One year after an unbelievable season that ended one win shy of the program's first NJCAA Division II World Series championship, the Madison College baseball is hoping to build off that team success despite a roster that looks much different. The WolfPack, who are ranked #2 in the
NJCAA Division II Preseason Poll, are optimistic they have put many of the right pieces in place for the 2023 season, which will begin Thursday, March 9 with a doubleheader against Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Chandler, Arizona.
Head coach
Mike Davenport, who begins his 19th season at the helm, saw 21 players move on after tying a school record for wins with 50 last year, and 15 of those players are still playing collegiate baseball. In all the
2023 roster features 20 total newcomers and just nine returning players that saw action during 2022. Leading the group of second year players is returning all-conference shortstop
Gabe Roessler. The Rockton, Illinois, native batted .355 with 65 hits, 51 runs scored, 44 runs batted in, 14 stolen bases, and a .909 fielding percentage. He also opened the season with an impressive 14-game hitting streak.
"Gabe was an integral part of our team makeup last year, both defensively as our primary shortstop and offensively as he hit toward the top of our order. He is one of two position players to return this year and will be counted on for his consistency," stated Davenport.
Joining Roessler in the group of returning players is fellow infielder
Carter Stebane, and a trio of pitchers
Chris Byhre,
Alex Hayes, and
Eli Hoyt. Stebane posted a .303 average at the plate with 33 hits, 31 runs scored, and 26 RBI.
"Carter improved a lot from the start to the end of his freshman season and ended up in our tournament lineup by the end of the season. We'll be looking for him to take yet another step forward in his play and leadership."
Hoyt and Hayes saw 45.0 and 44.0 innings on the hill, respectively, in their first year, with Hoyt posting a 1.40 earned run average and 53 strikeouts while Hayes owned a 4.09 ERA and 41 strikeouts. Hoyt, a native of Waukesha, Wisconsin, was second on the team in wins with a 7-1 record over ten appearances. Hayes, a former Muskego HS athlete committed to NCAA Division I Southeast Missouri State, saw action in 14 contests and finished 4-1 with two saves. Byhre, a Delafield, Wisconsin, native committed to NCAA Division I Nebraska-Omaha, was a middle and late reliever in 2022, and led the team with a 0.98 ERA over 18.1 innings to earn a 3-1 record and two saves.
"Eli hda a solid freshman season and is poised to be one of our top starting pitchers. Alex is a strike thrower that has improved his off-speed and will be one of our top starters, and Chris was great as a closer last season and will likely pitch more in a starting role as a sophomore."
It will take a total team effort to fill the many holes left from last year's departures, however, Davenport, who eclipsed the 1,000 win plateau in junior college baseball last season, has identified a few newcomers that have shown well early: pitchers
Michael Carpenter (Hartland, WI) and
Liam Stumpf (Dodgeville, WI), infielder/pitcher
Grant Ross (Pewaukee, WI), infielder
Clayton Slack (Viroqua, WI), outfielder
Dayton Rozinski-Hicks (Milwaukee, WI), catcher
Nick Nowak (Waukesha, WI), and catcher/first baseman
Will Johannes (Mukwonago, WI). Rozinski-Hicks and Nowak both saw limited time early in the season in 2022, while Ross and Slack are transfers from Valparaiso University and Marshalltown Community College, respectively.
"The incoming class is extremely talented and deep with a high ceiling physically. It is a good mix of transfers and true freshman. If they continue to work and develop, we have a chance to be a very good team by the end of the season."
The
2023 schedule will begin with the annual spring trip to the desert for a nine-day, 12-game excursion in Arizona. Once back in the Midwest, the WolfPack is slated to seven road games within Region 4 before their April 1 home and North Central Community College Conference opener against the College of DuPage. This year's schedule features 14 full nine-innings games with ten coming as part of home-and-home series with other Region 4 programs. The preseason polls have five future opponents receiving early recognition, with McHenry County College at 16 and Kankakee Community College at #20 in Division II and Oakton Community College ranked #6 and Joliet Junior College at #13 in Division III. Also, Paradise Valley Community College, who marks the end of the Arizona trip, is receiving votes in Division II.
Every Madison College baseball game can be followed via the GameChanger app for pitch-by-pitch stats. All home games will be live streamed at
MadisonCollege.tv, and away games live streamed on GameChanger.
"This is probably the fewest returning players that we have had in the past ten years. It is a talented enough group to have a very good overall season, especially if things click early. As with all of our past teams, we are always gearing ourselves to be playing our best baseball at the end of the season."
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