2003 Men's Baseball Season Preview
While delivering his acceptance speech for the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1942, ex-St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cub
great Rogers Hornsby said, “People ask me what I do in the winter when
there is no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window
and wait for spring.”
Well, the waiting is just about over for the 2003 St.
Ambrose Fighting Bees baseball team. The base paths are starting to peek
through the snow, and new season is but a calendar page away. Coming off
last year’s conference championship title and a 29-13 overall record,
Head Coach Jim Callahan is excited to get his eighth campaign out of the
indoor facilities and onto the baseball field.
“I can’t wait to get started,” said the Bees skipper. “I think we
have a very balanced team that should be able to compete on a daily basis.
We had a great year last year, but we need to prove that it was no fluke.
There will be a lot of teams gunning for us, and I am looking forward to a
great season.”
The Schedule
“I take pride in the fact that every spring we can look at our
schedule and say that it is our toughest schedule ever,” said Callahan,
who’s Bees are ranked #33 in preseason polls.
“We try to measure ourselves against some of the best teams in
the country at the NAIA level, to see where we are at. This year will be
no different.”
After opening the slate against Harris Stowe-State College in St. Louis on
March 1, the Bees will head to Miami, Fl for their spring break. The
southern schedule includes games against Upper Iowa, Spring Arbor, and
perennial NAIA power St. Thomas University. Upon returning to the Midwest,
the Bees will also face a bevy of games against schools rich in baseball
tradition. St. Francis (Joliet, Il) St. Xavier (Chicago, IL) and Quincy
will all be stiff tests for St. Ambrose this season, as will the
always-strong Midwest Classic Conference schedule.
Pitching
The old saying states that anyone who doesn’t
worry about depth has never stepped in a puddle…or developed a pitching
staff. Fortunately for the 2003 squad, if the pitching staff can be called
one thing, it is deep.
Returning from last year’s team will be a trio of starting pitchers that
have plenty of experience under their elastic belts. Senior Mike Tunning
(Iowa City, IA 3-0 4.58) started out the 2002 season on fire, posting a
pair of early season dominant outings before having his year cut short by
an elbow injury. The righty looks healthy and should be an ace on the
staff this year if he can stay on the mound. Junior lefty Justin Siefkin
(Bettendorf, IA 2-0 2.60) has shown he can be a shutdown starter as well
as a sweet-swinging slugger and should log considerable innings this
spring. Sophomore Sean Johnson (Clinton, IA 5-1 3.12) also returns after
an exceptional freshman year where he went 5-1 and earned All-Conference
honors. Combined, these three bring a 10-1 record and 3.40 E.R.A from last
year’s campaign.
Junior College transfers Dave Dexter (Davenport, IA) and Brett Hiner (Rock
Island, IL) have also shown the ability to be
top of the line starters while Jim Welch (Burlington, IA) will
spend most of his time on the mound in the sixth and seventh innings.
Senior Jason Rockhold (Canton, IL 6.64) returns for his last go-round
after a 3-1 campaign last season and sophomore Dan Nichols (Taylor Ridge,
IL 0-0 6.50) also returns after averaging one strikeout per inning last
season.
Senior Dan Furlong (Davenport, IA) and junior Aaron Stetson (Princeton,
IL) will form the middle relief staff. Underclassmen Brandon Lensmeyer
(Bettendorf, IA), Andrew Moeller (Sherrard, IL) and Joe Arnold (Long
Grove, IA) will also be looked to for important innings while growing into
the college game.
Infield
Infield coach Tony Huntley will have his hands full in sculpting this
year’s infield. Up the middle, newcomers will fill both spots, and first
base could likely be performed by committee. Joe DePaoli (Ottawa, IL) will
come into his sophomore season as the Bees starting shortstop after
interning most of last season. Freshman Matt Tranowski (Palos Hills, IL)
and junior Bob Spadoni (Somonauk, IL) will both see time rounding out the
double play combination. Third base will be manned by the brothers Miller,
Jake and Mike (Bettendorf, IA), while Chad Jones (Davenport, IA .306 4 28
RBI), Kyle Gripp (Davenport, IA) and Siefken (.352 4 19) will all spend
time at first base. Adam Smith (Iowa City, IA) and Mark Higgins (Chicago,
IL) both bring good bats to the plate and can play several positions on
the infield. Matt Gluplznyski (Utica, IL .268 0 4) is the infield captain
behind the plate and will share innings with Jones and sophomore Brian
Nichols (Taylor Ridge, IL)
Outfield
The broad shoulders of senior Logan Springer (Tremont, IL .365 7 25)
will be the resting place for leadership expectations this year. Not only
will the slugger be looked to for offensive production, he will also be
the anchor in the outfield this season. Joining him will be returners
Chris Seibel (Camanche, IA .320 6 36), Joe Murray (Dubuque, IA) and Jaymie
Murphy (Oelwein, IA). Seibel and Springer both hit over .320 last year and
combined for 13 homeruns and 18 doubles. Beau Merinangeli (Morrison, IL),
Dustin Lenz (Lonetree, IA), Cody Cooper (Ankeny, IA) and T.J. McLaughlin
(Dubuque, IA) also join the Bees program this season.
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