twice in those five years (2003 and 2005).
UIC posted a 35-20 record in 2006, extending its streak of 30-win seasons to seven. To keep that run going in 2007, six-time Coach of the Year Mike Dee will rely on a veteran pitching staff led by senior right-hander Zach Peterson, who won the League's pitching triple crown in 2006---leading the circuit in wins (nine), earned-run average (2.42) and strikeouts (73 in a loop-high 107.2 innings). Left-handers Don Phillis and Joe Skinner each won seven games last year, while junior right-hander Ryan Zink returns after missing last year as a medical redshirt. He was 8-6 with three saves in 2005.
Senior outfielder Larry Gempp Jr. paces the Flames' offense, which lost several key components to graduation. He hit .326 with ten homers and 45 runs batted in last year, while senior catcher Ben Trotter provided a .397 average and 34 RBI in 2006. Shortstop Chad Schroeder was named the League's Newcomer of the Year last spring, batting .319 with 28 RBI as a junior. He started 53 of the team's 55 games, posting a .940 fielding percentage to also receive Second-Team All-League recognition. Senior third baseman Nick Rainwater provided a steady .308 average and nine stolen bases last spring.
No team could match Wright State's run to the 2006 Horizon League championship, as the Raiders outscored their opponents 52-5 in four games to sweep their way into the NCAA Championship. WSU set several tournament records on the way to its second League title, with tourney Most Valuable Player Ross Oeder among 17 letterwinners returning from that team which finished 32-27 overall and 17-13 in League play. Oeder batted .369 with a League-high five triples last season, leading the team in those categories as well as in runs scored (49), hits (79), on-base percetnage (.461) and stolen bases (nine).
This year's Raider group features sophomore first baseman Jeremy Hamilton, who led the team with five home runs while driving in 31 runs in 2006. Sophomore shortstop Justin Parker clubbed four round-trippers, hitting .304 during his debut campaign. Fellow sophomore Dan Biedenharn earned First-Team All-League honors at third base last spring for his .325 average while committing only five errors in 57 games.
UW-Milwaukee finished 32-25 in 2006 but must replace the Player of the Year in outfielder Mike Goetz, who led the nation with a .493 average as a senior last spring. The Panthers are also one of two teams featuring new head coaches as former assistant Scott Doffek takes the reins from Jerry Augustine. Doffek inherits a veteran group of returners, led by senior outfielders Ross McCoy and Rob Brockel. McCoy tied for second place on the League charts with 11 home runs last spring, hitting .316 with a team-best 48 runs batted in. Brockel was only one RBI behind, belting seven homers and finishing with a .325 average.
Sophomore second baseman Jesse Hart scored 46 runs and drove in 39 with a .315 batting average, making him one of seven regulars to finish over .300 in 2006.
A pair of seniors anchor the Panthers' starting rotation, as well, with right-hander Mike Rauwerdink along with southpaw Robert Michalkiewicz. Rauwerdink posted a 3-2 record and 4.08 ERA in League play last season, part of his 4-4 overall ledger in 69 innings of work. Michalkiewicz piched 67 frames last spring.
Butler entered last year's League summit as the fifth seed---winning only four of its last 20 regular-season contests---but reached the championship game as the cap to a 21-36 campaign. Bulldog dugout boss Steve Farley brings five starters back in 2007, led by two Second-Team All-League selections in senior outfielder Tony Barnes and senior catcher Joe Dempsey. Barnes compiled a .293 batting average and .524 slugging percentage in 2006, belting a team-high 11 home runs driving in 48 runs. Dempsey's contributions were evident both at the plate---with ten homers and 35 RBI---and behind the dish, as he threw out half of the 54 runners trying to steal.
Junior right-hander Brian Deter leads the Butler pitching staff, coming off a season which included a 5-7 record and 4.52 earned run average in 80 innings of action. Fellow junior Bryan Bokowy fanned 57 hitters in a team-high 88 innings while fashioning a 3-5 mark and 4.93 ERA a year ago.
Youngstown State posted a 26-29 record in 2006 under coach Mike Florak, with junior catcher Erich Diedrich and junior second baseman Josh Page headlining a group of five returning starters. Diedrich earned a spot on the First-Team All-League squad in 2006, batting .357 with nine homers and ranking second in the League with a school single-season 58 RBI. Diedrich's .557 slugging percentage and .448 on-base rate were also among the League leaders.
Page added a .346 clip and eighth stolen bases, raising his average 94 points from his freshman season by rapping out a team-high 74 hits. He also committed only four errors in 262 chances in the field, bolstering an infield which features a Second-Team All-League honoree in sophomore John Koehnlein, who hit .326 with seven stolen bases as a freshman.
Junior right-hander Ryan Sellman compiled a 6-1 record with six saves and a 2.62 ERA last season, setting a school record with 30 appearances. Junior right-hander Lucas Engle leads the starters after a 4-4 campaign with 72 strikeouts in 99 innings in 2006.
Cleveland State begins the Kevin Kocks era, as the new Viking skipper attempts to bring the CSU program back into the top half of the standings for the first time since 2004. Kocks, who won 469 games in 13 seasons at Spalding University and Bellarmine University, leads a club which attempts to surpass last year's 10-42 showing.
Senior outfielders John Westra and Marc Sikora provide veteran experience for the Vikings. Westra's 2006 totals of 22 RBI and a .296 batting average lead all CSU returners, while Sikora knocked in 18 runs. Senior infielder Rich Ranells and junior infielder Bobby Cash also saw extensive playing time in 2006, with Ranells posting a .290 average and a team-leading seven stolen bases.
Senior southpaw Brandon Hewitt and sophomore right-hander Jeremy Hartman top the Cleveland State pitching staff. Hewitt endured a tough-luck season, pitching 68 innings in 17 appearances but winning only two of his seven decisions. Hartman was 2-3 with three saves in 17 outings, coming out of the bullpen for 15 of those stints. Junior right-hander Nathan Schaefer produced a team-best 54 strikeouts in 69 innings.
Valparaiso University joins the League in 2008, bringing the circuit's baseball membership to seven schools. Valpo makes one last run through the Mid-Continent Conference this spring, hoping to improve upon the 17-34 mark set a year ago. First-year skipper Tracy Woodson, a former Major Leaguer with the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals, will rely on a cast of veterans that includes senior infielder Ryan Manthei and senior catcher Josh Piazza.
Manthei logged a .363 average with 13 doubles, nine homers and 39 RBI last spring, while Piazza was a Second-Team All-Mid-Con selection for his .296 average and defensive efforts which saw him throw out 55 percent of would-be base stealers. Senior left-hander Nick Mazzone was one of the main beneficiaries of Piazza's work behind the plate, posting a 5-4 record and 6.06 ERA.
The Horizon League features a 30-game loop schedule in 2007, with each school playing three-game home-and-away series against each of the other five teams. The League's automatic entry into the 2007 NCAA Championship is on the line May 23-27 when UIC hosts the loop summit at Les Miller Field.
2007 Horizon League Preseason Baseball Poll(first-place votes in parentheses)1. UIC (4) -- 24 points 2. Wright State (2) -- 21 points3. UW-Milwaukee -- 16 points4. Butler -- 14 points5. Youngstown State -- 10 points6. Cleveland State -- 5 points
NOTE: The head coaches vote in this poll. Teams received five points for a first-place vote, four points for a second-place vote, etc. The head coaches were not allowed to vote for their own squads.
2006 Horizon League Standings(with League and overall records)1. UIC -- 22-7, 35-202. UW-Milwaukee-- 18-12, 32-253. Wright State -- 17-13, 32-274. Youngstown State -- 16-13, 26-295. Butler -- 9-21, 21-366. Cleveland State -- 6-22, 10-42
