Coming off a 2013 season that saw the Beavers finish one game out of a conference tournament spot, the Blackburn College Baseball Team will look to get over the hump in the 2014 season. A 15-21-1 overall record with a 12-11 mark in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play was just not enough. But this year, “the expectations are pretty high and we plan on meeting and exceeding those expectations. We believe we can do it” said Head Coach Mike Neal, who is in his 16th season.
The Beavers are returning 18 players from last year’s squad, 13 of which are at least in their junior season. “This is a veteran team that now understands what it takes to have success in this conference” explained Neal. The experienced team will be tested this season with a challenging schedule. Blackburn will play nine games against four teams ranked within the top 34 in Division III baseball, which amounts to a little more than 20% of the season.
One of those ranked teams is SLIAC foe Webster University. Webster comes into the 2014 campaign ranked #8 overall. Neal believes his team has definitely narrowed the gap with Webster and other SLIAC favorites Spalding University and Westminster College. “The experience and skill level of our guys is enough to compete with anybody.”
OUTFIELD
Returning for his senior season is centerfielder Donny Furhhop (St. Jacob, Il.), who leads a very deep outfield for the Beavers. Fuhrhop earned SLIAC Player of the Year honors in 2013 by hitting .386 with 32 RBI and 15 steals. His .453 OBP was one of the tops in conference which highlights his patience at the plate along with the opposing pitchers’ fear of facing him. Neal praised Fuhrhop by saying “Donny has come back every year with more muscle and experience. He’s one of the best players around and he’s capable of setting some school records this year.”
Sophomore Matt Mokriakow (Glen Carbon, Ill.) looks to continue his success from last season. Mokriakow hit .342 with 27 RBI in his freshman year. Jokingly Neal said “Let’s hope he doesn’t go through that dreaded sophomore slump that seems so common.” Josh Voigtlander (Rockford, Ill.) is poised for another solid season in his senior year. Voigtlander hit .314 with 12 steals and an OBP of .392 last year. From experience, Neal said “junior college players usually do better in their second year. They’re more relaxed and settled in.” Voigtlander came from Rock Valley College last season.
Another junior college transfer is Doug Matas (Youngstown, Ohio) who came in from Alleghany College in Pennsylvania. “He has a great approach at the plate and will provide some power.” says Neal, who expects Doug to help out tremendously on offense. Jacob Conder (Carterville, Ill.) is an explosive outfielder with great speed. Neal on Conder: “Jacob is as good on defense as anyone in the SLIAC.” Conder appeared in 26 games last year with an OBP of .312 in 78 plate appearances. Luis Velez (Addison, Ill.) rounds out the trio of juniors in the outfield. Velez has a chance to help offensively this season as a clutch hitter off the bench and possible DH. Neal has been impressed with his improvement every year.
Sophomore Tyler Gosnell (DeKalb, Ill.) and freshmen Forrest Smith (Guntersville, Ala.), Anthony Lucchesi (Springfield, Ill.), and Ben Bouse (Herrin, Ill.) will provide depth in the outfield.
INFIELD
Senior Franklin Bush (Auburn, Ala.) leads the strong core of infielders for the 2014 season. Bush was voted by his teammates as the team’s MVP at the conclusion of last year. Along with Fuhrhop, Bush was the only other player to appear in every game. In those 37 games, the shortstop batted .359 with a team-high 37 runs scored and 9 doubles. He also swiped 13 bags while getting on base at a .430 clip. Neal has been impressed with Bush thus far, “Franklin takes great pride in his defense and he pushes his teammates to do so as well. He understands what it takes and tries to get the other guys to buy in with him.”
Cody Flowers (Rantoul, Ill.) enters his final season coming off an outstanding season. He drove in 20 runs while hitting .349 with extra-base pop. He came up big in many clutch situations last season for the Beavers. “CFlow (as he is known by the team) has steadily improved each year and will provide a little power from a littler guy at third base,” said Neal.
Flowers is really excited about this high-powered offense. “This is one of the best and most balanced offenses I’ve ever been a part of. We have a little bit of everything with speed, power, and patience. We’re going to score a lot of runs and surprise people.” Last season Flowers had some clutch hits for the Beavers and when asked about it, he responded by saying “It’s a team effort. I have confidence in my teammates and we’re going to back each other up. If one person doesn’t get the job done, somebody else will.”
Sophomore Aaron Moody (Navarino, Wisc.) will look to man the second base position this year. Last season, Moody hit .290 with 19 RBI. He also only made five errors in 30 games played, good for a .958 fielding percentage. Neal is looking forward to see Moody grow in the future. “Aaron is very explosive and brings so much energy to our team. He has the potential to be very good in the coming years with his legs, bat, and glove.” Junior Vinnie Birk (Swansea, Ill.) will see time all over the infield. He will play mostly first base but will be also utilized at second base and third base. Birk hit .281 last season with a team high 18 walks and .468 OBP. “When Vinnie plays first base, we will be playing four high school shortstops in our infield. You can see why our defense is going to be good,” mentioned Neal.
Jared Jones (Mitchell, Ind.) will also see some time at first base this season. In limited time in his freshman year, Jones proved he can play by hitting .421 in 19 at-bats. Neal had much praise for the sophomore “Jared is such a grinder at the plate. He never gives away any at-bats. He competes.” Jon Lowry (Peoria Heights, Ill.) will also provide a heavy-hitting bat for the Beavers. Lowry had a down sophomore year and will look to bounce back this season. He will get a late start on things until the basketball season finishes up.
Juniors Ben Beckwith (Potosi, Mo.) and Drew Williams (Calhoun, Ill.) round up the very talented Blackburn infield. Beckwith also had a down year last season but is known as “the smartest guy on the team” by Neal and is very solid defensively all around the infield. Williams has improved tremendously every season and provides depth at second base.
CATCHERS
Jose Osorio (Caguas, Puerto Rico) is coming with higher expectations this season. Neal believes his down year last year, .148 average and .314 OBP in 28 games, was because of his unfamiliarity away from home. “Jose is now all settled in and comfortable and is primed for a big year. He is outstanding at blocking and receiving, which is what you look for in a catcher. Defense first.”
Freshmen Joey Szerletich (Pleasant Plains, Ill.) and Robert Smith (Guntersville, Ala.) have impressed coach defensively early on as freshmen. Neal likes the idea of having two catchers that can come in and perform as backups, especially with Szerletich batting left-handed and Smith right-handed. “It just gives us more options. Gotta love options.” The Smith brothers (Robert and Forrest) are the first pair of twins Neal has coached. “It’s a little different seeing double, but they’re great to have around to loosen the mood.”
PITCHERS
Leading this year’s pitching staff are two returners, senior Caleb Schubpach (Rockford, Ill.) and Vinnie Birk. Schupbach led last year’s team in innings pitched with 46.1. He appeared in 10 games with a 5.63 ERA and 29 strikeouts. Birk threw 43 innings with an ERA of 4.60. His 6.28 strikeouts per game was the highest on last year’s team. “We need these guys to get some big outs this year. We’re going to rely on them to get the job done and lead the staff.”
Schupbach gives much of his appreciation to the fantastic Beaver defense. “A pitcher’s biggest asset isn’t any one of his pitches; it’s his defense behind him. They give a pitcher all the confidence in the world knowing he doesn’t have to haul the load all by himself.” He went on to compliment Blackburn’s defense by saying “I believe we have one of the best defenses in the SLIAC. They are consistent, smart, and very fast. Our defense might as well be a track team.”
Junior Jacob Baalman (Hardin, Ill.) and senior Cody Meyer (Mason City, Iowa) will both be a huge part of the staff this year and will see a lot of innings. Baalman posted a 4.38 ERA in 37 innings last year while only walking six opposing hitters. “Jacob has control with all of his pitches which is really remarkable,” said Neal. Meyer had a 4.50 ERA in 14 innings but will get many more innings this year as he is now only focusing on pitching. Neal believes this switch will improve Meyer’s mindset and performance. “Cody gets really hyped up and by just focusing on pitching this year, he can just look at his innings and getting guys out, nothing else. I think it will help him tremendously knowing he only has to focus on pitching.”
Another player focusing just on pitching is sophomore Tim Hillis (Williamsville, Mo.). Neal thinks the focus on pitching will also help Hillis improve his 3.38 ERA in 13.1 innings last season. Tyler Gosnell only threw nine innings in his freshman campaign, but there will be a heavy increase for the “Goose” in 2014. “All Goose does is throw strikes. How do you get guys out? You throw strikes. He has looked excellent in his preseason bullpens and we’re expecting major contribution from him this year,” said Neal.
Jon Lowry will get some quality innings on the mound along with Franklin Bush, Josh Voigtlander and Jared Jones. Contributions on the hill will also come from freshmen Geoff Coe (Deactur, Ill.), submariner Mitch Snyder (Girard, Ill.), Anthony Lucchesi, and lone southpaw Garrison Hathaway (Eldorado, Ill.).
Around campus, the baseball team is known to be so close, united, and poised for a deep run and successful season. Pitcher Cody Meyer explains a little more on the brotherhood of the team: “We are seriously like brothers because we have each other’s back on and off the field no matter what. We’re a big ol’ family, that’s all there is to it.” Meyer continued by weighing in on this season, “Baseball is a team sport and in order to succeed we have to believe in each other. We’re close enough to the goal where we don’t just think we can succeed now, we know it.”
Blackburn will open up the season this weekend in Birmingham, Alabama to get away from the poor Illinois weather. They will play two games against Millsaps College (#12 in the nation) and one against the host Birmingham Southern College (#34). The opener will be on Saturday at 11:30 AM against Millsaps. Live stats will be available for this weekend through Birmingham Southern’s athletic site. Check out Blackburn’s schedule to find out more times and dates for this weekend and the rest of the 2014 season.