MIAC Baseball Playoffs

Concordia
The Cobbers enter the 2004 MIAC Playoffs having won 15 of their final 18 games during the regular season. 2004 MIAC Coach of the Year Bucky Burgau has the Cobbers currently ranked fourth in the Midwest Region in the latest American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball (ABCA) poll and also received votes to be nationally ranked. The team will be making their third appearance in the last four years in the conference playoffs. Concordia posted a 22-13 record during the season, marking the third consecutive season and seventh since 1990 the Cobbers have reached the 20-win plateau. In the past two seasons, Concordia has won 46 games, second most among MIAC teams over that time period.

Concordia is led by the “H and H” dynamic duo. Senior pitcher Jeremy Hinderks (Renville, Minn./R-C-W HS), who was recently named the Mike Augustin MIAC Pitcher of the Year in 2004, had another dominant year as the team’s number one starting pitcher. Hinderks led the MIAC in innings pitched (64.2), wins (6) and saves (3) and was second in ERA (1.67) and strikeouts (43). His 84.2 innings pitched during the entire year is a new school record for most innings pitched in a single season. He also has a chance to break school records in career wins and overall innings pitched. Entering the tournament, he is tied for the record in career wins with 22 and is only 16.2 innings away from breaking the mark in career innings pitched.

The other half of the “H and H” tandem is senior shortstop Ryan Hebrink (Sacred Heart, Minn./R-C-W HS). Hebrink set a new school record for home runs in a single season in 2004, clubbing 11 roundtrippers this season to push his career total to 30. Hebrink leads the team in hits (36), home runs, total bases (78) and slugging percentage (.729). He was recently named to All-MIAC for the second consecutive season.

Two other Cobbers have stepped forward to give the team a solid top four in the batting order. First-Year outfielder Chris Klabo (Brainerd, Minn.), the team’s leadoff hitter, is third on the team in hitting (.337) and second in home runs (6) and slugging percentage (.606). In the team’s first game against Carleton, he hit three home runs and drove in eight runs. Both marks are school records and both are high water marks for anyone in the MIAC this season. Catcher Luther Kangas (Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) is the third member of the Cobbers to receive all-conference honors in 2004. He led the team in RBIs with 38 and started 19 of the team’s 20 games behind the plate.

Other pitchers that will be a factor in the conference tournament are Bryan Romsa (Jr., Great Falls, Mont.) and Brian Schumacher (So., Thompson, N.D.). Romsa was second on the team in wins with six and won his last four starts of the season. Schumacher, who doubles as the team’s starting third baseman, went 2-1 on the year and led the MIAC in opposing hitter’s batting average (.212).

If the Cobbers are to capture their first-ever conference tournament crown and advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time since the 1995 season, several role players and the Cobber bullpen will have to step out of the shadows of the “H and H” boys and into the limelight of postseason play.

Gustavus
Third-seed Gustavus missed the 2003 playoffs on a tiebreaker as it shared fourth with St. John's. This year, the Gusties stormed back to sweep its last eight conference games and qualify for the MIAC Playoffs for the second time with a third-place finish.

The Gusties (27-15) have broken a school record for wins and have captured 11 of their last 13 contests since losing two close home games to St. Thomas on April 21. Coach Mike Carroll's team led the MIAC in batting at .397 and scored nearly nine runs per game in conference play. The Gusties went 0-6 against St. John's, Concordia and St. Thomas but easily could have won all six games, as five of the six were lost in the final inning.

Sophomore Ben Sherer (.406 BA, 58 hits, 16 doubles, 43 RBI, 8 HRs, 50 runs) led the conference in hitting and was named MIAC Player of the Year. Five other Gusties joined Sherer on the All-MIAC first team: sophomore pitcher Josh Spitzack (4-3, 4.20 ERA); freshman OF Tony Konicek (.425 BA, 65 hits, 52 RBI), who broke Brad Mazur's school record for season hits with 65; senior 2B Bryant Rogness (.408 BA, 60 hits), the reigning National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Hitter of the Week; senior OF Tyler Vrieze (.379 BA, 47 hits) and senior 3B Trent Larson (.379, 44 hits, 39 runs). Junior OF Ash Larsen also had 50 hits and batted .379.

Leading the Gustie pitchers are Spitzack, senior Tom Hutton (4-2, 3.79 ERA) and sophomore Andy Schmidt (3-2, 3.28 ERA).

St. Olaf
St. Olaf enters the 2004 MIAC Playoffs having won three MIAC regular-season titles and one MIAC Playoff title over the last four years. The Oles’ overall MIAC record is 82-18 since 2000. The St. Olaf program has a strong tradition and has captured 16 MIAC titles.

Look for the senior leadership of Charlie Ruud, Jon Haugen, Brad Baglien and Joe Pavelko to lead the way for the Oles. Pitcher Ruud was named to the All-Midwest Region first team last year and hurler Haugen and outfielder Pavelko were named to the NCAA Division III All-Regional Tournament team. St. Olaf will again need to rely on pitching and defense if they hope to contend for the 2004 conference tournament title.

St. Olaf head coach, Matt McDonald, in his 10th season, has guided the Oles to an impressive 260-124 career record. McDonald has won MIAC Coach of the Year honors twice and has earned Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors as well. He most recently served as the Chair of the Division III NCAA Baseball committee and has had four St. Olaf graduates sign professional baseball contracts since 2000. Ole grads Brian Sprout '02 and Mike Ludwig '03 are currently in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system.

St. Thomas
Tradition-rich St. Thomas, 33-6 overall and ranked seventh nationally, is the top-seed for the 2004 MIAC Baseball Playoffs. Coach Dennis Denning's Tommies won the conference regular-season championship for the second year in a row and sixth time in nine seasons. The Tommies will have their hands full this weekend, however, against playoff-tested St. Olaf, hot-hitting Gustavus, and Jeremy Hinderks-led Concordia.

Under Denning, the Tommies are 167-33 in the last 10 conference regular-seasons and 10-4 all-time in MIAC tournament play, with three championships. Denning's 10-year postseason record is 39-20, including a 37-14 record the last six seasons. Current UST seniors who contributed to the Toms' 2001 NCAA title run include senior 3B Casey Garven and pitchers Mike Ramthun and Sean Lindstrom.

St. Thomas is 30-4 vs. Division III and NAIA teams, including a 7-0 record, all won on the road, vs. St. Olaf, Concordia, Gustavus and NAIA power St. Scholastica (37-4). Four of those seven wins were pulled out in their last at-bat, and the Tommies will need to continue that clutch play this weekend.

St. Thomas is tied for third nationally in Division III batting with Gustavus at .359. St. Thomas has 10 players batting .337 or better, and has 32 homers hit by 10 different players. Leading the offensive attack are junior OFs Brett Olson (.458 BA, 60 hits, 24 SBs) and Josh Howard (.421 BA, 30 RBI, 45 hits); Garven (.422 BA, 43 hits, 6 HRs, 31 RBI); and sophomore infielders Mike Kimlinger (.386 BA, 56 hits, 33 RBI) and Sean Young (.337 BA, 33 hits, 6 HRs)

As with most postseason tournaments, pitching and defense will likely determine the champion. St. Thomas has a 3.70 ERA, led by Ramthun (7-0, 1.77 ERA, 18-5 career record), Lindstrom (3-0, 3.86, 19-6 career), junior Brian Krause (6-3, 4.28 ERA, 4 saves, 58 career appearances) and sophomore Ryan Ashner (6-0, 2.58 ERA, 4 walks in 45.1 innings).