2012 UMAC Baseball Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. 49 Points - College of St. Scholastica (7 First Place Votes)
2. 43 Points - Bethany Lutheran College (1)
3. 36 Points - Northwestern College
4. 28 Points - Presentation College
5. 26 Points - University of Minnesota Morris
6. 19 Points - Northland College
7. 16 Points - Martin Luther College
8. 7 Points - Crown College
ST. PAUL -- Winner of every UMAC regular season championship since 1997, the College of St. Scholastica is yet again the unanimous favorite to win the league again in 2012 according to a poll of the league’s coaches.
1. College of St. Scholastica Saints
2011 Overall Record: 37-7
2011 UMAC Record: 20-1
2011 UMAC Finish: 1st
Starters Returning: 9
Starters Lost: 6
The Saints are coming off their second NCAA Regional Tournament final appearance in the last four years and will be looking to climb over the hump in 2012, but they will have to get through the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference first. St. Scholastica, who has won 15 straight UMAC regular season titles and 14 consecutive tournament titles, gained the conference’s first automatic qualifier last season by defeating Bethany Lutheran in the UMAC Tournament Championship. High expectations have been put on the Saints this season nationally as they have their highest preseason-ranking in the D3baseball.com poll at No. 14 and have been picked by D3baseball.com to come out of the Midwest Regional. The Saints return 2011 UMAC Player of the Year and second team All-Midwest Region catcher Kyle Moody. Another second team all-region choice, first baseman Brandon Peterson is also back as is third team all-region selection Kyle Flagstad. Question marks leading into the season include who will replace graduated senior Matt Lewis, who led the pitching staff last season. Returners Kyle Jensen and Andy Davis came up big in the regional tournament last season and both will look to carry that experience with them into this year.
2. Bethany Lutheran College Vikings
2011 Overall Record: 27-10
2011 UMAC Record: 18-2
2011 UMAC Finish: 2nd
Starters Returning: 7
Starters Lost: 7
The Vikings from Bethany Lutheran posted their best conference season in school history last year with an 18-2 record. While taking second in both the UMAC regular season and conference tournament, BLC finished 2011 ranked sixth in the region. The Vikings will miss a few key components from the roster last year in all-region and all-conference players in pitchers Cody Hallahan and Justin Kohls and infielder Darin Hendley. Outfielder Zach Herd will also be missed as Bethany’s leadoff hitter who batted .414 throughout the season. Despite the upperclassmen who left, Bethany Lutheran has two UMAC All-Conference Honorable Mentions in Aaron Siefken and Casey Woodside and the UMAC Rookie of the Year in Dylan Gass returning. Siefken recorded a .308 batting average with 33 hits, 23 RBI and a 4.35 ERA in 60 innings pitched. Woodside had a .344 batting average with 42 hits, leading the team in doubles and total bases to go with a .989 fielding percentage as the team’s catcher. Gass also had a .344 batting average. Tommy Kramer, Travis Fisher and Garrett Benson are also key starters last year who are returning.
3. Northwestern College Eagles
2011 Overall Record: 14-25
2011 UMAC Record: 10-10
2011 UMAC Finish: 4th
Starters Returning: 11
Starters Lost: 4
After a 10-10 conference record and a fourth place finish in the UMAC standings in 2011, Northwestern will look to move up the ladder this season. The Eagles lost just four starters and return their top five pitchers from a year ago, so the foundation is ready to be built upon in 2012. Despite losing the bat and glove of Josh Markwith, Northwestern welcomes back Zach Markwith and Cody Kielsa, who finished as the team’s top two hitters in 2011. Markwith hit .359 and led the team with 52 hits to go with a .399 on-base percentage en route to a UMAC First Team All-Conference selection. Kielsa saw limited action in last year’s campaign, but is poised to be a difference-maker this season after hitting .348 to go with a .400 on-base percentage in just eight games in 2011. UMAC opponents will remember an unchanged starting rotation that combined for a 3.52 ERA in 2011. Andy Peterson, who got his feet wet in the college game as a freshman last year, will head the staff this season. Peterson averaged just under seven innings pitched per game in 2011.
4. Presentation College Saints
2011 Overall Record: 14-19
2011 UMAC Record: 10-8
2011 UMAC Finish: 3rd
Starters Returning: 4
Starters Lost: 7
The Presentation baseball team will look to return to the UMAC Conference Tournament as one of the top four teams again in 2012. First-year head coach Jesse Eikum, a Northwestern College alumnus and former St. Thomas (Minn.) and Wisconsin-Whitewater assistant, will rely on big performances from returning players to fill the roles of key players lost. Eikum will look to Sam Heintzman and Chad Ellingson to make an immediate impact for the Saints. Heintzman started all 34 games last season and finished with a batting average of .280 and a fielding percentage of .925. He finished with the team’s second lowest ERA at 4.80. Ellingson finished last season with a .345 batting average and 20 RBIs in just 29 games while picking up UMAC Player of the Week honors last season.
5. University of Minnesota Morris Cougars
2011 Overall Record: 9-20
2011 UMAC Record: 8-11
2011 UMAC Finish: 5th
Starters Returning: 7
Starters Lost: 6
After barely missing out on the UMAC Tournament in 2011, Minnesota Morris will lean on a lineup that features three of the Cougars’ top five hitters from last season heading into 2012. Jordan Gegen returns for his senior season after earning All-UMAC honors as a junior. Gegen started 27 games and batted .306 while driving in 17 runs last season and also started four games on the mound, finishing 1-2. Morris’ top returning hitter is Dustin Sauter, who started all 29 games, batting .369 with 38 hits and 20 runs scored in his freshman season. Sauter ended the season 11th amongst UMAC players in batting average. Logan Orazem and Jake Johnson each return to the mound after appearing in nine and 11 games respectively, while Nick Perrotte also returns after starting a season high five games. The Cougars top three inning-eaters from a year ago are gone, but Orazem and Perrotte combined for nearly 50 on the mound, while five others players with over 10 innings return from last season.
6. Northland College LumberJacks
2011 Overall Record: 10-25
2011 UMAC Record: 3-18
2011 UMAC Finish: 8th
Starters Returning: 7
Starters Lost: 5
Northland will continue to rebuild its program under second-year head coach Stein Rear. The LumberJacks finished the 2011 season with 11 healthy bodies on the roster. With only one senior and two returning juniors, Northland will still be very young and inexperienced. The 2012 roster is still small with 18 players, but the talent level and competitive nature on the roster has increased. The transfer of the Jacks’ starting shortstop and leadoff hitter, Casey Herr, will leave a huge void both in the field and at the top of the order that will be difficult for Rear to fill. Almost the entire Northland pitching staff returns including the team’s top four starters from 2011 along with some good young freshman arms. Offensively, Northland returns a good amount of their lineup including five players who started 30 or more games in 2011.
7. Martin Luther College Knights
2011 Overall Record: 7-23
2011 UMAC Record: 7-14
2011 UMAC Finish: 6th
Starters Returning: 5
Starters Lost: 4
Martin Luther must replace several key performers from last year’s team that finished sixth in the UMAC, but the young Knights hope that an infusion of young talent to go with the returning players on the roster will bring about a run at the postseason tournament in May. On the mound, the Knights return two of their top three starters from a season ago in Joseph Blum and Jacob Ziel. Ziel finished the 2011 campaign with a 6.00 ERA in eight appearances, seven of which were starts, throwing 42 innings with the help of five complete games, while Blum threw 41 innings and had four complete games in seven starts. In the field, MLC returns centerfielder Joe Schmudlach, who was named honorable mention all-conference in 2011 as a freshman. Fellow sophomore Aaron Stokke returns to join him at one of the corner spots in the outfield, while the infield features experience with Brad Essig, Blum, Galen Holzhueter and Dorn. Replacing starting shortstop Greg Holzhueter will be a challenge for the Knights, but newcomer Ben Edmundson is in line to get the first shot at the job.
8. Crown College Storm
2011 Overall Record: 3-23
2011 UMAC Record: 2-15
2011 UMAC Finish: 7th
Starters Returning: 5
Starters Lost: 7
Crown College enters the 2012 season in a transitional year with the program being under new leadership with first-year head coach Mike Gmetro. Captains including UMAC Honorable Mention player Kyle Knox and past all-conference first teamer Isaiah Jensen, along with Brandon Nicholas, provide good leadership coming into the upcoming year. Incoming transfer Dan Payne along with Taylor Jones, Truman Shetler and Brock Rose will provide a strong core for this year’s team both offensively and defensively.
Following a full slate of nonconference games to start the season, all eight UMAC teams will begin their league schedules on Friday, March 30. After conference play, the top four teams will gather at Wade Stadium in Duluth, Minn. on May 10-12 for the UMAC Tournament, with the winner earning an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament. Prior to each team’s conference-opening weekend, all eight coaches will participate in an online chat on Thursday, March 29 to talk about their team and individual performances to date. More details about the chat session will be available in March.