“Bulletin board material” basically is a thing of the past.
Years ago, a quote or prediction in a newspaper would oftentimes end up on bulletin boards in opponents’ locker rooms, with the offending prediction circled with a magic marker to ensure every player saw it.
Now with websites and social media taking over, clippings aren’t used as much of a motivating tool. But the process still goes on.
After the UW-Whitewater baseball team won this season’s regular-season title by three games and swept through the WIAC Tournament to earn the league’s automatic NCAA Division III tournament bid, Warhawks head coach John Vodenlich couldn’t hide his delight in his team proving prognosticators wrong.
“We thought we did a really nice job throughout the season,” Vodenlich began, “especially after we were picked by the sports information directors to finish third.”
That was the case back in February. In their annual preseason poll, league coaches and sports information directors had picked UW-Whitewater third behind UW-La Crosse and UW-Stevens Point. Both those teams were ranked higher in the D4baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason Top 25 poll, as well.
Preseason polls are always sketchy, and that was the case this spring. The Warhawks went 19-5 in WIAC play to win the regular-season championship. La Crosse was second at 16-8 and Stevens Point was third at 15-9.
In the WIAC Tournament held last weekend at Prucha Field at Jim Miller Stadium, the Warhawks defeated UW-Oshkosh 5-1, UW-Stevens Point 10-6 and UW-La Crosse 11-3 to earn the conference’s automatic NCAA Division III bid.
Starting Friday, the No. 1-seeded Warhawks (35-8) will host Cal Lutheran (California) University (28-14), Centre (Kentucky) College (34-11) and Crown (Minnesota) College (21-20) in the double-elimination regional.
The Warhawks open the tournament with an 11 a.m. game Friday against No.4-seeded Crown. At 2:30 p.m. Friday, No. 2-seeded Centre will play No. 3-seed Cal Lutheran.
Warhawks sweep top WIAC honors
The All-WIAC team and top individual honors show why the Warhawks swept both the regular season and tournament titles.
Matt Scolan earned the WIAC Position Player of the Year honor, Michael Hilker Jr. was the Pitcher of The Year, freshman Jack Hagen was the Newcomer of the Year and Vodenlich was named Coach of the Year.
Pitcher Cade Berendt, pitcher/first baseman Eli Frank and infielder Andy Thies joined Scolan, Hilker Jr. and Hagen on the All-WIAC first team.
The Warhawks went 35-8 despite having last season’s WIAC Position Player of Year Adam Cootway available for only 16 games after he suffered a hand injury during the Warhawks’ spring trip.
“He’s still trying to get his legs,” Vodenlich said. “But that is one of the more impressive stories. We’ve had three starters injured this season, and players have come in and in some cases earned the starting spot.
“Without them, we don’t have this success.”
Scolan, a junior left fielder, repeated as an All-WIAC first-team pick. He leads the conference with 64 runs scored and is second with 57 RBI. He is hitting .401 and had at least one hit in 36 of 42 games he’s started.
“Matt is a three-year starter and really has come into his own,” Vodenlich said.
Hilker is a 6-foot-2 right-hander who leads the WIAC with a 1.37 ERA, 90 strikeouts and batting average against of .167.
Hagen, a 6-3 right-hander, leads the conference with eight wins and is third with a 3.07 ERA.
Frank leads the conference with a .456 average and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 1.311. He has 73 hits, including 17 doubles, two triples and 10 homers and has 55 RBI.
“He’s had a big year,” Vodenlich said. “He’s a leader, and we probably haven’t utilized enough as a pitcher. His offensive production has been amazing.”
With Hilker, Berendt, Hagen and Frank leading the way, Vodenlich can depend on his team’s pitching during the tournament.
“Our pitching is the highlight of our team,” Vodenlich said of the group that is coached by Janesville’s Tom Klawitter. “But certainly, we are a well-rounded team offensively and defensively.”
Vodenlich earned his 11th career WIAC Coach of the Year honor. He surpassed the 700-victory mark at UW-Whitewater on April 8. He is the winningest coach in UW-Whitewater history and ranks second in WIAC all-time victories.
He is confident as his team begins the school’s 25th NCAA Division III tournament run.
“I feel really good about it,” Vodenlich said. “You can’t take anything for granted, but this team — as well as any of the big teams we’ve had — has done a great job of staying in the moment and taking things one day at a time.
“I would expect them to continue that as we move into the regionals.”
NCAA DIVISION III REGIONAL
At Prucha Field at Jim Miller Stadium, UW-Whitewater
(Double elimination)
GAMES FRIDAY
Game 1—UW-Whitewater (No. 1 seed) vs. Crown (Minn.) College (4), 11 a.m.
Game 2—Centre (Kentucky) College (2) vs. Cal (California) Lutheran University, 2:30 p.m.
GAMES SATURDAY
Game 3—Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 4—Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 2:30 p.m.
Game 5—Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 6 p.m.
GAMES SUNDAY
Game 6—Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 11 a.m.
Game 7—(if necessary) Teams that played in Game 6.
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