Carthage College 2012 Baseball Preview
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Name of school |
Carthage College |
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Location |
Kenosha, Wis. |
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Founded |
1847 |
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Enrollment |
2,530 |
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Nickname |
Red Men |
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School colors |
Red, white and black |
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Home field |
Carthage Baseball Field |
|
Capacity |
372 |
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Affiliation |
NCAA Division III |
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Conference |
CCIW |
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President |
F. Gregory Campbell |
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Athletics director |
Robert Bonn |
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Assistant athletics director |
Steve Marovich |
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Senior woman administrator |
Leanne Ulmer |
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Athletics phone |
262-551-5942 |
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First year of baseball |
1910 |
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Overall all-time record |
1,259-859-16 |
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Years in NCAA/last |
18/2011 |
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Last post-season opponent, year |
Buena Vista |
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Result |
L, 7-6, in the championship game of the NCAA Central Regional |
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CCIW championships |
1966, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2000 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009 |
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Sports information director |
Steve Marovich |
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SID e-mail |
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SID office phone |
262-551-5740 |
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SID home phone |
262-551-5547 |
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SID fax |
262-551-5926 |
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Athletics fax |
262-551-5995 |
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Hotline |
262-551-5388 |
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Athletics web site |
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SID mailing address |
2001 Alford Park Drive Kenosha, WI 53140 |
Kenosha News
Dave Marran, sports editor
715 58th St./Kenosha, WI 53141
262-656-6290; 262-657-4946 (FAX)
Racine Journal-Times
Susan Shemanske, sports editor
212 4th St./Racine, WI 53403
262-631-1750; 262-631-1780 (FAX)
WLIP-AM Radio (1050)
8500 Green Bay Road
Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158
Karl Wertzler, General Manager
kwertzler@nextmediachicago.com
262-694-1050 (studio)
John Weiser, Play-by-Play Announcer
Carthage College
2001 Alford Park Drive
Kenosha, WI 53140
262-551-5734
|
Head coach |
Augie Schmidt IV |
|
Alma mater, Year |
New Orleans, 1982 |
|
Record at school (years) |
760-304-5 (24 years) |
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Career record (years) |
760-304-5 (24 years) |
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Baseball phone |
262-551-5935 |
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Best time to reach |
Noon – 3 p.m. |
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|
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Assistant coach |
Cory Everts |
Part-time assistant coaches |
Jarvis Brown, Jason Eickmeyer, John Hasser, Billy Herrin, John Lequia |
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Head athletic trainer |
Laurie Jensen |
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Total |
Home |
Away |
Neutral |
|
|
|
2011 overall record |
32-12 |
13-2 |
5-5 |
14-5 |
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|
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CCIW record |
14-7 |
9-2 |
4-5 |
1-0 |
|
|
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Conference finish |
3rd place |
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Final ranking last year |
17th |
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Poll |
“D3baeball.com” |
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Starters returning/lost |
5/4 |
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Letterwinners returning/lost |
20/15 |
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DATE |
DAY |
OPPONENT |
TIME |
LOCATION |
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|
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Tucson Invitational |
|
|
|
March 17 |
Sat. |
Dakota Wesleyan |
11 a.m., MST |
Tucson, Ariz. |
|
March 18 |
Sun. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
10 a.m., MST |
Tucson, Ariz. |
|
March 19 |
Mon. Mon. |
Luther Carleton |
2 p.m., MST 6 p.m., MST |
Tucson, Ariz. Tucson, Ariz. |
|
March 20 |
Tue. |
Hamline |
11 a.m., MST |
Tucson, Ariz. |
|
March 22 |
Thu. Thu. |
Carleton Eastern Connecticut State |
10 a.m., MST 2 p.m., MST |
Tucson, Ariz. Tucson, Ariz. |
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March 23 |
Fri. |
Nebraska Wesleyan (DH) |
Noon, MST |
Tucson, Ariz. |
|
March 24 |
Sat. |
Middlebury |
2 p.m., MST |
Tucson, Ariz. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
March 31 |
Sat. |
*North Central (Ill., DH) |
Noon |
Naperville, Ill. |
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April 1 |
Sun. |
*North Central (Ill.) |
1 p.m. |
Kenosha, Wis. |
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April 3 |
Tue. |
*North Park (DH) |
Noon |
Chicago, Ill. |
|
April 6 |
Fri. |
*Augustana (Ill., DH) |
1 p.m. |
Kenosha, Wis. |
|
April 7 |
Sat. |
*Augustana ((Ill.) |
Noon |
Kenosha, Wis. |
|
April 11 |
Wed. |
*North Park |
3 p.m. |
Kenosha, Wis. |
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April 12 |
Thu. |
Concordia (Wis.) |
3 p.m. |
Kenosha, Wis. |
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April 14 |
Sat. |
*Illinois Wesleyan (DH) |
1 p.m. |
Kenosha, Wis. |
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April 15 |
Sun. |
*Illinois Wesleyan |
Noon |
Kenosha, Wis. |
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April 17 |
Tue. |
Marian (Wis., DH) |
3 p.m. |
Fond du Lac, Wis. |
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April 19 |
Thu. |
Concordia (Chicago) |
4 p.m. |
Kenosha, Wis. |
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April 21 |
Sat. |
*Elmhurst (DH) |
Noon |
Elmhurst, Ill. |
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April 22 |
Sun. |
*Elmhurst |
1 p.m. |
Kenosha, Wis. |
|
April 24 |
Tue. |
Aurora |
3 p.m. |
Kenosha, Wis. |
|
April 25 |
Wed. |
Lakeland (DH) |
1 p.m. |
Howards Grove, Wis. |
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April 28 |
Sat. |
*Millikin (DH) |
1 p.m. |
Decatur, Ill. |
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April 29 |
Sun. |
*Millikin |
Noon |
Decatur, Ill. |
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May 1 |
Tue. |
St. Norbert |
4 p.m. |
Kenosha, Wis. |
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May 2 |
Wed. |
Concordia (Wis.) |
6 p.m. |
Mequon, Wis. |
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May 4 |
Fri. |
*Wheaton (Ill.) |
3 p.m. |
Carol Stream, Ill. |
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May 5 |
Sat. |
*Wheaton (Ill., DH) |
1 p.m. |
Kenosha, Wis. |
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May 6 |
Sun. |
Chicago |
1 p.m. |
Chicago, Ill. |
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May 10-12 |
Thu-Sat. |
CCIW Tournament |
TBA |
TBA |
|
May 16-19 |
Wed-Sat. |
NCAA Central Regional |
TBA |
TBA |
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May 25-29 |
Fri-Tue. |
NCAA Championship |
TBA |
Grand Chute, Wis. |
*CCIW games
Times listed are Central Time, except as noted
Home games in bold
Schedule Notes: The March 17-24 Tucson Invitational will be played at the Kino Sports Complex. The March 17 Dakota Wesleyan doubleheader, the March 18 Wisconsin-Superior game and the March 19 Luther contest will be played on field #4…the March 19 Carleton game will be played on field #5…the March 20 Hamline contest, the March 22 Carleton game and the March 22 Eastern Connecticut State game will be played on field #6…the March 23 Nebraska Wesleyan doubleheader and the March 24 Middlebury game will be played on field #5…the May 4 Wheaton (Ill.) game is tentatively scheduled for Legion Field.
|
R/L |
Name |
Yr. |
Pos. |
Avg. |
2B |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
Honors |
|
L |
Matt Soderlund |
Grad. |
C |
.326 |
12 |
3 |
28 |
1 |
|
|
R |
Mike Wasche |
Jr. |
C |
.368 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
R |
Joey Aiello |
Sr. |
1B |
.351 |
10 |
3 |
36 |
1 |
First-team All-CCIW |
|
R |
Mike Pugliese |
So. |
2B |
.185 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
R |
Kyle Pusateri |
Sr. |
SS |
.324 |
9 |
3 |
30 |
1 |
First-team All-CCIW |
|
L |
Josh Albers |
Grad. |
3B |
.333 |
10 |
2 |
22 |
0 |
|
|
R |
Chris D’Angelo |
Sr. |
3B |
.326 |
5 |
2 |
15 |
1 |
|
|
L |
Billy Herrin |
Grad |
LF |
.320 |
8 |
3 |
25 |
6 |
|
|
L |
Will Hodges |
Grad. |
CF |
.322 |
17 |
8 |
44 |
7 |
ABCA second-team All-America |
|
R |
Tyler Eickmeyer |
Sr. |
CF |
.281 |
2 |
1 |
12 |
2 |
|
|
L |
Mike Petti |
Grad. |
RF |
.418 |
13 |
4 |
24 |
6 |
First-team All-CCIW |
R/L |
Name |
Yr. |
W-L |
S |
ERA |
G-GS |
IP |
SO |
Honors |
|
L |
Mario Perez |
Grad. |
3-4 |
1 |
2.96 |
10-9 |
54.6 |
44 |
|
|
R |
Eric Rohe |
Sr. |
7-2 |
0 |
2.85 |
10-10 |
72.3 |
52 |
Second-team All-CCIW |
|
R |
Danny Dahm |
Sr. |
5-0 |
0 |
3.04 |
10-10 |
68.0 |
53 |
ABCA third-team all-region |
|
R |
Mitch Lochen |
Jr. |
2-2 |
4 |
3.60 |
13-0 |
25.0 |
24 |
|
|
R |
Luke Watson, injured |
So. |
3-0 |
0 |
1.96 |
5-0 |
18.3 |
13 |
|
|
R |
Sam Wilhelms |
So. |
1-0 |
3 |
3.24 |
6-1 |
16.6 |
8 |
|
2011 Season Review
This one hurt. The Carthage College baseball team has reached the final day of a lot of NCAA regionals. Some years, the team ran out of pitching. Some years, the Red Men just ran out of gas. One year it was the burning heat of a Mississippi spring that cut the season short. Some years, winning the regional just wasn’t meant to be. The loss in the title game of the 2011 NCAA Division III Central Region Championship was sort of cruel, because a freak play ended what was turning into a very surprising post season.
The regional at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Jack Horenberger Field in Bloomington, Ill., didn’t get off to a very good start. Second-seeded Carthage lost to fifth-seeded Buena Vista University, 8-1, as the Beavers conducted a “small-ball” clinic and the Red Men committed five infield errors. It wasn’t a day to be top-seeded team, as the No. 1 seed, Coe College lost to sixth-seeded Ripon College, 3-2, and third-seeded Thomas More College fell to fourth-seeded Illinois Wesleyan, also 3-2.
On day two, Carthage stayed alive on day two by eliminating Coe, 5-3. Thomas More defeated Ripon, also 5-3, with Buena Vista winning over Illinois Wesleyan by a 7-1 margin. On the third day, Illinois Wesleyan eliminated Ripon, 7-1; Carthage eliminated Thomas More, 10-4; and Buena Vista eliminated Illinois Wesleyan University by a 7-6 margin.
That left Carthage in the championship round needing two wins over Buena Vista to claim the regional crown and make its eighth appearance in the national championship. The Red Men defeated the Beavers, 12-7, in the first game, and Carthage jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning of the title game.
Carthage was leading, 6-3, in the bottom of the seventh when Buena Vista’s Ryan Scheetz singled in a run to shave the Carthage lead to 6-4. Then, with two outs and runners on second and third, Dylan Colo blooped a singled to right-center to score both runners for a 6-6 tie. Colo took second on the play and advanced to third on a passed ball. Relief pitcher Mitch Lochen struck out Tyler Case, but Carthage catcher Matt Soderlund bobbled the ball, dropped his glove and did not throw to first base to complete the strikeout. Meanwhile, Colo snuck across the plate with the go-ahead run, as the Beavers took a 7-6 lead. Neither team scored in the eighth inning. The Red Men put two runners on base with two outs in the ninth but were unable to push a run across. Carthage ended the year with a 32-12 record.
“We played our tails off,” said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV (760-304-5, 24 years), “but I guess we weren’t quite good enough. The effort we gave coming out of the loser’s bracket was almost enough to get it done. I was so proud of those kids. Baseball is famous for bizarre plays like the one we lost on. You don’t want to see it happen to anyone. It happens. It’s baseball. It hurts, because we made a hell of a run, and we thought we had this thing won. That play is unfortunate, but we wouldn’t have been in this tournament without Matt Soderlund—that’s for sure. We battled all the way to the end. This group kept it going for Carthage baseball. It was Carthage baseball all the way to the end. We may have had more heart than talent on this team, and I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.”
Carthage got to the regional by winning the CCIW Baseball Tournament with a 9-1 decision over North Central College at The Corn Crib in Normal, Ill. The previous games in the tournament were played at Horenberger Field in Bloomington, Ill., but the final contest was moved across town due to wet grounds. Earlier in the tournament, Carthage was one out away from a loss to Illinois Wesleyan in the second round before a little-used freshman infielder turned the game around. Trailing, 4-3, with the tying run on second base and two outs, Mike Pugliese (So., Naperville, Ill./Arlington Heights-St. Francis) hit a walk off, two-run home run to send the Red Men into the championship round. The Red Men opened tournamet play with a 9-4 win over North Park University. Carthage made its 23rd-straight appearance in the CCIW tournament under head coach Augie Schmidt IV.
Carthage centerfielder Will Hodges (graduated-senior, Oak Park, Ill./Naperville-North, .422, 17 doubles, 8 home runs, 44 RBI) was named American Baseball Coaches Association second-team All-America. Hodges was named ABCA first-team All-Central Region. Rightfielder Mike Petti (graduated-senior, Mundelein, Ill., .418 13 doubles, 4 home runs, 24 RBI, 6 stolen bases) was named second-team all-region, and pitcher Danny Dahm (Sr., Morton Grove, Ill./Skokie-Niles West, 5-0, 3.04 earned run average) earned third-team all-region honors.
Hodges was also named College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin “Co-Player of the Year,” along with Illinois Wesleyan University first baseman Kevin Callahan. Hodges is the Red Men’s seventh conference “player of the year” since 1996. In addition to Hodges, four other Carthage players were named first-team All-CCIW. Those four were rightfielder Mike Petti, first baseman Joey Aiello (Sr., Libertyville, Ill., .351, 10 doubles, 3 home runs, 36 RBI), shortstop-third baseman Kyle Pusateri (Sr., Schaumburg, Ill./.323, 3 home runs, 30 RBI) and pitcher Danny Dahm (Sr., Morton Grove, Ill./Skokie-Niles West, 5-0, 3.04 earned run average). Pitcher Eric Rohe (Sr., Mundelein, Ill., 7-2, 2.85 earned run average) earned second-team all-conference honors.
2012 Season Preview
Carthage returns just 20-of-35 letterwinners from last year’s NCAA team. The key losses on the field are at starting catcher and all three outfield spots. Second baseman Tyler Eickmeyer (Sr., Kenosha, Wis./Somers-Shoreland Lutheran, .281) moved the centerfield, opening up the middle infield for Mike Pugliese (So., Naperville, Ill./Arlington Heights-St. Francis) and Drew Bailey (Fr., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley). Second-team All-CCIW shortstop Kyle Pusateri could move to third base, with third baseman Chris D’Angelo (Sr., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove, .326, 3 triples, 15 RBI) moving to leftfield. First-team all-conference player Joey Aiello returns at first base, along with infielder Zach Kozlowski (Sr., Menomonee Falls, Wis./Sussex-Hamilton, .286, 7 doubles, 21 RBI),
In the mix for the other outfield spots are Brian Huntsinger (So., Glendale, Wis./Milwaukee-Nicolet, played in 17 games in 2011), Kyle Frye (Sr., Lindenhurst, Ill./Lake Villa-Lakes Community), Mike Gentile (So., Grayslake, Ill./Central) and Chris Tydd (So., Batavia, Ill./Aurora-Marmion Academy).
The Red Men lost starting pitcher Mario Perez (3-4, 2.96 earned run average in 54.6 innings) to graduation, but first-team All-CCIW pitchers Danny Dahm and Eric Rohe return, along with reliever Mitch Lochen (Jr., Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South, 2-2, 4 saves, 3.60 earned run average), lefty Alex Newberry (Jr., Kenosha, Wis./Tremper), Andrew Arenson (So., Naperville, Ill./North), Luke Watson (So., Appleton, Wis./Xavier, 3-0, 1.96 earned run average), Sam Wilhelms (So., Fond du Lac, Wis., 1-0, 3 saves, 3.24 earned run average), Mike Kiviranta (So., Schaumburg, Ill./Hoffman Estates), Andy Pucher (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Central) and Jeremy Salzman (So., Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove).
“Even with the loss of Mario Perez, I think pitching might be our strength this year and could settle us down,” says head coach Augie Schmidt IV. “Where the worry comes in is where the offense is going to come from. We lost a lot of middle-of-the-order guys. We should be a very good defensive team, especially up the middle. It’s exciting, because we have a lot of freshman and sophomores who could be poised for big years.”
Carthage makes its spring trip this year to Tucson, Ariz., its first spring trip outside of Florida since the 1989 team went to Texas and Oklahoma. “Tucson has great facilities and dry weather,” points out Schmidt. “It’ll be new after 22 years in Florida, but we’re looking forward to it. The competition will be good, if not quite the caliber we saw in Florida last year.”