Showing posts with label Starkopf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Starkopf. Show all posts

CLC baseball ready for playoffs with top hitters

Thursday, May 6, 2010 11:05 AM Chronicle
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Brett Starkopf
Features Editor

            The regular season is nearing its conclusion with the Lancers hoping for a better finish than last year. Every team in their conference makes the playoffs so the only remaining question is if the team is consistent enough to improve from their last year semifinal knockout.

            Though the playoffs are still two weeks away, the team is looking forward to redeeming their upsetting finish last year.

             “Our goals are always win the regional, win the sectional, make it to nationals,” Sophomore Kevin Miller said. “We’ve been talking about that since day one. I think the whole regular season is just preparing us for the postseason, which is something we’ve been looking forward to the whole time.”
    
            However, if CLC advances far into the post season, they will most likely have to face defending champion Kankakee Community College. KCC is currently ranked seventh in the nation and is absolutely pulverizing their adversaries. The Lancers will have to rely on their defense as well as their offense if they want to win the championship. But that doesn't intimidate them.

            “I think we match up with anybody in the region or, really, in the country,” Miller said. “We have just as much talent as any team around here. It’s just we have to be focused and we have to come with the right mentality. We just have to play our game.”

            Their game is hard-nosed, fast paced, baseball. And they have the stats to prove it. They have currently put up double-digit tallies in their past four wins, and 18 of their total 27 wins. Of the games, they beat their opponents by 10 or more runs, beating two teams by 23. In their first win on Thursday, they managed to tie their season record with 25 runs scored. They have six hitters who are hitting better than .400, and every player who has an official at-bat has a hit.

            The Lancers are bringing their super charged offense to Sauk Valley Community College for the regional playoffs. Lead by Sophomore Marcos Penaloza and Freshman Steven Torres, the Lancers prove to be a force to be reckoned with. Penaloza and Torres are both batting an astonishing .544, which is good enough to lead the nation is batting average.

            Keeping up with them are Sophomore Chris Stewart, who is batting .477 (18th in the nation), and Freshmen Jay Mueller hitting .475 (20th in the nation), and Tomas Catala’s .468 is good enough to round out the top 25 leaders.

            Their offense is good enough to get the W’s in the regular season but in order to advance in the postseason, they’re pitching and defense is going to play a major role.

            Sophomore aces Ben Ehgoetz and Rob Wilson need to assume their roles if the Lancers want to advance. Ehgoetz is throwing the ball well with a 3.42 ERA in 23 2-3 innings pitched. He has a team leading 22 punch-outs and a 3-0 record. Wilson is still sidelined with an arm injury and hasn’t thrown since April 10. Fellow Sophomore Jeff Baird is pitching lights out minus a little hiccup he had against Highland Community College, Thursday. He surrendered 13 runs (12 earned) in 2 1-3 innings of work. However, the Lancers still won 25-13.

            The team’s one Achilles heel, which has remained constant throughout the season, has been their inability to stay focused for all seven innings of the game. Many of their losses can be attributed to this.

            “We sort of have a bad habit of coming out and losing focus,” Miller said. “We don’t have the right mentality.”

             “But when we do have the right mentality, when we do have the focus, we really play within our own and we can really be anyone. That’s why we’re so optimistic for the playoffs coming up,” he added.

            The Lancers are looking forward to a rematch with Oakton Community College. On April 20, Oakton shut out CLC twice by final scores of 9-0. This was the only time they were held without a run.

            “(Playing Oakton is) something we’re really looking forward to. We want to get Oakton back again,” Miller said.

            Hopefully this time around, their big bats can come alive and the Lancers have a trip to the DII World Series in Oklahoma to show for it.

Loss of focus only vice for Lancers

Saturday, April 17, 2010 2:29 PM Chronicle
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Brett Starkopf

Features Editor

      At the midway point of the regular season, CLC’s baseball team is among the nation’s elite. The Lancers (17-9, 7-3 conference) started receiving votes to be ranked in the top 15 in the nation (comparable to top 25 for NCAA athletics).

      Sophomores Jeff Baird and Rob Wilson are pitching lights-out. Baird is 3-0 in four starts, posting a 1.80 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 15 innings of work. Wilson isn’t far behind with a 3-1 record, a 1.90 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 23 2-3 inning of work. Unfortunately, an arm injury could sideline him for a while but the team remains positive he will come back strong. His 16 punch-outs lead the team. Sophomore Ben Ehgoetz is second with 15 strikeouts and a 2-0 record.

      The offense has been on a terror, putting up double-digits in 10 of their 17 victories. On March 31, the Lancers scored 25 times, the most since April 2006 when they beat Waukesha County Technical College 22-3. The 25-2 rout is their largest margin of victory to date.

      Freshman first-baseman Steven Torres has an astonishing .544 batting average with a team-leading five home runs and 36 RBIs. His batting average ranks second among the NJCAA Division II leaders. Torres is joined on that list by sophomores Marcos Peneloza (.519) and Chris Stewart (.477) and fellow frosh Tomas Catala (.500) and Jay Mueller (.477). Torres and Stewart both lead the team with 31 hits.

      “I’m not unhappy with the way we are playing,” head coach Ken Kelly said. “We lost a couple games early then won 12 in a row. We’re a good offensive team, we’re a good defensive team, our pitching’s been good. We just need to get better everyday. It’s not who you play, its how you play.”

      Lately, the Lancers haven’t been playing well. They lost six out their last eight games. Kelly attributes his team’s recent struggles to the team’s lack of focus.

      “If anything, my concern for the team is our arms and our ability to stay focused for seven or nine innings,” Kelly said. “We have not done that yet. In baseball, what differentiates the teams who are very good to the teams who are good is their ability to focus.”

      The team’s struggles can be viewed as a learning experience. Since it’s the middle of the season, the team should be able to work out their kinks and be ready come playoff time.

      “We were getting better, but we took a step back,” Kelly said. “It’ll be interesting to see how things go.”

      If the first 18 games of the season were any indication of how this team can play (15-3 to start the season), they can and will go far in the playoffs. The only thing holding them back from scoring 25 runs-a-game is the lack of concentration towards the end of games.

      “We’re a very good team,” Mueller said. “We start games out really well. We’ll focus for four innings of the game and just lose it sometimes. There’s other games where we are focused and when we do, it’s a victory, usually. As long as we stay focused we are a very good team.”

The Long Ball Deception

2:27 PM Chronicle
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Brett Starkopf
Features Editor


      Every baseball player knows that chicks dig the long ball. And all baseball fans can agree there is nothing better, offensively, than a walk-off blast. But is the home run an integral part to winning a championship? Of course it’s fun for the fans to see and even more for the team when it happens in a clutch situation, but is scoring most of the runs because of a big fly going to help a team get to the championship as opposed to hinder their chances of winning? Of course not, but let’s see how much of a role it played in previous seasons.

      Thanks to mlb.com, baseball-reference.com and my trusty calculator, I was able to determine the percentage of runs scored as a result of home runs for the winners of the past 11 World Series and compare them to the stomping mats of the league. (Information for the research wasn’t available prior to the ’99 season, hence the uneven number.)
     
Here is what I found:

      Since the 1998 home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, homers have risen in popularity and in numbers (due in part to the use of HGH and anabolic steroids). In 1999 people started paying more attention to home runs and for the years that followed, homers seem to be crucial to any offense. However, in 7 of the past 11 years, the team whose player led the league in home runs missed the playoffs. Of the four that made the playoffs, only one team reached the World Series (2008 Phillies, Ryan Howard hit 48) and eventually won.
     
      During that time, only twice did the league leader play for the team that collectively hit the most bombs (Alex Rodriguez hit 57 of the Rangers 230 home runs in 2002 and 47 of the 239 in ’04, missing the playoffs both years). A-Rod contributed to 25 percent of the team home runs in ’02 and 20 percent in ’03, a significant percentage of productivity coming from a single person. In those two seasons, A-Rod hit 22 percent of the team home runs.
       
    Texas finished dead last in their division both of those years. The also finished top 10 in most offensive categories in 2002, yet, finished 18-games under .500. Aside from posting an ERA that was 27th out of 30 in the league, most of their runs scored came from home runs. In fact, 42 percent came from the big fly.
       
    The 2009 New York Yankees were the only team to win the World Series and lead Major League Baseball in home runs. They also lead the MLB in most hitting categories. However, they seemed to have an advantage. The Bronx Bombers’ new stadium played host to the most long balls in the league. There were 237 total homers hit in 81 games played there, a league leading 136 came from the home team, an average of 2.93 big flies a game. To put it in comparison, Wrigley Field only let up 160 home runs and U.S. Cellular let up 192. 

      The defense-wins-championships cliché has been true for the past 11 years. Specifically, it’s pitching that wins championships. Eight of the past eleven World Series champions have been in the top 10 in ERA, and half of them were in the top five. The 2002 Anaheim Angels finished fifth in ERA and 23rd in home runs hit. That year, the Angels scored only 31 percent of their runs off home runs, the smallest percentage in the MLB. They share that mark with the 2007 Boston Red Sox, who finished the year 18th in home runs hit and second in ERA.

      The only championship team that didn’t finish top 10 in home runs and ERA is the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards finished 16th in ERA and 12th in home runs hit. Actually, they are the only team in the past 11 years to win the World Series having won less than 85 games all season. 

      By my calculations, in order to be a World Series champion, you need a great balance of offense and defense, pretty obvious, I know. What isn’t obvious is the way teams go about doing it. Some rely on home runs like the ’01 Arizona Diamondbacks (43 percent of runs came from home runs), the ’05 Chicago White Sox (42 percent) and the ’08 Phillies (43 percent). Other teams rely on pitching like the aforementioned ’02 Angels and ’07 Red Sox. And the rest, well, I guess they got lucky. Just ask the ’03 Marlins.

Baseball team prepares for tough season

Friday, March 26, 2010 9:56 PM Chronicle
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Brett Starkopf
Features Editor

      “What are you doing to better yourself, right now?” a voice barks from behind the dugout of the CLC Baseball team. The few players the question was directed to scatter around the field and get back to work, continuing to prepare for the season opener, March 23 against the Lake Land College Lakers in Mattoon.

      Constantly trying to better themselves, the Lancer players work continuously, hardly taking a moment to sip water, let alone breathe. The structure of this team is reminiscent of a professional ball club. An hour into their first practice outside, Head Coach Ken Kelly takes his first steps onto the field. The team has already begun running drills and coaching each other without him, which is surprising considering these players are only teenagers.

      The squad will head into Mattoon looking to start the season on the right foot. The Lancers are playing a Laker team, whose season began at the end of February. They have already played 20 games and are in peak regular season form. Lake Land, a Division I junior college, started their season playing games in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, but that doesn’t intimidate any of the Lancer players.

      “The division doesn’t mean anything, it’s the players on the team,” Freshman Outfielder Denzale Denton said. “A lot of JUCO’s actually have better players, they just didn’t have the right grades. So we should be able to stay with them.”

      Lake Land has struggled up to this point in the season. Losing 10 of 13 games outside the state, the Lakers bounced back, splitting their next six. They will try to take their momentum into the contest against the Lancers, but will have the tough task of facing sophomore ace, right-hander Rob Wilson. The 6-foot-3-inch Canadian hurler was 4-1 last season. He was second on the team with a 1.28 ERA and struck out 28 batters in 42 1-3 innings.

      “I’m real excited about the first game,” Wilson said. “I’m healthier than I was last year, my fastball is stronger and my changeup has developed a lot.”

      The pitching rotation is the only part of the lineup and only part of the series, for that matter, Coach Kelly has set.

      “It’s not who we play, its how we play,” Kelly said. “I never look at the other teams. I can’t control anything about the other team. You can pretty much tell in (batting practice) for the other team who can play, that’s my scouting report.”

      After Wilson throws, sophomore Ben Ehgoetz will get the call the second game of the double header. Ehgoetz was 2-0 in only 22 1-3 innings last year, but posted a very respectable 2.02 ERA with 22 strikeouts. 

      After their series in Mattoon, the Lancers will head to Bloomington on March 24 to take on Heartland Community College. Freshman left-hander Luis Cruz will get his first start of the season.

      Aside from the unset lineups, the Lancers have to figure out their injury situation. A couple of players have to deal with arm problems, one of whom might be shut down for the season, and Denton bruised a bone in his hand after being hit with a pitch during a scrimmage. However, he is confident he will start Tuesday.

      “If the trainer says he thinks he can go, he can go. If the trainer says ‘no,’ he’s not going no matter what he thinks,” Kelly said.

      After their tough three day stretch, the Lancers head home and face Joliet Junior College on March 28 for their home opener. It will be nice for the team to get three days between games, but then again, as Kelly would ask, “what are you doing to better yourself?”

Baseball springs forward despite weather

Thursday, March 18, 2010 1:03 PM Chronicle
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Brett Starkopf.
Staff Writer


      Weather in Chicago isn’t like weather in other cities in the country. Here, January can be hot and June can be freezing and oddly enough, it wouldn’t be that surprising. As the “never-ending” winter seems to be finally coming to a close, and spring lurks just around the corner, sports fans are anticipating the start of America’s pastime’s next campaign. As always, neither the cold nor the snow have slowed that great cross-town debate over who is the better baseball team: Cubs or White Sox. While all that ranting and raving is going on, a community college team 45 miles north of the city has steadily become one of the best junior college teams that nobody has heard of.


      After winning the Illinois Skyway Conference last year and falling two wins shy of playing in the championship game, the Lancers main goal for this year is for the team to get better.


      “Every team makes the post-season tournament,” head coach Ken Kelly said. “As long as you don’t lose your last game, you’re national champions and that’s a great thing.”


      The task won’t be easy. Junior college teams change as frequently as, well, the weather. Every year coaches see new players come in. Returning players, who didn’t start the prior season, assume the responsibility, and the sophomores leave to continue their education at four-year universities. This leaves coaches with the difficult duty of constructing new strategies to approaching the season every year. The coaches are faced with a difficult mission.


      “That’s one of the challenges coaching at a junior college,” Kelly said. “Every year you have to reload. It’s not like coaching at a four-year school where maybe you’ll lose 20 to 25 percent of your team but you still have a strong nucleus coming back and guys who’ve been in the program.”


      The season is a mere two weeks away and the team has been working on defending their conference title since winter break ended. Unfortunately, with the inclement weather, they have to resort to indoor practice and have yet to touch the sacred ground that binds the team together, unlike the previous two years when the coaches took the team to Puerto Rico.


      The team would head down and spend 8 to 10 days practicing and playing inter-squad games, as well as minor league Puerto Rican teams, so the coaches can get a feel for the roster and know what to work on before the season starts. This year the team wasn’t able to travel, and with the field still blanketed by snow, it has been difficult to put a lineup together because they have yet to step onto the field.


      “This year will be a challenge because we have a lot of new guys who we really haven’t seen play that much,” Kelly said. “We don’t play an extensive fall schedule. I want our guys to get academically comfortable and understand their priorities. We make academics a priority.”


      The trips were not only educational for the coaches, but for the players as well. It helped the teammates build chemistry. With the amount of players CLC has that aren’t from the United States (14 this year, 10 last year), the majority of them Spanish speaking and from Puerto Rico, the trips were a learning experience. The team would live with their Puerto Rican teammates’ family and become accustomed to their lifestyle, something coach Kelly, who preaches education, wanted the players to get out of the trip.


      “The two years we did it, every (player) who is local (to the area) or is from the United States came back feeling significantly more appreciative of what they have and also have a greater appreciation and respect for the international and Puerto Rican (players),” Kelly said.


      However, this year the roles are reversed and the players from the States get to show their other mates around Chicago. Aside from practices, the Americans are on their own showing the internationals around.


      “I don’t want to know about (what they do) as long as they don’t break the law and are ready for practice then there shouldn’t be a problem,” Kelly said.


      The Lancers play a more hard-nosed style of ball that’s fun for everybody and can be summed up in one word: dominating. Last year’s team had a few power players who were able to light up the scoreboard quickly and give the team the necessary push to win, while leading the nation in almost all offensive categories.


      “I hate (sacrifice) bunting,” Kelly said. “Why would I trade an out for a stolen base? I’m not taking the bat out of a player’s hand. I don’t believe in giving up outs.”


      Offensively, Kelly thinks his team is better than last year’s league leading team. The only thing the team is lacking is an Albert Pujols type player who can carry the team on his back. As a whole, he believes this team is better than last year’s team, offense included.


      The major strength of this year is the team’s depth. Last year, the lack of depth and post-season injuries affected their championship run. In the team’s last game last season, they were unable to play five players because of injuries. This season, the team has at least two players at every position, leaving Kelly the ability to put out a different lineup every game. His lineup management will give every member of the team the chance to play, which Kelly really enjoys, but makes his job all the tougher.


      “Last year you could just pencil most of the same guys in every day and not worry about it. This year we’re not going to do that,” he said.


      However, the one thing Kelly doesn’t worry about is the team’s wins and losses. Ultimately, the goal of the players is to continue their education at a four-year school. Academics are made a priority over baseball. But when asked about what his team’s on-field goals are, Coach Kelly simply said, with a smile, “win two more games.”

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