CONFERENCE CHAMPS…AGAIN

The golf team led from start-to-finish at the 2009 Midwest Conference Men’s Golf Championships held at Aldeen Golf Course in Rockford, Ill.

The conference title is the fourth in seven years under coach Dave Ragone. The Fighting Scots’ 314-310-319-943, 54-hole total bested runner-up St. Norbert College by eight strokes and was 10 better than 2nd Round challenger Carroll University.

“Not bad,” understated Ragone. “We were very pleased with our 310 on the second day, but I was a little nervous when we came in the last day at 319. We kind of knew three-quarters of the way through the final round we had it…barring any catastrophe.”

Not only did the Scots avoid catastrophe, two Scots – Ryan Harvey and Greg Jones – earned all-conference honors by placing in the top 10. Harvey carded his second straight 77 to place seventh with an 80-77-77-234. Jones’ 80 on the final day was his highest score of the weekend and tied him for ninth with a 79-78-80-237.

“Greg has got to be our MVP for the tournament,” praised Ragone. “He really held it steady all weekend. He was our sixth man and started us off with two straight rounds in the 70s. He and Ryan Harvey played very well – Ryan especially played well the last two days.”

Rodney Clayton placed 11th, just outside an all-conference award. His 84 on the final day was paired with two 77s the first two days to card a 238 total.

Consistency was the name of Ted Starkey’s game. The junior fired three straight rounds of 80 to tie for 12th at 240. Ryan Tapscott rebounded from Friday’s 84 with an 82 on the final day. His 78-84-82-244 placed him 16th. Jake Kilberg began and ended the championship with a pair of 86s. The senior’s 78 on Round 2 helped the Scots increase their 1st Round lead. Kilberg recorded an 86-78-86-250 and finished in a tie for 24th.

“Jake’s 78 was very helpful on the second day,” said Ragone. “I would have liked to have seen him be a little more consistent in his last go ‘round, but that 78 put us is good shape heading into the final round. We were pretty confident going into the last day.”

That confidence was apparent in the Scots’ performance on perhaps the toughest hole they’ve played this year – No. 18 at Aldeen, a 536-yard, par 5 killer with water guarding the entire left side of the fairway. Add in a fairway bunker, forcing a precise second shot, and a three tiered green and the hole is quite difficult.

“We played that hole as well as anyone,” reported Ragone. “On the second day – as a team – I believe we played it at one over. That’s really good.”

Good, too, was the mental preparation the Scots had for the 54-hole championship and it was never more apparent than on the opening day. The tournament start on Thursday was delayed by rain and that threw the entire tournament play into an adjusted Round 1 format.

“Because of the sloppy conditions and the delay, we went to a shotgun start after about a two hour delay,” reported Ragone. “Our guys handled that delay very well mentally. The competition we had prior to that at Western, Panther Creek and on our home course at Gibson Woods, really helped to set us up to handle that.”

The next job for the Scots will be to handle the Ryder and Dye courses at the PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

The Scots’ 11th conference title earned the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Championships in Port St. Lucie. The national tournament will be held May 10th through 15th. This will be the Scots’ second trip to the national field in three years.

“We talked in February about our depth being our strength,” said Ragone. “That really has been the key to our success the last few years.”

Scots Scoop Note – a preview of the National Meet follows later in the Scoop.

A LONG TIME COMING

The men’s tennis team completed arguably the most successful season in more than 70 years with their second-place finish at last weekend’s Midwest Conference Championship.

The runnerup finish was the Fighting Scots’ highest placing since the 1938 team won the conference title under Bobby Woll. The Scots have climbed from eighth in Chad Braun’s inaugural 2004 season to second-place, capturing a pair of fifths, a fourth and a third, in his five years at the helm.

Could Braun be the team’s next Bobby Woll?

“I don’t think they’ll name any stadiums after me,” smiled Braun.

All Braun’s team did was defeat St. Norbert – a team that had edged the Scots 5-4 in early April – to move to the championship match and give now six-time MWC title-holder Grinnell a run for their money.

In Friday’s team competition which determined the placing of the top four teams, the Scots future didn’t look too bright. The Green Knights took a 2-1 lead after the doubles competition and led 4-1 through the first two singles matches.

Yikes! One more Scots loss and it’s into the third-place match we go.

“It was an emotional match,” reported Braun of the eventual 5-4 win. “Each one of those guys came through.”

“Those guys” – Kyle Korb at No. 1, Eric Brandhorst at No. 2, Chris Utterback at No. 4 and No. 6 Ben Morrow – had their work cut out for them. If any one of them faltered, the Scots would lose the match.

“I told them after doubles, we had been down before and came back to win,” said Braun. “I felt we had to sweep 1 through 4. I thought 5 and 6 would give us the most problems.”

Braun was correct, to some degree. Tyler Lampe fell 6-4, 6-0 at No. 5 and when Sam Graf fell in straight sets at No. 2, well, it didn’t look good.

“Tyler and Sam just didn’t have it,” reported Braun. “Ben (Morrow) played a tremendous match to get us going. During his match, I ran over and told Big Red (assistant coach Brian Jordan) to get Chris (Utterback) going because Ben was going to win his match.”

Morrow did win at No. 6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 and Brandhorst had already posted a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 3. That made it 4-3 with St. Norbert still in the lead.

Jordan gathered the remaining players together and concentrated their efforts on getting Utterback energized. Somehow seeing Big Red – who could double as an offensive lineman…in the NFL – as the Energizer bunny is hard to picture, but he got the job done when Utterback took the No. 4 match 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.

As luck would have it, Utterback and Morrow won their matches within minutes of each other, making it a 4-4 match and the Scots’ entire tournament fate hanging on Korb’s outcome at No. 1

Korb had beaten his opponent in straight sets earlier in the month, although the first set took a tie-breaker. The Scots senior was up 5-1 at one point, but dropped 12 straight points to teeter on the verge of a loss.

“He was feeling the pressure,” said Braun. “Everyone was now watching that match and he knew it was all on him. He was serving and down love-30. During the sequence he had missed a fairly easy overhead. At 30-40 he got another lob, a pretty tough overhead, and he banged it for a winner. He won the next two points and we won the match (6-1, 4-6, 6-3).”

Braun, Jordan and the entire team mobbed Korb and began an instantaneous celebration. Jordon actually jumped out of a shoe during the excitement.

Pandemonium!

“I worried a little about a letdown for the next match and the rest of the weekend after an emotional victory like that,” said Braun. “They showed how mentally tough they are. They came back numerous times this season to pull out wins and never let down the entire weekend. That shows a lot about their character.”

After falling 5-1 to Grinnell in the title tilt, the Scots rebounded Saturday when all six players won their opening matches and advanced to the semifinals. Brandhorst and Utterback made it to the championship matches and finished second at No. 3 and 4 singles after falling in straight sets.

“There really was no letdown,” praised Braun. “The guys competed hard all weekend. Eric played extremely well in the finals. I think Chris’ legs finally gave out after all his close matches on Friday.”

The Scots’ 13-10 record isn’t quite as shiny as last years, or the year before, or the 22-8 record posted by the 2006 team, but they DID finish second. Something no other team has done.

That 2006 team placed third at the conference meet and rolled to a school record 22 wins with the likes of Greg Bouslog, Alex Carter, Kevin Kammenjarin, Jared Kunkle and Korb.

“The 2006 team may have had more talent,” claimed Braun. “But this year’s team had a lot of grit. They really overachieved. They definitely got the most out of their ability. Kyle gave us great leadership. We’ll miss him tremendously. Eric had a great senior year. Our freshman class and our sophomores were able to fill right in and handle the adversity quite well. Jared, Kevin and those guys from ‘06 really laid the foundation for this year’s success.”

Now, let’s see if the Scots can turn their solid foundation into a skyscraper in 2010.

LET’S PLAY….FIVE

The baseball team knew going into last weekend’s four-game series with Grinnell that three wins would clinch the Midwest Conference South Division crown.

The Scots DID win three games, but it took three days, 51 innings and five games to do it.

Hey, wait a minute. The math doesn’t add up. If a game is scheduled for nine innings and they played five games…that means they would have only played 45 innings. The Scoop may need to call on math professor Lyle Welch for help on this one.

You may want to sit down for this, it could take a while.

The Scots hosted Grinnell for their regularly scheduled double-header Saturday at Glasgow Field and handled the Pioneers quite easily in a 10-0 game shortened to seven innings via the mercy rule – OK, seven innings, that means the total SHOULD be 43 innings. Wait, there’s more.

Matt Bourne was in total command, surrendering just two hits, setting Grinnell down in order in four of the seven innings and not allowing a runner past second base. Chad Kamm and Terry Davis drove in three runs each as the pair, along with Billy Herrin, picked up three hits each.

Game 2 was a different story…a long story…19 innings long….two days long…and a 5-3 loss.

“We played A LOT of baseball last weekend,” said Roger Sander. “We officially played five games, but because of the extra innings, it was more like six games. The whole weekend was a blur.”

Grinnell touched starter Robbie Hinkle for solo runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings and led 3-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth of Game 2. The Scots rallied when Caleb Ruyle, Brett Peterson and Tom Shaver started the inning with base hits. Herrin’s sac fly drove in Ruyle with Monmouth’s first run. Peterson then scored on an error off the bat of Kamm. Mitch Johnson smacked a single to bring Shaver home with the Scots’ last run of the game…and the day (19 innings and no lights meant the game was suspended in the 18th).

A call to the bullpen in the eighth brought in Zach Myers to relieve Hinkle who had fanned six and allowed just three hits after the fifth. The sophomore delivered and looked like he might get the win when the Scots mounted a serious threat in the ninth. With the bases loaded and one out, Kevin Sashko was ruled out on a controversial interference call, effectively wiping out what would have been the winning run.

“That was a questionable call,” said Sander. “The umpire was the only one who saw it. Without that call, we win in 9 instead of playing 19 innings.”

Myers went on to work six innings of shutout ball and turned the game over to senior Drew Johnson in the 14th. Johnson may have pitched the game of his life, striking out eight in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander worked 4 2/3s on Saturday and was given the ball to begin the resumption of play on Sunday as the venue moved to Grinnell for a double-header that had been postponed twice by weather. Grinnell scored two in the top of the 19th to win as Monmouth went quietly in their half of the inning.

“That was a good baseball game from two pretty good teams,” praised Sander. “We got tremendous pitching and everybody on both sides had their chances and made the plays.”

The research staff is still looking for the NCAA’s longest game and so far, only the Clemson vs. Fordham playoff game of 1988 has been as long. The Scots and Pioneers did set the Division III record by stranding a combined 43 runners – that tied the All-Divisions record.

The game is the longest on record for the Scots, but set only one other record. Davis now holds the record for at-bats in a game (9).

Wow, that was exhausting. Now the Scots and the Pioneers could concentrate on the scheduled twinbill – if they had any pitchers left. Grinnell used nine pitchers in the first two games, Monmouth just four.  File that information away, you will need it later.

Another squeaker in Game 1, an 8-7 Grinnell win. Brian Chandler worked eight strong innings, but Grinnell got a two-run homer in the seventh to overtake the Scots 7-6 lead and take a 2-1 lead in the series. One more Pioneer win and they take the top spot in the division and the Scots get the second seed in the MWC Tournament.

By the way, Grinnell used two pitchers who had already thrown that weekend.  File that information away, you will need it later.

If the Scots wanted to capture their eighth division title in nine years, they would need to win the nightcap and force a one-game playoff.

Fortunately for the Scots, they got nearly seven strong innings from starter Matt Tye who got plenty of offensive support.

Nursing a 7-5 lead in the top of the seventh, reserve catcher Nick Basala blasted a three-run double to left, giving the Scots much-needed insurance runs. Chris Albanese came on in relief in the bottom of the seventh with the Scots ahead 10-7 and shut the Pioneers down the rest of the way, splitting the series and forcing a playoff the following day in Grinnell.

Pitchers used during the weekend’s four games – Grinnell 10, Monmouth 7.

This is where you’ll need the “File that information away.”

The Scots called on Albanese to start the tie-breaking game, after all, he was still probably warm from Sunday.

Both the Scots and Pioneers plated three runs in the first inning. Grinnell took a 4-3 lead in the third and that brought Chris Wolcott out of the bullpen. The sophomore reliever slammed the door on the Pioneers, surrendering just two hits in 4 1/3 innings, allowing only three base runners and twice setting them down in order. 

If Wolcott slammed the door, the Scots offense nailed it shut in the 15-4 win. Three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth gave Monmouth an 8-4 lead, but it was the sixth that was their big inning.

Another double by Basala drove in two runs to start the scoring in the big inning and Davis’ two-run homer threw gas on the fire. Went the dust had settled, the Scots had piled on seven runs in the inning and closed the game out in the seventh via their second mercy-rule win over the Pioneers in five games.

“Chris (Wolcott) got us out of a jam and then our bats took over,” said Sander. “Grinnell has a nice ball club. I told our guys, I felt like we could have won every game. I think they ran out of pitching to some degree, but the way we were swinging the bat Monday, it was simply a case of us hitting the ball hard. We were ready to play.”

Now Sander has to get the Scots ready to play at the MWC Tournament in DePere, Wis. After 51 innings over three days, the two-day conference tournament should seem like a breeze.

Scots Scoop Note – a preview of the MWC Tournament follows later in the Scoop.

IS IT FOOTBALL SEASON ALREADY?

The success of the 2008 football team has resulted in four players being named Division III pre-season All-Americans by Consensus Draft Services.

Quarterback Alex Tanney (Lexington, Ill./Lexington), offensive guard Josh Kotecki (Peru, Ill./LaSalle-Peru), offensive tackle Dan Schwindenhammer (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) and defensive end Anthony Goranson (Bartlett, Ill./Belvidere) were named to the second team. Tanney, Kotecki and Schwindenhammer were named to the D3football.com All-West Region first team last December. Kotecki was eventually named second team All-American last fall by D3football.com.

The Scots recorded an unbeaten regular season and finished 2008 with an 11-1 record while winning their second Midwest Conference title since 2005. The offense’s 46.75 points per game led the nation and they ranked second in turnover margin. This marks the second time during head coach Steve Bell’s 10 years at Monmouth that multiple Scots have been named as pre-season All-Americans.

“This is obviously a great tribute to the accomplishments of last year’s team for our guys to be recognized before the season begins,” said Bell. “All of them are well deserving of this honor and would tell you that it is a team recognition.”

Tanney, one of only two juniors-to-be on the second team’s offensive unit, shattered nearly every MC season passing record. He leads in five categories, including yardage (3,624) and touchdowns (50). He was ranked eighth nationally with a 166.97 efficiency rating. In just two years, Tanney has already set the new career marks for completions (560) and games over 300 yards (14). He is just nine TDs shy of the career mark of 83 touchdown passes set by Rob Purlee from 2000-03.

As members of the offensive line, Kotecki, a 6-foot-1, 245-pounder, and the 6-3, 260-pound Scwhindenhammer, helped Monmouth quarterbacks have enough time to pass for a school-record 3,790 yards while the ground game picked up more than 2,000 yards. The team also scored a school-record 50 touchdowns via the pass and added another 25 rushing TDs. The Scots set or tied 71 team and individual records during the 2008 campaign. The team also had top 10 national rankings in three other offensive categories: fifth in pass efficiency (166.98), seventh in total offense (460.58 ypg) and eighth in passing offense (315.83 ypg).

Goranson, a 6-5, 240-pound defensive end, was ranked 11th nationally with 12 sacks and his 21 tackles for loss ranked 19th. Monmouth’s defensive unit yielded just over 100 rushing yards per game and held opponents to a mere 31 percent on third down conversions. The Scots were ranked second in the nation in turnover margin, averaging nearly two interceptions per game to go with 15 fumble recoveries.

Kotecki, Schwindenhammer and Goranson will be seniors this fall. Monmouth opens the season Sept. 5 at home against Loras College.

IT’S GETTING TO BE A HABIT

For the second time in three years, men’s golf coach Dave Ragone will take his team to the NCAA Division III National Championships.

The Fighting Scots qualified for the national championships by winning last weekend’s Midwest Conference Championship. Monmouth will represent the league at the 72-hole tournament to be held May 10-15 in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The tournament features a pro-style format with the opening 36 holes determining the cut for the final two rounds. The 36-team field will be pared to 23 teams and five individuals not part of the teams making the final cut after Monday and Tuesday’s rounds have been completed. Scores will carry over for the final 36 holes Thursday and Friday.

None of the five golfers making the trip – senior Greg Jones (Roseville, Ill./Roseville); juniors Ryan Harvey (Hennepin, Ill./Putnam County), Ryan Tapscott (Port Byron, Ill./Riverdale) and Ted Starkey (Springfield, Ill.); and sophomore Rodney Clayton (Plano, Ill./Plano) – were on the national team when the Scots qualified in 2007.

“The good news is we have all underclassmen in this group with the exception of Greg,” said Ragone. “We were just happy to be there in ’07. We ‘participated’ that year. This year, we’re there to COMPETE. Our No. 1 goal is to make the final cut.”

Teams will play two different courses over the first two rounds at the PGA Village in Port St. Lucie. The Ryder Course – named for Samuel Ryder, founder of the Ryder Cup – is similar to the Scots’ home course at Gibson Woods Golf Course. Rolling hills and plenty of timber, along with abundant bunkers and just enough water hazards, could seem familiar to the Scots, who practice under similar conditions daily.

While the Ryder Course may feel a bit like home, the Dye Course is just the opposite. The links-style course incorporates Florida’s natural surroundings with waste and grass bunkers. Pine straw roughs will challenge those unfortunate enough to miss the fairway. The course meanders around wetlands and features elements of the older British Isle courses.

“We expect the courses to play at around 7,000 yards,” reported Ragone. “That’s a little longer than we’ve played this year, so we’re working this week more on our long-iron approaches and driver accuracy.”

The Scots have been on a roll heading into the post season. Harvey has shot in the 70s in eight of his last nine rounds and Jones – with a season average of just over 80 – has averaged just a shade over 79 for his last nine outings. The rest of Ragone’s group is carrying season averages in the 70s heading into Florida. Since April 10, Monmouth’s team score has averaged 309.8. That would have placed them sixth in 2007, the last time they were in the field.

Monmouth’s best team finish on the national stage came with 10th-place finishes in both 1975 and 1978. Ironically, the 1975 team’s score – 943 – was the same score the 2009 edition shot to win the conference title and earn their berth in the championships.

Ragone and Co. may be hoping history could repeat itself.

THE CHALLENGE

No team other than Monmouth College has won the Midwest Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship since 2001 on the men’s side and since 2005 on the women’s.

This weekend, the Fighting Scots will be in defense of their titles at the MWC meet hosted by Carroll University in Waukesha, Wis., but it won’t be easy. Monmouth is expected to be seriously challenged for both the men’s and women’s titles.

“Carroll and St. Norbert look like they could be among the contenders,” reported Roger Haynes of the women’s competition. “The women’s meet should be closer than it was indoors simply because of the outdoor events. It’s a different type of meet and Carroll has good numbers.”

Ironically, Carroll was the spoiler for the men in 1999 and 2000, breaking the Scots’ string of four consecutive crowns. The Pioneers were also the team that ended Monmouth’s women’s streak of four straight in 2004.

Monmouth’s women should be able to throw some points on the board, literally. Senior thrower Tanesha Hughes is the defending league champion the discus, shot put and hammer throw. She leads a trio of Scots in the top three in the discus. Her NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 164’6” is more than 20’ farther than teammates Gloria Lehr – ranked second – and third-ranked Allison Renfro.

Hughes’ hammer throw of 151’8” leads the MWC as Monmouth holds five of the top six spots. Amanda Streeter is ranked third, followed by Lehr, Maureen Dewan and Renfro. Hughes is just a foot back of the shot put leader – Heidi Baerenwald of Ripon, who threw the shot 45’7-3/4”. The Scots also have strength in numbers in that event, claiming five of the top seven throws with Lehr and Streeter ranked 3-4 and Renfro and Dewan 6-7.

Senior hurdler/sprinter Shannon Turczyn joins Hughes as Monmouth’s only other returning women’s champion. Turczyn will shoot for the clean sweep in the sprint hurdles. The speedster was undefeated in the conference’s indoor 55-meter hurdles and has won the outdoor titles her three previous years. She has the conference’s top time by more than a second heading into the final conference meet of her career.

Monmouth’s other top seeded performers are Mary Kate Beyer in the steeplechase, Megan McKenna in the triple jump and the 4x100 relay team. Beyer logged the season’s fastest time of 11:01.94 last week, but there are four other runners within a minute of the Scots’ record-holder.

Meanwhile, McKenna leads the triple jump by 7” and teammate Jae Moore could gain points as the fifth-seed. The Scots’ 4x100 relay has a narrow lead on Carroll for the top seed. Monmouth’s best time of 49.53 is just .04 faster than the Pioneers.

Moore, Turczyn and Brittany Lowdermilk are in position to make some noise in the 100-meter dash. The trio is ranked in the top 10 and Moore is less than a half-second off the leader. Moore and Turczyn are also within a second of top-seeded Katie Miller of Illinois College in the 200. 

Katie Vaccarello and Turczyn could also challenge for the title in the 400-meter hurdles. Illinois College’s Candice Norville is the leader of the pack, running a season-best 1:07.25, but only .11 separates the top time from Vaccarello in third and Turczyn seeded fourth.

The Scots are also within striking distance in two more events. Heather Hull’s season-best in the high jump trails top-seed Madeline Steininger of Lawrence by just three-quarters of an inch. In the 800, Lindsie Pettie’s 2:21.85 is less than 10 seconds off the top pace and Katie Staab sits less than 14 seconds back.

As close as the women’s competition is, the men’s side will be even tougher for the Scots to defend.

“I think there are four teams capable on the men’s side,” said Haynes. “It’s going to be much closer than it has been in a number of years. Grinnell, Illinois College and Carroll have all improved. It may be a matter of who affects who. It should be four teams all pretty close, probably within 15-20 points of each other.”

Just one defending champion returns for the Scots – javelin thrower Dan Higgins. The senior is seeded second, a little more than four feet behind William Stewart of Grinnell.

While Monmouth returns only one men’s champion, the Scots do have seven top seeds led by Logan Hohl, who has the top time in both hurdle events. The sophomore leads the 400-meter hurdles by three seconds and in his marquee event – the 100-meter hurdles – his time of 14.80 is .17 faster than Justin Troeller of Carroll.

Geoff Bird has logged the MWC’s best time in the 10K, but will be pushed by four runners within a minute of his season best. Another five runners are within two minutes.

The Scots are second in both relays behind Carroll. Monmouth is less than a second behind the Pioneers in the 4x100 and the 4x400. The two teams lead the rest of the 4x400 field by 10 seconds.

Like the women, the men will have strength in the field events, where Peyton Lumzy has recorded the top marks in both the shot put and discus. His immediate challenger in the shot is teammate Sam Cokinos, who is less than 7” off Lumzy’s mark of 49’11”. Freshman Paul Terpening could also gain points with the eighth-best throw in the league. Lumzy leads in the discus by 5’ over Ripon’s Kyle Roy. Cokinos is in scoring position, seeded fifth.

Tyler Hannam and Sean Wells are sitting atop the seeds in two jumps. Hannam’s 6’8” mark in the high jump leads the field by 2”. Wells is seeded third and John Gambrel and Matt Hassler are 5-6. Wells also has the top triple jump, but has two jumpers – Dona Lado of Carroll and IC’s Joe Simmons – within 8”. Nick Wright and Michael Blodgett are seeded 6-7.

The Scots should find strength in numbers in the sprints. Monmouth has four of the top five times in the 400. St. Norbert’s Dan Schneider has the top time at 47.71, but then it’s all Scots. Shane Reschke, Jacob Stott, Hohl and Ryan Hardman are all within three seconds of the leader. Monmouth has a similar situation in the 200, with five of the top 10 times. Saidu Sesay leads that pack with the MWC’s fourth-best time. Kyle Prout and Aaron Daverin are 6-7 and Reschke and Hardman are 9-10.

Damon Bautista could challenge in both the 800 and 1500. The senior is seeded third in the 800, less than a second back of top seeded Kyle Lynch-Klarup of Grinnell. He’s a bit farther back in the 1500 – seventh – but is within six seconds of the leader, Grinnell’s Thomas Jamieson.

With the Scots’ championships seriously challenged, what plan has Haynes drawn up? It’s surprisingly simple.

“I told them last week what I always tell them,” said Haynes. “We just have to go in and worry about the quality of our entries and not worry about head-to-head matchups. We just have to be solid in every entry and every event.”

RESTED FOR THE TOURNAMENT? WELL…

After playing 51 innings in three days last weekend, the baseball team might not be well-rested, but they should have plenty of confidence heading into this weekend’s Midwest Conference Tournament in De Pere, Wis.

On Monday, the Fighting Scots won a one-game playoff with Grinnell in convincing fashion to capture their eighth South Division championship in nine years. The 15-4 win came after the Scots and Pioneers split a four-game series over the weekend to tie for the division lead.

To determine one of its qualifiers, the North Division also required a one-game playoff. St. Norbert had won the division title, but Beloit and Ripon tied for the final berth after the weekend’s games. The Buccaneers knocked the Red Hawks out of the picture with a 4-3 win, marking the first time since 1995 that Ripon has not been in the league tournament.

Monmouth will meet Beloit, the second place team in the North, and Grinnell will battle North champion St. Norbert in the first round Friday morning. At 15-15, the Scots are the only team in the tournament field with fewer than 20 wins, but don’t tell MC coach Roger Sander that means anything.

“We could easily have 20 wins,” said Sander of his team that lost eight games by two runs or less. “There were a lot of games that we just gave away. It’s all about winning series. We won what turned out to be a five-game series last weekend with Grinnell. Now, we’re in another series. This time it’s win or go home.”

The Scots proved last weekend they have plenty of pitching to go around. They’ve primarily ridden the arms of senior lefty Matt Bourne and sophomore right-hander Robbie Hinkle, who each sport ERAs under 3.00. They’ve also gotten solid performances from do-it-all pitcher Brian Chandler, who Sander has used as a starter, in long and middle relief and as a closer, and a bullpen of six other capable pitchers. Together, the staff has an ERA of 4.46.

Offensively, the Scots banged out 18 hits – seven for extra bases –and man-handled their way to the South title in Monday’s one-game playoff. Chaz Baggio saw his batting average skyrocket to a team-leading .452 during the crucial weekend. Baggio overtook freshman Chad Kamm, who sports a .443 average and led the team in that category for much of the season.

The Scots’ lofty averages will be put to the test early. Beloit has the league’s lowest team ERA at 4.44, just ahead of the Scots’ mark. The Bucs’ Jordan DeGeorge leads their staff with a 2.68 ERA and No. 2 starter Rick Krajewski is among eight pitchers with ERAs between 4.35 and 5.96.

Beloit packs some punch with its bats, too. Eight of the Bucs’ regulars are hitting .300 or better, led by third baseman Mike Kovach’s .479 average. The fleet-footed Kovach also leads the league with 31 stolen bases in 32 games.

“I don’t know much about Beloit other than they got off to a really good start,” said Sander. “You don’t win 20-some games with smoke and mirrors, so they’ve got a good ball club.”

Another good club is St. Norbert. The Green Knights don’t lead the MWC in any offensive categories, but they have been good enough to roll to a 21-11 record and take the North title.

Like the rest of the field, it begins with pitching for the Green Knights. As a club, they lead the league holding opponents to a .269 batting average. Their staff ERA of 4.75 is just behind Grinnell’s 4.61 mark, meaning the top four teams in terms of ERA are represented at the tourney.

Outfielder Jared Yost paces St. Norbert with a .473 average, good for second in the Midwest Conference. Shortstop Tony Jandron has supplied nearly half of the Green Knights’ 13 home runs.

The Scots know the tournament’s other team – Grinnell – quite well after the marathon weekend. Outfielder Paden Roder is the Pioneer’s top hitter in terms of average and power. Roder is hitting at a .378 clip with a team-high six homers and a .622 slugging percentage. Like the Scots, the Pioneers have two on the mound with ERAs below 3.00. Ryan Harris and Gary Kahn have notched nine of Grinnell’s wins, but the Pioneers have spread the wealth around with seven pitchers throwing more than 20 innings.

“There are some good pitchers out there,” said Sander of the championship field. “We’ve got some good ones, too. I’ll put my staff up against anybody’s. We can go four-, five-, even six-deep with our starters.

“As a team – hitting and fielding – we’ve been really, really good, and we’ve been not so good,” he continued. “We had a good weekend and now we’re back on top.”

Sander is hoping his team is on top after this weekend, too. He’s just hoping it doesn’t take another 51 innings and three days.

PICKING UP THE PIECES

Softball coach John Goddard has part of the puzzle figured out, but unlike a jigsaw puzzle, he’s quickly solved the beginning of the puzzle, but the end has been difficult.

Goddard took the Scots to their first Midwest Conference tournament since 2004, last season and they returned to the tourney this season. The problem is, they duplicated last year’s two-and-out performance, falling to Ripon 7-6 in 10 innings and were eliminated by Lake Forest in a slugfest 17-8.

“We knew we’d be in a slugfest with Lake Forest,” said Goddard. “Unfortunately, they did most of the slugging.”

That was certainly not the case in the first round loss to Ripon. The Red Hawks had narrowly defeated the Scots 4-3 three weeks ago when freshman pitcher Ellissa Sexton held Ripon in check through six innings. A seventh inning error in that game allowed the Red Hawks to pull out what Goddard at the time called a “classic” game.

The game this time around pitted last year’s two Pitchers of the Year, Andrea Knorr of Ripon and the Scots’ Sarah Christensen, in a one-on-one battle. Trailing 4-0 in the top of the fifth, Monmouth mounted a comeback and knocked Knorr out of the game thanks to a pair of runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh to tie the game at 4-4.

The Scots broke through against reliever Brittnee Peotter in the ninth when Maggie Dort drew a leadoff walk and Ashley Parer and Lauren Bergstresser singled. Bases loaded and nobody out. Does anyone smell a big inning?

Not so fast.

After a pop up on the infield and a called third strike, it’s not looking good.

Morgan Seiler – who was hitless to this point in four at-bats – stroked a two-run single, giving the Scots a 6-4 lead with their ace still in the circle. But, don’t pop the cork just yet.

Ripon countered with three hits in their first four at-bats and one run in the bottom of the frame, knocking Christensen out of the game. Enter Sexton. This time, Ripon punched across one more run to force the game into the 10th.

The Scots fell when Ripon used three hits and a Monmouth error to score the winning run in the 10th.

“We had opportunities to win,” said Goddard. “As much as that first game with them was a classic, this was even more classic. Sarah went eight innings and that was longer than she’s had to go all year. Ripon just found the holes in the extra innings.”

While the Ripon game could be called a classic, the Lake Forest game could be called Slow Pitch. The two teams combined for 31 hits – six for extra bases – and 25 runs. It marked the second straight year the Foresters have knocked the Scots out of the post-season, but Goddard isn’t having a pity party, after all, their 17 wins is the most since 2003 when the Scots won the division and finished second in the MWC tournament.

“We had a pretty good year,” reported Goddard. “We didn’t accomplish what we had set out to do, but we beat some very good teams along the way.”

One of those teams – Illinois Wesleyan – has been nationally ranked most of the season and has just four losses – one to the Scots – on the year. How about this for irony – IWU will host an NCAA Regional this week. Their first round opponent? Midwest Conference champion St. Norbert.

Meanwhile, back to the future.

The Scots lose five seniors: Christensen and outfielder Parer along with pitchers Amanda Murdock and Ashley Tocha and outfielder Maggie Scudella. They return the entire starting infield, two-thirds of the starting outfield and two pitchers.

“We’ve got a very solid foundation coming back,” claimed Goddard. “Our seniors played important roles for us this year. Even if they didn’t start, they added value to our roster and were a large reason why we were so successful. We had a relatively young lineup that at times scored a lot of runs, but sometimes we suffered because of our youth.”

Those youthful players led the team in a few offensive categories. Bergstresser, a freshman, hit at a .391 clip with a school-record 24 steals and another freshman, Seiler,  hit .361 with a team-high 25 RBIs. The squad’s 11 home runs were the most since 2003.

Let’s not forget the pitching department. Sexton set the team standard with three saves and Megan Butler displayed a bulldog-like mentality when she took the circle.

Next season those young players return as veterans and Goddard is hoping that year’s worth of experience mixed with some new recruiting pieces translates into solving the post-season puzzle.

RUNNING TO THE END

The track team tuned up for this weekend’s Midwest Conference meet by competing at last weekend’s Indiana Pacesetter Invitational at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind.

The non-scored meet, which included Division I schools, was the last opportunity for the Scots to improve their seeds for this weekend’s MWC Championships. Numerous Scots women improved their performances for the conference meet – and set a record to boot.

“Overall, we were OK,” reported Roger Haynes. “We had some excellent performances in the women’s sprints, middle distances and the steeplechase.”

“Excellent” might be an understatement in the steeplechase where sophomore distance specialist Mary Kate Beyer not only improved her time, she also broke her own school record and clocked a provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Beyer finished second with a time of 11:01.94, just 12 seconds out of first. The time moved her to the top spot in the MWC and ranks her in the top 20 nationally.

“Mary Kate has done extremely well in that event,” said Haynes. “Her hurdling has improved quite a bit and that has as much to do with her performance as anything.”

Senior hurdler Shannon Turczyn shaved time off her provisional qualifying mark in the 100-meter hurdles. Her third-place time of 14.46 ranks her eighth nationally. She also placed seventh in the long jump with a mark of 16’3-1/4”.

Jae Moore led a 6-7-8 finish by the Scots in the 200-dash. Moore finished in 26.39, Turczyn was seventh and Brittany Lowdermilk was eighth, within three-tenths of Moore. Moore and Lowdermilk finished seventh and eighth in the 100 with Moore running a 12.71 and Lowdemilk a 12.97.

“Shannon, Jae and Brittany were good overall,” praised Haynes. “They all improved in the 200 and Shannon was better in the hurdles.”

Katey Vaccarello joined Moore, Turczyn and Lowdermilk on the 4x100 relay. The team placed fourth with a time of 50.05.

Heather Hull cleared 5’1” to finish fourth in the high jump. A 4’11” performance by Sarah Stinson tied her for eighth.

Amanda Streeter recorded a personal-best in the hammer throw. Her heave of 147’7” ranks her second in the conference. Gloria Lehr and Hull had career-best performances in the javelin where Lehr took third with a throw of 122’2” to move into second in the MWC standings and Hull was fifth at 110’5”. Brittany McCline was sixth at 109’11”. Lehr also took sixth in the shot put with a mark of 42’1-1/2”. She was seventh in the discus at 130’11”, just behind Allison Renfro in sixth with a throw of 131’3”.

“Alison had a good improvement in the discus,” said Haynes. “She was very near the provisional mark, so she can do a little better.”

Other personal-bests came from Katie Staab and Lindsie Pettie. Staab just missed a school record in the 1500 by clocking a 4:51.94 to place 10th. Her time was less than a second off the school record set by Tiffanie York in 2005. Pettie ran a personal-best in the 800. She placed 12th with a time of 2:21.85. Both moved to third in the conference in their respective events.

“Lindsie has that kind of foot speed in the 400,” said Haynes. “We’re still trying to decide whether to run her in the 400 or the 800 at conference. That’s a good problem to have.”

The men’s long jumpers put four in the top eight. Michael Blodgett soared 21’1-1/4” to place fourth. Nick Law was fifth at 20’6-1/2” and Nick Wright placed sixth just 2-1/2” back. Matt Hassler’s jump of 19’0-1/2” placed him eighth.

Sean Wells took fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 43’8”. Blodgett was seventh at 42’0-3/4”. Tyler Hannam and Wells each cleared 6’2-3/4” in the high jump where Hannam was seventh and Wells eighth.

Saidu Sesay had a pair of top eight finishes in the sprints. He turned in a 22.38 in the 200 for seventh and was eighth in the 100 with a time of 11.16. Jacob Stott and Ryan Hardman were 7-8 in the 400. Stott ran a 50 flat and Hardman clocked a 50.61.

Monmouth turned in solid performances in the distance events where Jon Welty and Alan Rosiquez were 4-5 in the steeplechase. Welty turned in a time of 10:36.85 and Rosiquez clocked an 11:29.73. Damon Bautista improved his conference standing in the 800 after running to a seventh-place finish. His clocking of 1:57.64 moves him within a half-second of the league’s top time.

“Damon was pretty good in the 800,” said Haynes. “Patrick Mundschenk (2:01.62) should have improved his standing for the conference meet.”

The 4x100 relay team of Shane Reschke, Aaron Daverin, Kyle Prout and Sesay also improved their conference seed time and placed third in 42.49. Reschke, Hardman, Stott and Mundschenk formed the “A” team in the 4x400 and finished third with a time of 3:19.54. Bautista, Daverin, Sesay and Logan Weir ran on the “B” team finishing fifth after clocking at 3:27.76.

Blodgett had the men’s highest finish in the throws. He placed fourth in the javelin with a mark of 163’5”. Sam Cokinos recorded a shot put mark of 49’4-1/2” to place him fifth. In the discus, Peyton Lumzy improved his conference-leading mark by throwing the disc 147’7”. His effort placed him sixth.

The Scots travel to Waukesha, Wis., this weekend for the Midwest Conference Outdoor Championships where the men are the eight-time defending champions and the women have won four straight.

CONFERENCE HONORS

Distance runner Mary Kate Beyer (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) had a busy weekend, setting a school record, provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships and earning the latest Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honor in women’s track.

Beyer has been re-writing the Monmouth College record book this season and last week was no exception. Competing at last weekend’s Indiana Pacesetter Invitational which included Division I schools, the distance specialist placed second in the steeplechase. Her time of 11:01.94 broke her own school record and improved her prior provisional qualifying time for the event. Her performance moved her to the top of the Midwest Conference standings and into the top 20 nationally.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Fri., May 8
Baseball – vs. Beloit at MWC Tournament, Westwood Park, DePere, Wis., 10:00 am
Baseball – 2nd Rd. at MWC Tournament, Mel Nicks Field, DePere, Wis., TBA
Track & Field – at MWC Championships, Waukesha, Wis., 11:00 am 

Sat., May 9
Baseball – at MWC Tournament, Mel Nicks Field, DePere, Wis., TBA
Track & Field – at MWC Championships, Waukesha, Wis., 11:00 am 

Wed., May 13
Track & Field – at Central Qualifier, 2:00 pm 

SCOTSIVATIONAL

“You can’t help EVERYONE EVERY time, but you can help SOMEONE SOME TIME.” – Filipe from Biggest Loser