AJ
Austin Jones
  • finance
  • Class of 2018
  • Milwaukee, Wisc.

Milwaukee Native Jones Earns Spot on 2017 UW-Whitewater Baseball Roster

2017 Mar 7

Austin Jones, a native of Milwaukee, WI, and graduate of Wauwatosa West High School, will compete for the 2017 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team, which begins its season with a doubleheader this Thursday against St. Thomas (Minn.) at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

The Warhawks finished last season with a 34-17 record after reaching their sixth NCAA Touranmetn championship round (final eight) since 2004 by winning three straight elimination games at the NCAA Regional in Sauget, Ill. The team finished the year ranked ninth by D3baseball.com and 12th in the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Poll.

UW-Whitewater returns eight positional starters and a pair of starting pitchers this spring and is the favorite to win the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference according to a poll of the league's coaches and athletic communications personnel.

The Warhawks, who currently rank fifth in the D3baseball.com Top 25, will play a second doubleheader in Minneapolis on Friday against Concordia-Moorhead.

On March 16, UW-Whitewater begins a six-game, seven-day trip to Central Florida for the RussMatt Invitational. Two of the team's opponents during the trip - Webster (Mo.) and Southern Maine - are currently receiving votes in the D3baseball.com Top 25, and another - Union (N.Y.) - competed in last season's NCAA Tournament.

The Warhawks open their home schedule March 29 with a doubleheader against St. Scholastica (Minn.) at Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium.

After a visit to Ripon on April 5 for another twin bill, the team welcomes UW-La Crosse, which also reached the 2016 NCAA Championship round, to Miller Stadium on April 8-9. On the 8th, UW-Whitewater will hold a benefit for Justin Wegner, a freshman catcher on last season's team who is currently undergoing treatment for a rare type of soft tissue sarcoma, a type of cancer.

Other home dates on the schedule include single games on April 11 against Concordia (Wis.) and April 18 against MSOE, and doubleheaders against UW-Platteville on April 29-30 and Benedictine (Ill.) on May 3. The Warhawks will hold Tom Lange Bobblehead Day in honor of the team's longtime public address announcer on April 29.

UW-Whitewater closes its regular season May 5-6 with doubleheaders at UW-Oshkosh.

The postseason begins May 12-13 with the WIAC Championship. The winner of the regular season conference championship serves as host for the double elimination tournament, which determines the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament.

UW-Whitewater will host the NCAA Midwest Regional on May 17-21 at Miller Stadium for the sixth time in the last eight years. Hosting privileges do not guarantee a bid to the national tournament.

The NCAA Championship round, which includes the winners of each of the eight regionals, is set for May 26-30.

Head coach John Vodenlich returns for his 14th season at the helm after earning 2016 WIAC Coach of the Year honors. He has led the Warhawks to nine WIAC championships and 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, including two national championships, during his career.

See below for a position-by-position breakdown of the 2017 UW-Whitewater baseball team.

Infield

The Warhawks return four of their five starting infielders from last season, including three of the team's most decorated players.

Senior Steve Chamberlain (Rockford, Ill./Guilford), who moved from third base to second base last season, is a two-time All-WIAC and All-Midwest Region selection. In 2017, he ranked third on the team with a .361 batting average and added 27 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases.

Junior Blake Fleischman (Germantown, Wis./Germantown) completes the right side of the infield at first base. The first team All-WIAC honoree hit .347 with nine home runs and ranked among league leaders in total bases (100) and RBI (38).

Sophomore third baseman Cal Aldridge (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) garnered second team All-Midwest Region and first team All-WIAC accolades after starting all 51 games and ranking among conference leaders in batting average (.398), total bases (117), home runs (10), RBI (43), runs scored (38) and on-base percentage (.472).

Senior shortstop Jordan Kuczynski (Germantown, Wis./Germantown) batted .288 with eight doubles and 30 RBI last season.

Other returning infielders include senior Dylan Bersch (Pulaski, Wis./Pulaski), junior Trent Borgardt (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee), sophomores McCauley Cox (Janesville, Wis./Craig) and Connor Schneider (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge). All four made at least two starts last spring.

Four players will vie for playing time at catcher - junior Brent Feldner (Schererville, Ill./Marian Catholic), sophomores Michael Aiello (Racine, Wis./Horlick), Kevin White (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence) and freshman Lucas Price (Spring Green, Wis./River Valley). White is the lone member of the group with playing experience, appearing in 18 games as a freshman in 2015.

Outfield

Juniors Daytona Bryden (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah), Will Helbing (Waunakee, Wis./Waunakee) and sophomore Matt Wary (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove) return with significant starting experience in the outfield.

Bryden, the team's primary centerfielder in 2017, led the team in batting average (.400), stolen bases (24), runs scored (42), walks (26) and triples (3), and added five doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI.

Wary made 28 starts and hit .333 with 12 RBI, and Helbing knocked in 13 runs in 26 games, including 23 starts, last season.

Pitching

Two first team All-WIAC selections from the 2016 season return in 2017 at the top of the starting rotation.

Senior right-hander Mike Nompleggi (Oconto Falls, Wis./Oconto Falls) posted a 2-3 record with a 3.09 earned run average in 58 1/3 innings last season. Senior lefty Ankur Shah (St. Charles, Ill./North) collected a 5-2 mark with a 3.13 ERA in 54 2/3 innings.

Junior RHP Heath Renz (Jefferson, Wis./Jefferson) made a team-high 20 appearances, including 18 in relief, a year ago. He finished the season with a 6-0 record, a 2.42 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 52 innings.

Junior right-hander Austin Jones (Wauwatosa, Wis./West), a 26th-round selection of the Chicago Cubs in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft last summer, has been one of the team's top options out of the bullpen during his two seasons. As a freshman in 2014, he was named all-region after collecting six wins and a 2.27 earned run average in 19 appearances. After suffering a season-ending injury early in 2015, he pitched 12 2/3 innings last spring, tallying 16 strikeouts in 10 appearances.

Other returners include seniors Austin Finn (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine), James Georgakas (Ellsworth, Wis./Ellsworth), Matt Langlie (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein), sophomores Sam Heilenbach (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) and Michael Kaska (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton Community). Georgakas appeared in nine games and tallied a 2-0 record with a 1.80 ERA, while Heilenbach registered a 1.59 ERA in five appearances. Langlie pitched in nine games, while Finn and Kaska combined for three appearances.

Junior left-hander Donnie Manke (Lodi, Wis./Lodi) last pitched in 2015, when he made 11 relief appearances.