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New-look Scots still have the look
of a No. 1 team
Release Date: February 28, 2006
MONMOUTH, Ill. — You can think, if
you want, that the Fighting Scots baseball team – a 24-9 juggernaut
last season – might be vulnerable this spring after graduating a
senior class that combined for 12 All-Midwest Conference selections
during its time together on the Monmouth College diamond.
Opponents can think, if they like, that key losses to injury and
early departures will mean the Scots will have trouble duplicating
accomplishments such as an 11-1 record at Glasgow Field and an 11-1,
first-place mark in the MWC South.
But if you think the Scots aren’t favorites to win the South again
and host the MWC Championships, think again.
“We have a lot of depth,” said MC coach Roger Sander, who has won or
shared the last five South Division Coach of the Year honors. “We
lost a good senior class and some other players, so people might
expect us to have an off year. But our depth is good, and we don't
plan on being caught.”
It’s true that seniors Alan Betourne, Steve Turner, Thad King and
Tristan Reimolds, along with southpaw sensation Brian Schutzbach,
won’t be back this year after all five earned all-conference honors
last spring.
But the cupboard is far from bare. In fact, the dugout is darn near
overflowing with a total of 49 players, who are basically split
between freshmen and the other three classes. The veteran group
includes nine seniors, including a trio of players with
all-conference credentials of their own.
That group includes center fielder Jason Salmon (.368, 13 steals),
right fielder Matt Gordon (.242, 16 RBI) and starting pitcher Dan
Dunn (8-2, 1.66 ERA, 62 strikeouts in 70.1 innings).
“Jason’s one of the sparks our team,” said Sander of his leadoff
hitter, whose career average through three years is .367. “Matt’s
coming off a down year, but I look for him to rebound and even
exceed the numbers he put up as a sophomore (.369, 3 HR, 29 RBI).”
The other six seniors are catcher Josh Ragar (.247, 1.000 fielding
percentage in 23 starts), first base candidate Josh Hall (.288, 13
RBI), reserves Kyle Gibbs and Trent Jordan and starting pitchers
Kevin Meinhart (2-1, 3.54) and Matt Engelhardt (2-0, 4.58).
As evidenced by his perfect fielding mark, Ragar is solid and
displays the type of leadership one would expect from a catcher and
from a senior. His primary backups are freshmen Ryan Schwartz
(Palatine) and Mark Allemang (Rochelle).
Hall, who has also seen action behind the plate in his MC career,
figures to be in the Scots’ lineup somewhere this spring, whether
it’s at first base, designated hitter or spelling Ragar.
“He’s a gritty player, and I look for him to have a great senior
year,” said Sander.
Gibbs and Jordan are both classified as good-fielding middle
infielders who are in the hunt for the starting job at second base.
If they lose that postion battle, both could still see late-inning
action as defensive replacements or, in Jordan’s case, as a
pinch-runner.
Other competitors at second are sophomore Nate Palkovic – a “great
athlete” who was a record-breaking place kicker for the football
team – classmate Jake Gustafson and freshman B.J. Luxmore
(Sherrard). Jacob Bice and Palkovic are competing with Hall to start
at first.
“Jake can flat out hit,” said Sander of Bice. “He hits line drives,
hits the ball hard.”
While Sander acknowledges position battles on the right side, the
left side could very well be the strength of what he thinks is a
potent lineup.
Sophomore third baseman Ryan Stubler was named the South Division
Player of the Year after hitting .380 and knocking in a team-high 30
runs last spring. Making his high run-producing total even more
impressive was that Stubler was not a regular for the first third of
the season.
Instead, classmate Ryan Priola was the early starter at third.
Before being sidelined with illness, he also had a nice rookie year,
hitting .333 with two homers and 11 RBI. Priola will now slide over
to shortstop, giving Sander a left side – and a pairing of No. 3 and
4 hitters – that could be together for the next three seasons.
“They’re good baseball players, and they’ve got to be in the lineup
somewhere,” said Sander. “Both are highly competitive, and they
really pushed each other last year.”
“This will be a different Monmouth team than you’ve seen. It’s not
going to be get a guy on, bunt a guy over, have two shots to drive
him in,” added Sander. “We’re going to string together hits and have
some multiple-run innings. This reminds me a lot of our teams from
the late 1980s. I’m not saying we’re going to lead the nation in
hitting like the 1988 team did, but these guys get up and hack.”
Sander says he’s already warned himself to accept that as his team’s
average rises, so might its GDPs. “We hit the ball hard. Sometimes
those shots are going to be right at infielders and we'll hit into
double plays.”
The battle to join Salmon and Gordon in the outfield is still being
contested and includes sophomore Matt McIntire, a quality hitter and
strong defensive player, and freshman Andrew Ogata (St. Charles
East), called a “pure hitter” by Sander. It would have included
talented Jeremy Kafka, but he will be lost for the season after an
emergency appendectomy.
Monmouth swept seven doubleheaders last season, and as Sander points
out, a team can’t win both games unless it wins the first one.
Winning Game One was usually Dunn’s job last year, and he delivered
with a season that would have grabbed major headlines had it not
been for Schutzbach’s no-hitter and high strikeout totals.
“Dan had a quality year,” said Sander. “Dan's always been a No. 1
pitcher. We really had 1A and 1B last year. I expect a monster year
out of him.”
The first pitcher who will be given a shot to win the nightcaps is
Meinhart. One of his victories last spring came against a Wartburg
team that went on to finish fourth in the nation.
Sander’s roster lists no fewer than 19 pitchers, and the team’s
12-game trip to Florida March 4-10 will allow him to give many of
those arms a shot in intercollegiate competition. Others who might
follow Dunn, Meinhart and Englehardt to the mound include sophomores
Marc Garza and Nate McCaherty and freshmen Nick Allegretti (Marmion
Academy), Brian Chandler (Athens), Matt Douglas (Batavia), Drew
Johnson (United), Chris Schwarz (Moline) and Matt Tye (Mundelein).
“I really like the arms of the freshmen,” said Sander. “They’ve got
some live arms.”
Waiting in the wings is Scottie Coles (1-0, 0.84), who only allowed
an earned run in one of his six appearances last season.
Unfortunately, that came in a 5-3 loss to Ripon at the MWC
Championships that cut a very successful Fighting Scots season short
of its goal.
This year, the playoffs return to the home field of the South
Division champ, and Sander hopes that translates into a title as it
did in 2002.
“The Midwest Conference has improved, and anybody can beat anybody,”
said Sander. “But we're the team to beat.”
The faces may have changed from recent seasons, but that's a
statement that’s familiar, and it could very well ring true again in
2006.
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