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

Milwaukee Native Jones to Compete for UW-Whitewater Baseball in 2016

2016 Mar 14

Austin Jones, a native of Milwaukee, WI, and graduate of Wauwatosa West High School, will compete for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team during the 2016 season, which begins Thursday.

Jones, a sophomore at UW-Whitewater, is majoring in general business.

The Warhawks open the campaign Thursday against Anderson (Ind.) on the first day of their annual spring trip to Central Florida.

See below for a complete season preview on the 2016 team.

The Warhawks enter the campaign with high hopes for a fourth consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship and a ninth straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

UW-Whitewater was predicted to finish second in the WIAC in a preseason poll of the league's coaches and athletic communications personnel. The team is currently ranked seventh in the nation in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25 and 11th in the most recent American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball News poll.

Senior pitcher Curtis Morgan (Green Lake, Wis./Green Lake) and senior catcher/infielder Dane Burman (Milton, Wis./Milton) have been selected as captains for the 2016 Warhawks, who return two positional starters, four pitchers who started five or more games a season ago and a bevy of relievers, including two who made 10-plus relief appearances in 2015.

Head coach John Vodenlich is back for his 13th season at the helm of the program. The seven-time WIAC Coach of the Year has led UW-Whitewater to nine conference titles and 11 NCAA bids, including five trips to the championship round and national championships in 2005 and 2014.

The Warhawks will play 13 games against fellow 2015 NCAA qualifiers, including four during their trip to Florida from March 17-29 - Anderson (Ind.), St. Scholastica (Minn.), Southern Maine and Castleton (Vt.).

After returning to Wisconsin, UW-Whitewater will visit Ripon, which defeated the Warhawks in last season's NCAA opener, for a doubleheader on April 2.

UW-Whitewater opens its home schedule against conference rival UW-Stevens Point with a four-game set on April 9-10. The team welcomes Concordia Chicago, which also defeated the Warhawks in the NCAA Tournament last year, for a twin bill on April 13.

Other games against 2015 NCAA qualifiers include a contest against Carthage on April 26 and back-to-back road doubleheaders against defending national runner-up UW-La Crosse on April 30-May 1.

The Warhawks close the regular season May 6-7 with doubleheaders against UW-Stout at Miller Stadium.

See below for a position-by-position breakdown of the 2016 UW-Whitewater baseball team.

Infield

Sophomore Steve Chamberlain (Rockford, Ill./Guilford), a 2015 consensus second team All-Midwest Region and first team All-WIAC honoree, started 36 games a season ago, primarily at third base. He led the team and ranked second in the WIAC with a .389 batting average and finished second on the team in both on-base percentage (.458) and doubles (10).

Other infielders with starting experience include Burman, juniors Dylan Bersch (Pulaski, Wis./Pulaski) and Jordan Kuczynski (Germantown, Wis./Germantown). Burman, listed as a catcher and infielder, hit .268 with eight runs batted in during the 2015 campaign. Kuczynski appeared in 21 games last season, including 14 starts, primarily as a middle infielder. He compiled a .340 batting average (18-for-53) and scored 13 runs.

Bersch returns to the team after a one-year absence. He played in 22 games, including eight starts, in 2014.

Sophomore catcher Hayden Fenner (Ripon, Wis./Ripon) also last competed in 2014, appearing in three games.

Freshmen/Newcomers: McCauley Cox (Janesville, Wis./Craig), Fr.; Justin Wegner (Naperville, Ill./Central), Fr., C; Connor Schneider (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge), Fr.; Aaron Markley (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy), Fr.; John Salvi (Lake Zurich, Ill./Carmel Catholic), Fr., C; Blake Fleischman (Germantown, Wis./Germantown), So.; Trent Borgardt (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee), So.; Cal Aldridge (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge), Fr.

Outfield

Sophomore Daytona Bryden (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah) started 40 games last season, primarily in center field, and leads a veteran-laden outfield group. He hit .356 with a team-best 20 stolen bases, good for fourth in the conference, and an on-base percentage of .443, good for ninth in the league.

Other returners with starting experience include seniors Trent Diekvoss (Beaver Dam, Wis./Beaver Dam), Alex Hallenbeck (Burlington, Wis./Burlington), sophomores Will Helbing (Waunakee, Wis./Waunakee) and Kyle Jones (Kenosha, Wis./Tremper).

Helbing started 18 games last season, batting .306 (19-of-62) with five doubles and 12 RBI. Jones made six starts.

Diekvoss and Hallenbeck, two of the Warhawks' five seniors in 2016, combined for six starts last season. Both were used primarily in right field.

Freshmen/Newcomers: Matt Wary (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove), Fr.

Pitchers

Right-handers Morgan, junior Mike Nompleggi (Oconto Falls, Wis./Oconto Falls) and sophomore Lake Bachar (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) return atop the starting rotation. Morgan and Bachar are the most decorated of the group.

Bachar was named D3baseball.com Midwest Region Rookie of the Year and first team all-conference last season after tallying a 7-1 record with a 2.24 earned run average and an opponents batting average of .231. He was ranked No. 100 over the summer in Baseball America's College Top 100 Draft Prospects.

Morgan is a two-time All-Midwest Region and first team All-WIAC honoree. He posted an 8-0 record in 64 2/3 innings pitched.

Nompleggi finished the 2015 season with a 5-1 record and a 2.72 ERA, good for fifth in the league, to go along with a .222 opponents' batting average, good for second in the conference.

The rotation will also be bolstered by the return of senior LHP Connor Hurst (Waunakee, Wis./Waunakee) and sophomore righty Austin Jones (Wauwatosa, Wis./West), who each missed the 2015 season.

Hurst garnered honorable mention All-WIAC accolades in 2014, when he registered a 6-2 record with a 3.38 ERA in 64 innings. Jones was selected second team all-region by the ABCA during the same season after finishing with a 6-1 mark, three saves and a 2.27 ERA in a team-high 19 appearances.

Sophomore RHP Heath Renz (Jefferson, Wis./Jefferson) started five games last season, posting a 1-1 record with 33 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings.

Top returners in relief include juniors lefty John Olejniczak (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) and Austin Finn (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine). Olejniczak, a lefty, led the team with 17 appearances, including 16 as a reliever, in 2015. Finn, a right-hander, made 14 appearances. Both held opponents to a .222 batting average.

Junior LHP Ankur Shah (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) and junior RHP Matt Langlie (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) pitched in eight and six games, respectively, last spring.

Freshmen/Newcomers: Michael Kaska (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton Community), Fr., RHP; James Georgakas (Ellsworth, Wis./Ellsworth), Fr., LHP; Sam Heilenbach (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township), Fr., RHP; Riley Gruetzmacher (Oconto Falls, Wis./Oconto Falls), Fr., RHP