MONMOUTH BASEBALL OPENS SEASON IN FLORIDA
Monmouth,IL -- The Monmouth College men=s baseball team opened its 1997 spring season recently with its annual trip to Florida and is now set to work its way through a tough non-conference schedule before starting Midwest Conference action. The Fighting Scots are shooting to return to the MWC championship game in May and avenge last year=s 4-0 shutout loss to St. Norbert College in the tournament final. Monmouth posted an overall 1996 season record of 16-13-1 and won the Midwest Conference South Division title with an 11-4 mark.
The 1997 squad has its work cut out to continue the program=s strong tradition. Monmouth has advanced to the MWC tournament 17 of the last 20 years, including a present streak of ten straight appearances, and has won the league title 11 times. Last spring=s divisional crown was the program=s 9th in the past ten years. Fourth-year skipper Roger Sander has led the Scots to the tournament each season since 1994 but is still looking for his first MWC championship as head coach. Monmouth has finished 2nd, 3rd and 2nd in Sander=s tenure and the veteran coach hopes that this year=s squad can bring another trophy home.
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We lost six valuable seniors, five of whom were All-Conference selections, so we have a lot of holes to fill,@ said Sander. AThe pitching staff needs to carry us early in the season. We also have a good freshman class which must contribute immediately for us to be successful.@ Despite the loss of key seniors to graduation, Sander can turn to three returning All-Conference players to lead the team this spring.Senior Todd Briggs (Chatham,IL/Glenwood) returns as the ace of the Fighting Scot pitching staff. Briggs was 9-4 last year with a team-record 12 complete games and has compiled a career record of 20-13 in three years. Briggs has appeared in more games (48) than any Monmouth pitcher and will likely challenge team career marks for innings, starts and victories. His battery mate, junior Joel Fulgenzi (Springfield,IL/Lanphier), led the team last year with 4 home runs and has established himself as one of the premier catchers in the league. Sophomore infielder Jay Turnbull (Chatham,IL/Glenwood) should be the Scots
= leading offensive weapon, coming off a rookie season which saw him hit .338 with seven doubles, three homers and 20 RBI.Briggs will be helped on the mound by sophomore Mark Foulkes (St. Charles,IL/HS) (2-2, 43 IP in 1996) and senior Dustin Foster (Galesburg,IL/HS) (3-2, 32 IP). Sophomore Brandon Maxwell (St. Charles,IL/HS) sat out last year after a 6-3 freshman season and returns to strengthen the Scots
= pitching staff. Junior Jim Herget (Dunlap,IL/HS) provides leadership in the outfield and speed on the basepaths. Herget carries a career .295 batting average with 31 RBI and was second on the team in stolen bases (6) last spring.Graduation hit the Scots
= infield hard and the middle spots are up for grabs early this season. Freshman Kevin Gordon (Peoria,IL/Notre Dame), an All-Conference and area All-Star second baseman, and classmate Josh Kinn (Macomb,IL/HS) are the leading candidates to join Turnbull and junior first baseman Nate Pokrass (Brookfield,WI/East) in the infield, along with juniors Scott Beeler (Warsaw,IL/HS) and Jason Filar (Itasca,IL/East Leyden). Outfield prospects include freshmen Tim Creeden (Batavia,IL/HS) and sophomore Andy Kahlenberg (St. Charles,IL/HS), a transfer player from Iowa Wesleyan.A
We should be strong up the middle with a solid pitching staff, an outstanding catcher and good speed in the outfield,@ said Sander, who is banking on a tough, competitive schedule to prepare his charges for the MWC season. AWe received some good pitching in Florida and were aggressive at the plate, but we gave away some games with poor defense and bad base-running mistakes.@Monmouth finished its ten-game spring vacation schedule with a 4-6 record which easily could have been 7-3. The Scots stopped in St. Louis on their way to Florida for a doubleheader sweep of Webster University (14-2, 16-3). In Panama City, the Scots faced their toughest early-season schedule in recent years with games against NCAA Division III powerhouse Marietta College (ranked #3 in preseason polls), Ohio Dominican University (5th last year at NAIA Nationals) and Iowa Conference contenders William Penn and Simpson.
The Scots were defeated by Ohio Dominican (7-3), Simpson (10-7) and William Penn (10-0) before rebounding with victories over Earlham (7-6) and MWC rival Beloit (9-6). Monmouth was blanked 6-0 in the first of three games against Marietta but played the Pioneers close in the next two. Despite playing well, the Scots squandered late-inning leads in both games and lost a pair of one-run decisions (2-1 and 5-4).
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It was a good trip for our players,@ stated Sander. AWe played very competitively but still have some work to do. We are definitely a young team this year but, if we learn to iron some of our mistakes, we will be a very good team.@ The South Division race is expected to be tight this spring with no clear-cut preseason favorite. Defending league champion St. Norbert is picked to lead the MWC North again this spring along with perennial contenders Beloit and Ripon. Monmouth opens its Midwest Conference season with a home doubleheader against Illinois College on Tuesday, April 1st.