Via Grinnell College Baseball:

Grinnell College catcher Mike Nodzenski ’12 has been named a Preseason First-Team All-American by D3baseball.com.

Nodzenski, from Naperville, Ill. (Naperville North) earned All-America recognition as a junior from both ABCA/Rawlings and D3baseball.com. He claimed spots on the second and third teams, respectively.

Nodzenski is a three-time Midwest Conference South Division Player of the Year and ranked among the national leaders last season in several categories. He was fourth in slugging percentage (.850), fifth in batting average (.465) and on-base percentage (.556) and sixth in home runs (12).

He led the MWC in batting average, slugging percentage, home runs, RBI (47) and total bases (91) and was second in on-base percentage and runs scored (38). He established Grinnell school records for RBI and home runs in a career, as well as RBI in a game (nine), home runs in a game (three) and home runs in a season.

This year thirteen players were selected from Division III institutes, which is fairly typical of most drafts.  The highest D3 player selected was Ben Hughes of St. Olaf, who was taken by the Rockies in the 10^th round (their fifth pitcher selected).  The lowest was Ken Wiser, another pitcher, of Linfield who was selected by the Rangers in the 50^th round.

Division III baseball and athletics in general are fundamentally different than either Division I or II, and not even on the same wavelength as NAIA or NJCAA athletics.  The difference likely begins with the nature of the institutions themselves.  Whereas D1 and D2 universities tend to be on the larger side, some D3 schools enroll less than 1,000 students.  Committing such a large percentage of the budget to a full D1 athletics program would grossly misinterpret the needs of most of these student bodies and therefore relegates these institutions to a lesser financial commitment.

While that is seen largely as a disadvantage to most Neanderthalic morons, student-athletes at D3 schools are also typically provided tremendous educations capable of sending their graduates to fulfilling and unique careers in and out of athletics.  That’s typically the draw, and many of these students receive very large scholarships.  While they are not technically deemed athletic scholarships, many financial aid packages are distributed based on likely contributions to campus life.  Athletics is included in these contributions.

Typically, however, players recruited by D3 schools are of the late-blooming type and/or have zero interest in professional athletics or have never seriously considered it a possibility.  Instead these players tend to recognize that they are good, love the game, and want a quality undergraduate education.  For many of these athletes, baseball has never once been the most important thing in their lives and likely never will be.  That in no way makes them lesser baseball players, however.  Many of these players are high achievers in all walks of life and refuse to half-ass anything.  Recent All-American selection Mike Nodzenski fits this profile well.  Robbie Unsell comes to mind too.  Robbie is currently in vet school in London and was a tremendous D3 baseball player breaking numerous school records and picking up an All-Region selection as well.  He also majored in one of the toughest departments in school and received tremendous grades in the process.

So then how does a guy like Jordan Zimmerman go from a D3 school to the 1^st round, or a guy like Billy Wagner go from D3 to the HOF?  Well, most importantly, it takes a scout willing to take a chance.  Most D3 players are not draft prospects, so results tend to be completely meaningless in player evaluation.  It also takes a terrific coaching staff to ensure that players are developing properly despite tremendous academic workloads and likely other interests.  Perhaps most important is what the player does in the summer.  Selection to a top league like the Valley or Northwoods can greatly boost a player’s resume.  It unfortunately can also shatter it.  In Hughes’ case, it boosted his draft standing considerably.  He was an all-star last summer with the Duluth Mustangs of the Northwoods.

D3 baseball is different.  That’s beyond debate, but every single year a collection of players are selected from tiny schools in unusual corners of the United States to begin professional careers on the baseball field.  What likely also is beyond debate is that whenever these players’ careers end, however, is that they will have some very interesting second careers ahead of them after their days at the yard come to a close.  With that in mind, these players are not unlike the thousands of other D3 athletes who compete every season.  Hopefully as we settle into our second year writing here at the Sombrero, you’ve enjoyed reading what a handful of Division III players have written over the last year or so.

May 22, 2010

Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending the 2010 Midwest Conference Baseball Tournament and calling the action for Midwest Conference Television all tournament long.  The whole weekend was one of the best times I’ve had since I graduated from Grinnell two years and three days ago.  And while it was great to be able to sit in the press box again after all these years while doing play-by-play for a baseball game for the first time ever, what really made the weekend special was the union of Pioneer baseball past and present.

The tournament got off to a rough start for the Pioneers.  The Ripon Redhawks, who had dominated the Midwest Conference Tournament in recent years with a 36-18 mark in tournament play, easily the best in the conference, pounded out seventeen hits in an 11-4 victory to move to the winner’s bracket.  Right fielder Nate Paul led the effort for the Redhawks, pounding out a singles, two doubles and a bomb in support of Redhawk ace Kurt Roeder, who was certainly short of dominant, but easily pitched well enough to get the victory, going the distance and giving up four runs on seven hits in the victory.  All-Midwest Conference South Division first-teamers Greg Suryn ’11, Mike Goldfein ’12 and Nate Pierce ’10 all went deep for the Pioneers, but those runs were all Grinnell could muster in Game 1, as they moved to the loser’s bracket for the fifth time in their five Midwest Conference Tournament appearances.

After the St. Norbert Green Knights defeated Illinois College, then proceeded to fall to the Redhawks, it was time for Pioneers and Blueboys in game two.  The Pioneers swept the Blueboys in the season series and were trying to do something they had never done before: finish 5-0 against one team in a season.  They tabbed ace Ben Pope ’12 as their starter in the must-win game, and while he surrendered twelve hits and six runs in easily his poorest start of the year, he kept his composure and did not give up the big inning until a four-run seventh, when the Pioneers already had a comfortable nine-run lead.  Dugan Knoll ’12 came on in relief to throw a perfect eighth and closer Chad Christoff ’10 tossed a scoreless ninth to preserve the victory and send the Pioneers to day two of the tournament for just the second time in the history of the program after an 11-6 win.  Grinnell’s considerable offense in game two was highlighted by home runs from Paden Roder ’10 and Mike Nodzenski ’12, along with Suryn’s second bomb of the tournament, equaling his regular-season total.

In game three, Coach Tim Hollibaugh made a rather unconventional move, sending Mike Bogard ’12, who had thrown just five innings the entire season, to the hill in what amounted to the most important game in the history of Grinnell College baseball.  Bogard did not disappoint, stifling a powerful St. Norbert offense for six full innings, giving up ten baserunners but only two runs before turning things over to Ryan Harris ’10, who rebounded from a difficult start against the Redhawks to slam the door on the Green Knights.  Harris recorded the final nine outs to record the save, allowing just one hit and retiring St. Norbert’s Tony Jandron, the nation’s leading hitter at .538, on a 1-2-3 double play with the bases loaded and nobody out.  That turned out to be the last at-bat in Jandron’s college career, as he was on deck representing the tying run when Harris knocked down a line drive with two outs in the ninth, then recovered and threw on to first to send the Pioneers to the Championship Round for the first time in the history of the program.  Roder went deep one last time to set both the single-season(12) and career record(23) for most home runs by a Grinnellian, and Goldfein went 4-for-5 as the Pioneers jumped out to a 4-0 first-inning lead and never looked back in the 5-2 victory.

That win placed the Pioneers in a rematch with Ripon for the championship.  Pioneer starter Andrew Myers ’12 pitched capably, giving up three earned runs in four innings of work, but in the end the Pioneer bullpen could not contain a powerful Ripon offense, as the Redhawks repeated their 17-hit effort in defeating the Pioneers 13-5.  Grinnell had its chance in the sixth, when Nodzenski missed a grand slam by less than three feet, which would have put the Pioneers ahead 7-5, and instead had to settle for a sacrifice fly to make the score 5-4 Redhawks.  Things looked good for the Pioneers even then, with Ben Pope available for three innings of work, but Grinnell would get no closer as the Redhawks scored eight runs over the final three innings to put the game out of reach.  Chad Takabuki ’10 led the Pioneers offensively in his final game in a Grinnell uniform with three hits, but Ripon starter Jason Wierschke and reliever Steven Blader were able to hold the Pioneers to two earned runs on only nine hits, all singles.  Zach Bayreuther committed four errors for the Redhawks in their clinching game, but the Pioneers could not take advantage as the Redhawks claimed the eighteenth conference title in program history, while Grinnell will enter next season still looking for its first.

Even though the Pioneers were unable to secure the elusive conference title, the tournament was still a great event to cap off the year.  In an unprecedented show of support that one would be hard-pressed to find at most other schools Grinnell’s size, alumni traveled from all across the country to witness the Pioneers’ run at history.

From the east coast, Mark Wilcox ’09 (Baltimore, MD) and myself, Justin Abramson ’08 (Washington, DC) made the trip, though not without incident, barely arriving in time for the first pitch after missing a connecting flight at Chicago O’Hare.  Coming to our rescue were former Pioneers Kevin Byrne ’06, James Bird ’07, Andrew Colver ’07 and Joe Reth, who drove us from their hometown Chicago to the tournament just in time for the pregame ceremonies.  The four of them make up the nucleus of the Pioneer alumni baseball team, the Chicago Pioneers, who began their 30-game season last week with a 2-1 loss.  Joining in the festivities all the way from the west coast was Ben Mendoza ’09 (Portland, OR), whose suggestion of a Dunkin’ Donuts trip on the way to Grinnell was critical to keeping spirits high throughout the journey.

Elsewhere, Mike Rosenbaum ’08 and Julia Meisler ’09 (St. Louis, MO) made the long drive, leaving their homes at 12:30 AM the day of the tournament and traveling all through the night to witness the Midwest Conference Tournament firsthand.  Rick Berdelle ’09 (Clarendon Hills, IL) also drove in to watch the Pioneers and former rotation co-anchor Harris take their shot at history.  And all of this does not even count the support from Pioneer alumni still in Iowa, including Peter Leo ’06 (West Des Moines), brothers Mike Maloney ’06 and Brett Maloney ’09 (Des Moines) and Jim Malewitz ’09 (Iowa City), who joined me in the booth and provided excellent color commentary for our viewers on MWCTV, which included among others, Daniel Dee Clark ’08 (Dallas, TX), Sam Eaton ’07 (Austin, TX) and, from across the pond, Gary Kahn ’09 (Ostrava, Czech Republic).

The weekend culminated with the end-of season baseball party, where Pioneer alumni and students gathered at The Titty Bar, home to Roder, Takabuki and J.P. Prouty ’10, among others, for one last night of drinking in honor of Grinnell College baseball.  For the alumni in the crowd, it undoubtedly provided a welcome reminder of what a wonderful place Grinnell College is and can be, especially when one is surrounded by good friends, beer and baseball.

On Sunday morning, the Pioneers of the present woke up to prepare for final exams as they wrap up Hell Week in Grinnell.  Also waking up after the final baseball event of the year were the Pioneers of seasons past, who headed back to their lives, wherever they may be.  Mendoza heads back to Portland, where he lives with longtime girlfriend Gabriela Maldonado-Bell ’09. Byrne drives home to his wife, Lauren Meredith ’06, and the next day he heads back to his job at AllState Insurance.  Wilcox, once called Max Walcott during his time as a Pioneer catcher, now goes back to being Mr. Wilcox as he returns to his high school chemistry classroom in Baltimore.  Malewitz makes the one-hour drive down to Iowa City, where he’ll be finishing up his first year in journalism school at the University of Iowa, while Colver, Reth and Bird resume their own lives and jobs as they look forward to the Chicago Pioneers’ next game and, of course, rooting on the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL playoffs. Rosenbaum and Meisler head back home to St. Louis, where they look to extend their stay atop the standings in the Denslow Cup.

And finally, I, too, return to life after Grinnell, where I work as an analyst (actually, as of yesterday, a Senior Analyst) at the Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC.  Once known as Young Towel, the voice of Pioneer athletics, I step out of the broadcasting booth for perhaps the final time and return to my life as Justin Abramson, a man who sits behind a desk in an M-Street office building looking at Excel spreadsheets for a living.

One week later, it’s life as usual for this Pioneer alum, as it is for all Pioneer baseball alumni across the country and the world.  But for one weekend, the Pioneer baseball community came together in pursuit of a dream.  And although the dream wasn’t realized this year for the Grinnell College baseball team, it was a weekend that this writer will never, ever forget.  So keep the dream alive, Pioneers.  The ghosts of Pioneer baseball past will always be with you.

Much to the delight (and to some, the disbelief) of the Grinnell College baseball community, it became official late Saturday afternoon: the Pioneers are a perfect 10-0 in Midwest Conference play and South Division champions for just the second time ever.  They’ll be hosting the Midwest Conference Tournament beginning on Friday, May 14, and despite what the Chinese calendar might say, the team could not be more confident that this is finally the year of the Pioneer.

On the mound, the Pioneers have arguably the best one-two starting pitching tandem in the history of the program.  Ryan “Don’t touch the” Harris ’10 takes the ball in Game 1 with a 4-1 record, a 2.41 ERA and a K/BB ratio of almost 3:1.  The big lefty from St. Louis will look to do something on May 14 that no Pioneer has ever done before: advance the Pioneers to the winner’s bracket with a Game 1 victory.  Backing him up is Ben Pope ’12, whose numbers are even better at 6-1, 1.39.  He has also finished five of the eight games he has started, and will take the hill in Game 2.

However, no other pitcher with an ERA below 5 has logged a start for the Pioneers this year.  Candidates to take the ball in Game 3, should the Pioneers make it that far, are Chris Peconga ’12, who has logged the most starts of anyone not named Pope or Harris and compiled a 1-3 record with an 8.42 ERA, or David “Have another beer” Platt ’10, who has started just one game but holds a 5.16 ERA and a 1-0 record, both the best on the team among pitchers not named Pope or Harris who have thrown five innings or more.  In addition, closer Chad “You don’t need a bottle opener, that’s a” Christoff ’10 (2 SV) may be called upon before the ninth inning in a tight ballgame.  As someone who has attended three College World Series and seen his Miami Hurricanes bow out on elimination day all three times, this writer can testify that although two stud pitchers can get you to the dance, it takes more than that to win it all.  It will be very interesting to see who steps up for this Pioneer pitching staff on Day Two of the tournament, when all teams’ Conference starters will be used and games are likely to be much higher-scoring.

On the other side of the ball, the Pioneers are led in nearly all offensive categories by sophomore sensation Mike “Smile and” Nodzenski ’12, whose sizzling .453 batting average and mind-blowing 1.367 OPS makes him an offensive force like no Pioneer lineup has seen since the days of Jason Anderson ’02, whose walk-off grand slam catapulted the Pioneers to their only other South Division championship all the way back in 2001. However, some say Nodzenski is having the greatest season of anyone ever to don the scarlet and black, already with ten round-trippers and the season not over yet.

Hitting right in front of him in the Pioneer lineup is Greg “All Present and Accounted for” Suryn ’11.  Suryn currently owns a torrid .446 batting average and an other-worldly 1.180 OPS while leading the team with four triples.  While his power (2 HR) does not approach Nodzenski’s, one of those home runs will be counted among the most important in the history of Grinnell College baseball.  Suryn’s crucial blow came in the bottom of the eighth inning of the eventual division-clincher, tying the game up and forcing it into extra innings, where the Pioneers eventually won, 10-6, on Nate Pierce ’10’s walk-off grand slam, who two seasons ago was not even wearing a Pioneer uniform.

Finally, no account of the Pioneers’ offensive abilities would be complete without mention of senior Paden “End of the” Roder ’10, whose team-leading total of ten home runs more than justifies his other team-leading total of 23 free passes.  Roder’s uncanny ability to both get on base consistently and find the other side of the wall, along with leadoff hitter Chad Takabuki ‘10’s disruptive power-speed combination (11 XBH, 8 SB) helps this offense strike some serious fear not only into opposing pitchers, but catchers as well.

Regardless of the Pioneers’ chances (and most think they are very real), the alumni response to the team’s achievement has been nothing short of remarkable.

“Congratulations on the two big wins!” said former all-MWC pitcher Gary “Wrath of” Kahn ’09 via facebook all the way from South Africa.  “I know I had nothing to do with it, but I am so proud of this team,” remarked 2003 second-team all-MWC outfielder Peter Leo ’06, currently a Drake University law student. Jim Malewitz ’09, currently in Iowa City studying journalism and author of his blog, the Iowa City Digress, is “stoked beyond belief” to come back and watch the Pioneers vie for their first-ever conference title.

Former All-MWC second-teamer Robbie Unsell ’08 proclaims that “his spirit will be with” the Pioneers as he studies veterinary medicine in London, England.  2008 MWC South Division pitcher of the year Rick “Everybody knows about the” Berdelle ’09 (Clarendon Hills, IL) will be coming to the tournament and is “willing to accept any sleeping accommodations” to watch the Pioneers next weekend.  Golden Sombrero founder and former Pioneer captain Mike Rosenbaum ’08 will be making the trek in from St. Louis, having already taken in a Pioneer doubleheader sweep of Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL.  Former Pioneer ace Sam Eaton ’07 (Austin, TX) and all-MWC first-teamers Kevin Byrne ’06 (Chicago, IL) and Baylor dental school first-year Daniel Dee Clark ’08 (Farmington, NM) also may be in attendance to watch the Pioneers make their run at history as part of what will undoubtedly be a raucous crowd come May 14th.

The Pioneers are three games—just 27 innings—away from history, as they’ll look to capture Grinnell’s first-ever Midwest Conference title next weekend on the North Diamond.  And if you can’t make it, that’s no problem whatsoever—2008 first-team all MWC South Division catcher Jim Malewitz ‘09 along with myself, Justin Abramson ’08, the one-time voice of Pioneer athletics, will have the call for you for Midwest Conference Television, with coverage starting ten minutes before first pitch.  You can catch all the action at www.pennatlantic.com.

So come on out to the ballpark with us for the Midwest Conference tournament!  From Honolulu, Hawaii all the way to Durbanville, South Africa, Pioneer baseball fever has struck the globe, and the only cure may be a conference championship.  The Pioneers lit the fire this fall as they do every year, and while sometimes that fire is nothing but a few glowing embers after the first week of May, there is no doubt now that it will be a roaring blaze at the North Diamond come tournament time.

If you are unfamiliar with Four Corners or New Mexican high school baseball, this post will probably be meaningless to you.  However, if you are familiar with baseball in this area, then you know that this year is a very unique one for baseball in San Juan County.  Both Farmington High School and Piedra Vista High School have new management for the first time in over a decade.  Gurus Don Lorett and Dick Laughlin retired from their respective managerial positions after the 2009 season.  That was the first season since PV opened ten years earlier that they finished higher in the state tournament than FHS, and they were able to do it while graduating just five seniors, only 3 of which started.  Since PV opened, FHS has won 6 AAAA state titles including a 4-peat from 2005-2008.  Along with Eldorado, and Carlsbad, FHS has been the school with the deepest tradition in the state, winning titles in every decade since the 1960’s.  Thrice since PV opened have they fallen to FHS in the state championship.  It is the deepest rivalry in the state and never before has it seemed as though FHS was the underdog.

The new managers at FHS and PV respectively are Sean Trotter, Lorett’s assistant of 13 years, and Mike McGaha, FHS’s hitting coach since 2004.  When McGaha crossed town, he brought with him FHS’s strength and conditioning coach as well as the head JV coach, who handles PV’s stunning pitching staff.  Adding to the suspense of the rivalry is the fact that many of the top players from both schools play for the same club organization with management that has represented both schools.

At the top of the PV rotation sits UNM-signee, Jake McCasland.  McCasland boasts a fastball that has registered as high as 96 mph as well as three average off-speed pitches.  Following McCasland is everyday SS, Tim Bailey, who sits in the 86-88 mph range and who can reach back for 89 mph when he needs it.  Tim’s changeup and curveball can be above average, and he tends to get the ball on the ground well.  Following Bailey is junior, Dominic Moreno, who works in the 84-86 range from a low ¾ slot.  His fastball has excellent arm-side action, but his breaking stuff tends to be on one plane despite having above average tilt.  His changeup is better and also has good arm-side fade and some sink.  These three guys make up the deepest pitching staff either Farmington school has had since 2002, and the 4 and 5 are not bad either.  Senior, Chandler Joe, leads Farmington’s staff.  Joe works in the low to mid-80’s with an excellent changeup that plays his FB velocity up a tad.  Following him is utility player and UNM-bound, Eli Freese, who works in the mid to high-80s from a very low ¾ slot.  When Freese is in the strike zone, he dominates right-handed opponents because his fastball rides in very hard.  His secondary stuff (slider, curve, change, and splitter) can be equally devastating, but have occasionally been tough for Freese to get in the zone.

With a knee injury to FHS SS, Chris Weaver, PV’s lineup from the top down is head and shoulders above Farmington’s with the exceptions of 3B, Joe Cervantes, and Freese.  With a month left in the season, McCasland has already broken the school’s single-season HR record that was formerly held by Air Force-signee, Kyle Henke, in 2008.  Not to take anything away from Jake, but there are at least three players in the PV lineup equally skilled at the plate.  On paper, FHS is overmatched against PV in every way this season, but the same was true last year, and FHS was still able to wrap up their ninth consecutive District 1-4A title.  The FHS tradition of excellence is tough to overcome.

Well, PV had a very easy time overcoming it this time around. In front of a couple thousand fans they put up 4 runs in the first, and McCasland proceeded to toss a 1-hitter to lock up round 1 with a score of 5-0.  The war continues Tuesday with Freese on the mound against Bailey, and this should prove to be the more competitive of the two regular season bouts.

I think the community of Farmington is already anxiously awaiting the state seedings in hopes that PV and FHS will not meet until the title game.  The rivalry between the two schools has changed a lot over the last year.  The rivalry in the past has resulted in violence, vandalism, and a deep hatred for the opposing school that caused a sizeable rift in the framework of baseball in town.  With the new management a noticeable and long overdue burying of the proverbial hatchet seems to be taking place, and the community is benefiting from it.  Both coaches have been, at least superficially, very complimentary of the other school’s program and players in a number of interviews.  While the rivalry still exists and in many ways has never been stronger, in this particular season, it really does seem to be all about what happens between the lines.  It makes me proud to have once been a part of the same rivalry.

I am equally proud to be a Grinnell Pioneer today.  GC swept Illinois College at IC and has jumped out to 6 and 0 record in Midwest Conference play.  The Pioneers currently find themselves on the inside track to earning the host rights to the conference tourney in a month.  GO PIONEERS!

Mike Nodzenski, GC’s catcher, currently boasts slashes of .456/.518/.912.  Let’s just give this guy the MWC POY award now.  All-America anyone?  I say so.