Johnson County Community College
Press Release
College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Associate Vice President, Marketing Communications, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122
2/6/09
Story by Tyler Cundith
2009 Baseball Preview
Defending the title
The Johnson County Community College baseball team returns to the field after a magical 2008 season in which the Cavaliers captured the Region VI Championships, and earned the program’s first trip to the NJCAA JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. JCCC finished the 2008 campaign with a 41-18 record, the most wins under Hall of Fame head coach Kent Shelley, and finished ninth in the national tournament.
Expectations are again for the Cavaliers, with 14 players back, including All-America pitcher Brandon Droge and all-conference outfielder John Lenherr. While, Shelley and his staff are excited about the upcoming 2009 season, they will be the first to tell you a lot must take place for the Cavaliers to talk about a return trip to Grand Junction. JCCC has several holes to fill. Gone are six starting players and two starting pitchers.
The one thing the Cavaliers to have is returning pitching as nine arms are back who saw action in 2008. Additionally, Shelley and his staff brought in a talented group of 20 newcomers to go with the 14 returnees, and the team enters the 2009 ready to defend its Region VI title and ninth place national finish.
Brandon Droge |
Pitching
Johnson County returns nine pitchers from its 2008 staff, which led the Kansas Jayhawk Conference and ranked among the top staff’s nationally with a team ERA of 2.61. That staff also tallied the highest strikeout mark for a single season in team history with 332, breaking a 29-year record.
However, gone from that staff are starters Travis Blankenship and Dustin Holthaus. Both graduated and will play at the next level at the University of Kansas and Washburn University respectively. Those two accounted for 18 victories and 129 strikeouts last year. Blankenship left as the program’s all-time leader in both wins (17) and strikeouts (135). Also gone is closer Jake Smith, who was a key stopper last year. He will play at Truman State University this season.
Despite their loss, JCCC will has a core group back who know what it takes to win a championship. All-American left-hander Brandon Droge (Topeka, Kan.) headlines the Cavaliers rotation. As a freshman, Droge led the staff with a school record 98 innings pitched and seven complete games. He finished with an 8-2 record with 74 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.29, which ranked 11th in the nation. Droge earned NJCAA honorable mention All-American last year, and has been selected to the NJCAA Preseason All-America first-team this season.
He will be followed in the rotation by returning starter Ryan Garman (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) who looks to rebounds from a bad back that kept him less than 100 percent last season. Garman finished 4-3 a year ago, working 38.2 innings with 23 strikeouts and ERA of 5.25.
Freshmen Greg Daniels (Roeland Park, Kan.) and Zach Smith (St. Peters, Mo.) look to fill out the regular rotation. Daniels had a very good fall and as a prep player, he was first-team all-conference three consecutive years. He possesses outstanding movement on his fastball, and a devastating curve that buckles most hitters. Smith is a power pitcher that fill up the zone and developed an effective slider over the winter workouts. Both freshmen will need to give JCCC some quality innings out of the starting rotation for the Cavaliers to be successful.
Seven of JCCC’s nine returning pitchers worked primarily out of the pen last season, so depth is not an issue for Shelley in 2009. Sophomore right-handers Blake Gosch (Maize, Kan.) and Nick Holtgrieve (Independence, Mo.) had outstanding seasons last year and will be counted on this year to stop big innings. Gosch pitched 27 innings over 14 games, and finished with an ERA of 2.59 while holding his opponents to a batting average of .205. Holtgrieve was even harder to hit. He made 15 appearances and logged 33.2 innings. He also had an a 2-1 record with an ERA of 1.87, while opponents only hit .161 against him.
Sophomore Ben Runyon (Alberta, Canada) is coming off an outstanding fall and has show flashes of outstanding stuff. Last year he pitched nine innings over seven games and held hitters to a .191 average. Tanner Neuberger (West Des Moines, Iowa), Drew Mikkelson (Stilwell, Kan.), Scott Brady (St. Charles, Mo. ) and Raul Guevara (Topeka, Kan.) have proven stuff and will be available for any role the team will need this campaign. This core give the Cavaliers a lot of experience in one of the most important aspects of the game. They will be expected to hold leads and their experience should help them in big games.
The newcomers have a lot of talent as well, and will be key to the Cavaliers success. Kyle Kaiser, a transfer from Neosho County Community College, provides the JCCC coaches another veteran arm in the mix. he made 20 appearances last year for the Panthers, pitching in 23.1 innings. He finished with a 1-3 record.
Right-hander Gil Rehwinkel (Wichita, Kan.) dominated in the fall and will likely see a lot of innings this spring. Local products Zach Gove (Olathe, Kan.), Grant DeGarmo (Overland Park, Kan.) and Ethan Weber (Lenexa, Kan.) all show a great deal of promise and will be expected to fill some valuable innings. Brad Alberts (Olathe, Kan.) looked very good early and was expected to be one of the top arms in the conference until a long-time nagging injury sidelined him for most of the fall and winter. Alberts is back on the mound, and is hoping to return to full strength by the start of the season.
“Although we lost two key starters to graduation, we do have a veteran core of returnees to lead our staff this year and a group of experienced pitcher who logged better than half our innings in 2008,” Shelley said. “Additionally, we have a significant number of talented newcomers who should make immediate contributions and not only provide us with quality depth to work with throughout the year, but also outstanding competition for playing time. There is also a great mix of right and left-handed pitchers who can both start and relieve, which speaks to the options we have available to us. We feel very good about our pitching staff this year.”
Infielders
Although the Cavaliers will be without the services of All-America and Gold Glove shortstop Doug Otto in 2009, Shelley does have a young group of very talented and eager players ready to accept the challenge to lead the infield this season. The left side of the infield will feature two freshman; Josh Piper (McPherson, Kan.) at third base, and J.P. LaMunyon (Leawood, Kan.) at shortstop. Both players were voted All-State their senior years, while LaMunyon helped his high school team win a state title. Both players should hit in the middle of the order and will be expected to drive in runs.
On the right side, returning sophomore David Drahozal (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and newcomer Mike Sartin (Jenks, Okla.) will be dueling for the starting job at second base. Drahozal returns as the starter form last season and his leadership will be counted on to with this young infield. Lat year, Drahozal posted a fielding percentage of .956. At the plate he hit .267 with 32 hits and 16 RBI. Sartin has some of the best tools on the club and if healthy, should make an impact right away. At first base, Brian McCulloch (Kansas City, Mo.) will get the starting nod after an outstanding fall at the plate. McCulloch had a .966 fielding percentage last year and hit .232 with 11 RBI.
Freshman Tanner Funk (Kearney, Mo.) opened a lot of eyes after a solid fall with his glove and bat. He will give the Cavaliers much needed depth in the infield, and will push for a starting position early in the year. Dustin Moses (Wichita, Kan.) worked very hard over the Christmas break and is looking very good during the winter workouts. Zach Smith (St. Peters, Mo.) is very athletic and will be used as a starting pitcher and the backup first baseman. Tobias Cowdin (Topeka, Kan.) will be a power bat off the bench and will battle for the designated hitter position, and freshman Aaron Shockley (Eudora, Kan.) will be used as a utility player. He has the ability to play about everywhere.
“The strenth of this group will be their defense.” Shelley said. “Each are versatile and very skilled with the glove. Offensively, they can all flat out run and will cause a lot of pressure on the base paths.”
John Lenherr |
Outfielders
The outfield looks just as young as the rest of the position players, but the this group is led by sophomore John Lenherr (Windom, Kan.), an all-conference selection last season. “If you can only have one returning starter, then Lenherr is the guy you want,” Shelley said.
Lenherr was one of the top hitters on the team last season, and will be expected to do much of the same this year. Lenherr hits a team best .426 (83-for-195) with 15 doubles, two triples a home run, 55 runs and 44 RBI. His 83 hits tied JCCC single season record.
In center field is freshman Harrison Gerber (Cedar Rapids, Iowa). According to Shelley, he is a speedster who can really cover some ground in the outfield, and can run down balls gap-to-gap. In left field is another power/speed threat in sophomore Nate Thomas (Earlville, Iowa). Thomas was the starting designated hitter last season and will make the jump to the outfield this year. At the plate last year, Thomas hit .333 (44-for-132) with seven doubles, three home runs, 32 runs and 28 RBI.
Also expected to battle for playing time are returnee Drew House (Wichita, Kan.) and newcomers Miles Riley (Olathe, Kan.) and Ben Millard (Prairie Village, Kan.). Hose will get in the line up because of his excellent defense and his left-handed bat. Riley is another player who can really run. He will add speed to an already quick line up, and will also provide another left-handed bat. Millard is a rare power/speed threat at the plate who will look to challenge for the designated hitter position this spring. All three should see time in the outfield and will be a big part of the club this season. Ryan Rogers (Jenks, Okla.) might have the best tools out of the group, but he is still rehabbing from surgery he had a prep player, and his return is unknown.
“We had a really competitive fall in the outfield,” Shelley said. “It will be a very good defensive group that will take away a lot of hits and limit opponents to fewer bases. This is a very athletic bunch of players with a lot of speed and talent. They all have a chance of starting at some point this spring. We are very lucky to be this deep and should give teams a lot of different looks.”
Catchers
The catching void left by the graduation of Mitchell Mathis will be filled by freshman Sam Stucky (McPherson, Kan.). Stucky is very athletic catcher who led JCCC in just about every offensive category in the fall. An All-State selection his senior season, Stucky is expected to be behind the plate a lot of innings this spring. Transfer David Morgan (Overland Park, Kan.) is slated the No. 2 catcher and will add much needed pop tot he line up. Morgan has shown he can hit and his bat will likely find the line up as a designated hitter when he is not catching. Freshman Kyle Pener (Overland Park, Kan.) is an outstanding defensive catcher and will provided JCCC depth behind the plate this spring.
For schedules, rosters, and other team information, go to JCCC's Athletics Web site:
http://www.jccc.edu/athletics
