2009 Baseball Preview

The 2009 Cardinal Stritch University Wolves baseball season comes with a great deal of optimism.  The program enters the season after a strong run that closed out the 2008 season.

After struggling in the earlier part of the last season, the Wolves turned up the heat in the second half of the season to be one of the hotter teams in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC).  In their last 18 games, Stritch put together a record of 12-6 that included wins over Purdue University-North Central, Calumet College St. Joseph, and Trinity Christian.

As a team, the Wolves generated the highest win total since 2003.  The group of young hitters also came through by batting .286 as a team, fourth best in the program’s short 18-year history. 

Entering this season, Stritch loses just four players in Nick Buerger, Blaze Selestow, Rich Galewski, and Peter Lusic due to graduation.  Buerger, the team’s starting shortstop, exits after having led the team in RBI last season with 22.  Selestow added another 19 RBI for the team while drawing 14 walks on the season despite playing with an injured shoulder.  In Galewski, the team loses a left-handed bat off the bench as Galewski had a .415 on base percentage. 

The loss of Lusic will be felt on the pitching staff.  Lusic led the team in starts and was second on the team in ERA and innings pitched.  He also issued just 16 walks in 39 innings of work. 

While the four seniors each played a major role last season, the core group that returns will be bringing back five players that hit .308 or better at the plate, with three of them tallying 16 or more RBI on the season.

The Stritch hurlers also return with a strong group intact that experienced a niche of success last season.  The group of returning pitchers comes back after a season in which the staff recorded the highest strikeout per nine inning ratio in team history and issued the third lowest amount of walks as well.

Here is a position-by-position breakdown of the Wolves:

Catcher
The Wolves return one of the strongest backstop in the conference in catcher Kyle Trewyn (Whitewater, Wis.).  Trewyn registered 175 putouts last season while tallying a .975 fielding percentage.  From the plate, Trewyn brings with him a .283 career batting average while having a .363 on base percentage.

A new backstop joins the roster this year as freshman John Bahm (Justice, Ill.) will throw his name into the hat.  Bahm comes to Stritch after playing four seasons at Argo High School where he was an All-Conference catcher.  Bahm could see steady action behind the plate to help lighten the workload from Trewyn, who started all but one of last season’s games. 

Infield
A bevy of infielders return for the Wolves, but with some familiar faces changing places.  After starting last season as a backup catcher, sophomore Cody Tesch (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) returns this season as a third baseman.  Tesch, who filled in last season at the position for an injured Nick Moraza (Milwaukee, Wis.), did a great job as he had just 10 errors on the season. 

Tesch was also strong from the plate.  Sliding into the lineup as an unconventional leadoff hitter, Tesch registered an on base percentage of .370 while batting .348 from the plate with 10 RBI.

After starting the previous season at third base, the strong-armed Moraza will shift gears to the shortstop position to help solidify the position that was held by Buerger last season.  Moraza had a down year at the plate last season due to a nagging hamstring injury that had him see action in 24 of the Wolves’ games last season.  The senior stormed back in the final weeks to be one of the hottest hitters, register a five-game hitting streak, and help raise his on base percentage to .333.

The Wolves will also have a steady backup added to the mix in newcomer Phil Cook (Milwaukee, Wis.).  Cook joins the Stritch roster after concluding his high school career at Dominican High School where he was first team All-Conference and hit .581 during his senior campaign.

The second base position will be held down by sophomore Austin Sarauer (Campbellsport, Wis.).  Sarauer, who was moved to second at the start of last season, is known for his offensive prowess.  The left-handed hitting Sarauer batted .321 during last season while knocking home 20 RBI.  He also added 75 putouts on the season.

Another player that will see time in the middle of the infield is Austin James (Milwaukee, Wis.).  James comes to Stritch for his junior season after last playing at MATC two seasons ago.  James brings versatility in that he can play several positions and has a high level of baseball awareness.

At the first base position, it doesn’t get much better than junior Micah Thompson (North Prairie, Wis.).  Thompson moved to the position during the early part of last season and has cemented the spot down by making a dig on a tough throw look like second nature.  The junior committed just three errors over at first base while recording a career-high 129 putouts.

The first base position will also be backed up by senior Geoff Standish (New Berlin, Wis.) and freshman Dean Backman (Whitewater, Wis.) as Thompson will also see some innings on the mound.  Standish, a strong hitter, batted .308 last season for the Wolves.

Backman joins the roster in his freshman season after playing at Whitewater High School.  The left-handed Backman was a first team All-Conference selection at first base last season and also brings toughness to the mix after having played five seasons of ice hockey.

Outfield
The outfield defense could see a lot of different looks this season as there is an abundance of talent which should spawn some healthy competition to see who can claim the spots on an everyday basis.

In left field, sophomore Jacob Lark (Germantown, Wis.) returns for his second season and first as a fulltime outfielder.  Lark, originally an infielder, made the shift to outfield as a collegiate and has been steady ever since.  Lark committed just four errors last season in 31 games while batting .339 in only 56 at-bats.

Nick Majeske (Milwaukee, Wis.) could split time in center with sophomore Michael Ploch (Burlington, Wis.) and freshman Jon Roepke (Waukesha, Wis.).  Majeske started off last season solid at the plate, but tapered off into a hitter’s nightmare by the end of the season.  However, the junior continued to battle and was in the top-5 for doubles on the team.

Ploch started 20 games last season while appearing in 30 total games.  The left-handed hitting Ploch was a stalwart defensive player, committing one lone error on the season while making several tough catches at the outfield wall last season.

Roepke, a former player from Waukesha West, was a second team All-Conference selection his junior season and was a part of a team that qualifed for the state tournament. 

All three centerfielders bring strong defensive attributes.  Both have plus speed and strong, accurate arms from the outfield position.

Rightfield, which was manned by Selestow last season, will have a new face in junior transfer Andy Abromaitis (Oak Creek, Wis.).  Abromaitis transferred from MATC where he batted .355 and had 34 RBI from the left side of the plate.

Also potentially seeing some time in the outfield are freshmen Marcus Perleberg (Delafield, Wis.) and John Chengary (Darien, Ill.).  Perleberg played outfield and pitched while at Catholic Memorial High School while Chengary led the Downers Grove South High School team in homeruns and RBI.

Pitching
The pitching staff returns everyone except Lusic to this year’s bunch.  The starting roles will get filled by Jason Calvert (Milwaukee, Wis.), Andy Klein (Cudahy, Wis.) and transfer Tyler Martin (Pekin, Ill.).  Freshman Troy Engibous (Muskego, Wis.) will also figure into the mix for mound time.

The Wolves will also get some crossover starting appearances by reliever Justin Calvert (Milwaukee, Wis.), and position players Standish and Thompson.

Jason Calvert was steady last season in the starting role as the junior posted a 3-4 record in his seven starts and led the team with a 4.47 ERA.  Calvert also struck out a season-high 28 hitters in his second season.  Klein, a southpaw, settled down after some rough starts during his freshman campaign.  The Cudahy native ended up striking out 15 hitters in his final three starts and yielded no more than four earned runs during that span.

Martin joins the starting staff after playing two seasons at Kankakee Community College.  The incoming junior will slide back into a starting role after having served more as a reliever last season for the Cavaliers.  Engibous will be in his first year after pitching at Waukesha West where he had 11 wins and 97 strikeouts his senior year.

Justin Calvert was steady as a reliever last season and steady in his spot starts.  A quick worker, the junior started a career-high five games.  Standish, a power arm, will make some appearances as a starter this season after leading the team in strikeouts with 30 last season. 

The most intriguing crossover comes by way of Micah Thompson.  The Wolves’ first baseman went 3-1 during the winning month of April for Stritch while fanning 15 and walking just one batter.

On the relief front, the Wolves will be covered by a bullpen-by-committee with Brian Hirschinger (Grafton, Wis.), Jeff Zimpel (Green Bay, Wis.), Steve Lenski (Milwaukee, Wis.), Calvert, Standish, Thompson, and freshmen Perleberg, Chengary, and Cook.

Hirschinger enters his junior season after leading the Wolves in saves and striking out a career-best 25 hitters in 24 total innings of work.  Zimpel comes back into the mix after redshirting last season due to an arm injury.  The senior hurler brings back strong work ethic and an outstanding changeup to keep hitters off balance. 

Freshman Steve Lenski joins this mix as a steady reliever.  The side-arm throwing Lenski has shown him to be adept at hitting the strike zone consistently and can chew up a lot of innings.  The three exclusive relievers will team up with the six players to form this year’s bullpen.