HILLSBORO, Ore. – For the first time
ever, the Northwest Conference will host a tournament to determine
its representative to the 2015 NCAA Division III National Baseball
Tournament, and Linfield College is the favorite to host the
inaugural NWC diamond classic, according to a pre-season poll of
the league’s nine coaches.
The top four finishers in the conference race will compete in a
double-elimination tournament at the home field of the
regular-season champion on Friday-Sunday, April 24-26, and two-time
defending NWC champion Linfield is expected to earn top honors by
virtue of its seven first-place votes and 70 total points in the
coaches’ poll. Pacific Lutheran University picked up
the other two firsts and 56 points to finish second in the
poll.
Linfield went 37-9 overall in 2014 and won the conference by six
games with a 22-3 league record. The Wildcats then won the
West Regional and returned to the D-III World Series, which they
had won in 2013, but unexpectedly went two and out.
Hoping to atone for that quick exit from the nationals, the
Wildcats will be led on a mission to return to the Series this
spring by the 1-2 pitching punch of senior First Team All-America
Chris Haddeland, the D3baseball.com National Pitcher of the Year
each of the last two seasons, and senior Aaron Thomassen, who
outshone even Haddeland in conference play last year to win NWC
Pitcher of the Year and was also a Second Team All-American.
Also back for NWC and West Region Coach of the Year Scott Brosius,
who takes a 237-81 record into his eighth season, are All-NWC First
Team senior shortstop Corey VanDomelen and honorable mention junior
third baseman Eric Lawson, senior outfielder Jo Carroll, and junior
reliever Cody Walker.
The Wildcats have big shoes to fill, however, with the
graduation of Second Team All-America outfielder Nick Fisher, the
NWC Player of the Year, and Third Team All-America catcher Jake
Wylie. Also gone are All-NWC Second Team first baseman
Clayton Truex, outfielder Kramer Lindell, starting pitcher Zach
Brandon, and honorable mention reliever Zach Manley.
Pacific Lutheran finished second to Linfield last year with a
16-8 conference record and 25-14 overall slate. Second Team
All-America southpaw Trevor Lubking, the national leader in
strikeouts, went to Tampa Bay in the 14th round of the
major league draft as the highest selection from Division III, but
pitching will again be a strength for coach Geoff Loomis, who has a
293-183-2 record after 12 season with the Lutes. All-NWC
Second Team starting sophomore Derrick Mahlum and honorable mention
senior hurler Chris Bishop give the Lutes a chance to win every
series, backed up by First Team All-America senior closer AJ
Konopaski.
If PLU can improve its offense, the Lutes have a serious shot at
challenging for NWC supremacy. All-NWC First Team outfielder
Alec Beal graduated, so the Lutes will look for honorable mention
senior outfielder Collin Nilson to lead the attack.
George Fox University, which went 28-12 overall and 15-9 in the
conference last year, earned the third spot in the poll with 50
points. The Bruins expect to be solid on the hill again with
returning starters Ian Buckles and Tom Zarosinski, who were Second
Team and honorable mention All-NWC respectively in 2014.
All-NWC Second Team right fielder Zach Rapacz gives coach Marty
Hunter, who enters his eighth season at George Fox with a 187-98
record, a solid bat around which to build the offense.
However, the Bruins must deal with the loss of two All-West
Region Second Teamers in staff ace Clay Gartner and 2013 First Team
All-America catcher Josh Rapacz, who signed with Tampa Bay, and
Third Team designated hitter Danny Clifford. Also gone are
All-NWC First Team first baseman Derek Dixon, Second Team
outfielder Matt Zeller, and honorable mention infielders Derek
Blankenship and Zac Israel and reliever Connor Harris.
Willamette University, which used a slugging offense to go 22-17
overall and 14-10 in the conference, came in fourth in the poll
with 43 points, and should again pound the baseball with All-West
Second Team sophomore designated hitter Ty Wyatt leading the
way. The Bearcats’ attack also features All-NWC First
Team senior third baseman Hunter Gallant, senior catcher Brad
Breier, and honorable mention junior first baseman Tiras Koon,
although they did lose First Team outfielder Tosh Semlacher and two
honorable mentions, shortstop Tommy Kawamura and outfielder Brandon
Chinn.
On the mound, coach Aaron Swick will look to supplement the
efforts of All-NWC Second Team junior reliever Jackson Wyatt and
honorable mention senior ace Peter Hoffman. Swick enters his
seventh season at Willamette with a 115-116-1 overall record and
stands a good chance of getting that mark over .500 this
spring.
Fifth place in the poll with 34 points went to Whitworth
University, which posted a 13-22 mark last year while going 10-14
in the league. The Pirates will count on All-NWC honorable
mention senior shortstop Nick Motsinger and senior catcher Josh
Davis to lead them back to the level they achieved in 2012, when
Whitworth captured a surprise NWC title and advanced to the D-III
World Series for the first time. Whitworth will also rely on
honorable mention senior starter Spencer Ansett and senior
designated hitter Thomas Wakem to boost the Pirates higher in the
standings. Coach Dan Ramsay, the 2012 NWC and West Region
Coach of the Year, enters his seventh season with the Pirates.
The University of Puget Sound, coming off a 17-19 record and a
tie for fourth in the conference at 14-10, took sixth in the poll
with 28 points. The Loggers will be under new management as
Jeff Halstead, who earned five All-NWC honors in both football and
baseball at UPS, takes over the head coaching job after serving as
an assistant for 14 years. All-NWC Second Team outfielder
Jeff Walton and utility man Lucas Stone are gone, but a strong
nucleus returns with All-NWC First Team senior outfielder Connor
Savage, three Second Team juniors in second sacker Chris Zerio,
third baseman/first baseman Nathan Backes, and catcher Nick Funyak,
and honorable mention senior starting pitcher Steve Wagar.
Pacific University (Ore.), which placed seventh in the poll with
21 points, will also have a new coach as Brian Billings moved from
Puget Sound to take over the Boxers’ program for Greg
Bradley, the dean of NWC coaches who retired after 19
seasons. Pacific went 13-25 last year and 4-20 in the league,
but will continue to build around All-NWC First Team junior second
baseman Nathan Suyematsu, Second Team senior starter Colin
McCusker, and honorable mention junior outfielder Walker Olis.
Whitman College, which posted its first winning season since
1982 by going 20-18-1 overall and 9-15 in the conference, placed
eighth in the poll with 18 points. All-NWC First Team utility
player Aaron Cohen, Second Team shortstop Ozzy Braff, and four
honorable mentions - second baseman Cameron Young, outfielder Jimmy
Madden, starter Brett Lambert and reliever Sterling Spilinek
– are gone, but honorable mention senior catcher Maclean
Harned returns for fourth-year coasch Sean Kinney.
Completing the poll in ninth was Lewis & Clark College with
13 points after a 10-28-1 record in 2014 and a 4-20 mark in the
conference. Fifth-year coach Tom Flynn welcomes back All-NWC
honorable mention sophomore third baseman Tommy Massari as a key
component toward the Pioneers’ efforts to improve, but took a
big hit with the graduation of honorable mention utility player
Corey Davis.
The first games for NWC teams are set for Friday, Feb. 6, with
George Fox playing twice (vs. Concordia (Texas) in Seguin, Texas,
and Centenary (La.) in San Antonio, Texas), Pacific Lutheran taking
on La Verne in Tucson, Ariz., and three games in southern
California: Whitworth at California Lutheran, Willamette at
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, and Puget Sound at Pomona-Pitzer. The
first conference series will be Feb. 28-Mar. 1 (doubleheaders on
Saturday, single games on Sunday) with Linfield at Puget Sound,
Pacific (Ore.) at Pacific Lutheran, Whitworth at Whitman, and
Willamette at George Fox.
2015 Northwest Conference Baseball Pre-Season
Coaches’ Poll
|
TEAM
|
1STS
|
PTS
|
’14 NWC
|
’14 ALL
|
|
Linfield College
|
(7)
|
70
|
22-2
|
37-9
|
|
Pacific Lutheran University
|
(2)
|
56
|
16-8
|
25-14
|
|
George Fox University
|
|
50
|
15-9
|
28-12
|
|
Willamette University
|
|
43
|
14-10
|
22-17
|
|
Whitworth University
|
|
34
|
10-14
|
13-22
|
|
University of Puget Sound
|
|
28
|
14-10
|
17-19
|
|
Pacific University (Ore.)
|
|
21
|
4-20
|
13-25
|
|
Whitman College
|
|
18
|
9-15
|
20-18-1
|
|
Lewis & Clark College
|
|
13
|
4-20
|
10-28-1
|
(Points awarded on a 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches
could not vote on their own teams.)