A Rustbelt conference of Mid-Major level, in basketball vernacular, the Horizon League is made up of nine schools in Oho, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Known primarily for basketball the league contracts to six teams in baseball.
The Horizon League annually has players selected in the Major League Draft. Last season three pitchers were drafted, RHP Karch Kowalczyk, RHP Jake Paulson and RHP Jake Morton. Team success on the national stage is something the league is still striving to achieve. The six members posted a 57-100 record against non-conference foes in 2014, Wright State was the only team to post a winning record at 34-19. It was assumed they would run the table in the conference tournament earning the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, Youngstown State ruined the party. The 15-36 Penguins went on a four game tear, defeating the Raiders twice on their way to the title.
Several teams are upgrading their non-conference schedules as Wright State takes on Ole Miss and Miami; Milwaukee faces Louisville and Oakland takes on Arizona, USC and FSU. Despite the efforts the conference is still looking at a single bid to the tournament.
University of Illinois Chicago
UCI’s second place finish during the Horizon League’s 2014 regular season didn’t do them a much good. The Leagues’ top offensive team dropped two consecutive games in the tournament, to Milwaukee and Valparaiso, to end their season with a losing record, 24-27.
The Flames enter 2015 with 19 returning lettermen, including OF/C Ty Detmer (.330/.470/.436) and OF Jeff Boehm (.302/.543/.408) offensively and a slew of pitching. Detmer had five home runs and thirty-nine RBI while Boehm led the team with seven homers and eighty-eight total bases.
Ian Lewandowski (4-6, 4.02), Jack Andersen (3-4, 6.47) and Joe Perricone (2-2, 7.09) return as top-of-the rotation pitchers, the juniors combined for 33 starts. The bullpen features two right handed pitchers, senior Alex Posey (27 appearances, 4 saves) and sophomore Mitchell Schulewitz (56 IP, 3 saves). Schulewitz struck out 59 in 56 innings while Posey held opponents to a .190 batting average.
Newcomer RHP Connor Ryan, a 6-1, 175 transfer from Prairie State College, was an All-Conference selection. The power pitcher struck out 69 in 57 innings.
Wright State
Regular season champion Wright State (35-22, 25-4) was ousted in the conference tournament, falling to Youngstown State twice, 1-7 and 4-5, the second loss coming in the championship game. The Raiders had ten players receive Horizon League post season honors and with a substantial portion of the roster returning the Raiders look to make a run at the conference title and the automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Senior 2B Michael Timm (.325/.467/ .432) leads an offense that returns six starters. Timm’s primary support will come from sophomore C Sean Murphy (.301/ .442/.390) and senior Andrew McCafferty (.274/.402/. 353). The trio was 1-2-3 in total bases and combined for 10 of the Raiders 19 home runs.
Pitching will be the strength of the Raiders in 2015. Junior LHP Robby Sexton (8-4, 2.95) should be the Friday night starter with Luke Mamer (1-2, 4.63), E.J. Trapino (1-1, 5.52) and Darion Nunn (3-1, 5.54) jostling for the remaining rotation spots.
Andrew Elliott (2-0, 0.65, 13 saves), the leagues saves leader, holds down a bullpen complemented by Logan Blair (2-0, 3.13) and Jack Van Horn (4-2, 3.80). Elliott struck out 61 in 41.2 innings pitched; Blair and Van Horn appeared in 24 and 25 games respectively.
Newcomers include: 6-5 RHP Nick Pauley and 6-1 RHP Jason Foster, throw in the 85-87 range with a ¾ to over the top delivery, could see some action.
Valparaiso
The Crusaders of 2014 posted a team slash line of.271/ .301/.324 on their way to a 12-12 record in the league and a 25-28 overall finish. The lack of offense was offset by a solid pitching staff that led the league with a 3.88 ERA and finished second in wins, with 25.
Infielder Spencer Mahoney (.256/ .310/ .381) and outfielder Mark Johnson (.221/ .363,/.313) highlight the Crusaders’ offensive. Both players will be asked to run on the base paths for team that lost its top two base stealers, Johnson also hit two home runs.
Dalton Lundeen (5-6, 1.94) and Mario Losi (2-7, 4.05) anchor the rotation, Lundeen led the team with 65 strikeouts. Ellis Foreman (4-6, 4.88) started eleven games last season, pitching 72 innings and striking out 41 batters.
The bullpen looks to replace the 11 saves from the departed Karch Kowalczyk. Zack Walsh (1.38 ERA, 13 IP), Bryce Yoder (3.20 ERA, 19.2 IP) and Trevor Haas (3.51, 33.1 IP) have the best chance, although none earned a save last season. RHP Grant Inman (6-4, 180) freshman has the chance to make a difference for the Crusaders. Head coach, Brian Schmack feels that, “Grant has an electric arm……He comes to us with a ton of potential and ability”.
Oakland
The Golden Grizzlies look to rebound from a disappointing season that saw them post a 7-17 record in the league 12-33 overall mark. With seven position starters and eleven pitchers returning they have an opportunity to move up in the league standings if they can overcome a challenging early season schedule that has them facing Florida State, USC and Arizona.
Oakland returns three key offensive leaders, Robby Enslen (.378/ .522/.440), Mike Brosseau (.321/.432/.383) and Zach Sterry (.279/ .390/ .359). Enslen and Brosseau were first team all-league and Sterry was named to the all-freshman team.
Jason Hager (3-4, 4.12) is the Friday starter for the Grizzlies; the LHP started twelve games last season and struck out 51 batters in 78.2 innings. After him, there are a lot of questions. No other returning pitcher tossed more than 20.2 innings or struck out more than 18 batters.
Collin Gee (2.55 ERA, 17.2 IP, 13 K), Doug Beath (11.2 IP, 11 K, .195 B/AVG) and Luke Scharich (12.1 IP, 9K) who pitched primarily in relief last season, will compete with a trio of transfers, RHP Alex Mason, RHP Jake Lee and RHP Aaron Dehm to fill out the rotation and settle the bullpen.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
A 14-member senior class that includes seven fifth-year seniors has the Panthers primed for a title run in 2015. A 21-29 overall finish last season, with a 10-14 league mark, saw Milwaukee win two games in the league tournament.
The offense features seniors, Ryan McShane (.290/.352/ .350), Tyler Hermann (.280/ .366/.361) and Mike Porcaro (.271/.356/.376). McShane was 11/11 in stolen bases; Porcaro only struck out 18 times in 177 at bats.
Five returning pitchers combined for 37 Panther starts in 2014, but only 10 wins. Jack Langley (2-1, 3.30), Brian Keller (82.1 IP, 54 K), Cody Peterson (4-3, 5.23) and Jake Tuttle (2-2, 23 K) are all in the shuffle for rotation spots.
Top newcomers include OF Dylan Detert, 1B Blake Fleischman, OF Cole Heili and C Daulton Varsho.
Youngstown State
Despite enduring a disastrous season (17-38, 6-17), due rescheduled games and a rash of injuries, the Penguins went on their first four-game winning streak of the season and won the Horizon League Tournament. The title earned them a berth in NCAA Tournament, where they defeated Indiana State 5-2 for the school’s first NCAA win. YSU was then bounced out of the tournament by perennial power, Stanford, 12-4.
Sophomore OF Alex Larivee (.274/ .332/.349), named to the league all-freshmen team, returns along with seniors, Brent Gillespie (.260/ .359/ .321) and Matt Sullivan (.230/ .353/ .319) for a team that hit .254.
RHP Kevin Yarabinec (24.1 IP, 5 saves) returns to the back end of the bullpen. Set-up and middle relief will be divided among: Josh North (26.1 IP, 24 K), Anthony Konders (1-2, 34.1IP) and Ryan Smith (15 app, 22.2 IP).
RHP Jeremy Quinlan (1-2, 4.78) and LHP Jared Wight (1-4, 7.87) will compete for the Friday start while RHP Ryan Krokos (0-5, 9.32) must improve his location (.404 B/AVG) in order to help the rotation.
Junior college transfer D.J. Carr, who throws from the right side, adds a power arm to the staff. He posted a 4-1 record with 69 K’s in 60 innings pitched at Chandler-Gilbert C.C. last season.
Predicted Order of Finish
1. Milwaukee
2. Wright State
3. University of Illinois Chicago
4. Youngstown State
5. Oakland
6. Valparaiso
