BY SPENCER HANSEN
Staff Reporter
The Central baseball team will head to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament this coming week at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Ore.
Since Western Oregon won the regular season GNAC title, they will host the tournament.
Central finished the regular season second in the GNAC standings and will take the No. 2 seed. They finished with a 28-18 overall record, and a 17-14 GNAC record, but limp into the postseason after Saint Martin’s took three games from the Wildcats this weekend. The final game was cancelled due to inclement weather in Lacey, Wash.
Three teams earn berths to the GNAC tournament (Western Oregon, Central and Saint Martin’s) as Saint Martin’s wrapped up a post-season appearance with three wins last weekend. The Saints beat out Northwest Nazarene and Montana State-Billings, which were hot on their tail for the last playoff spot.
The Wildcats will open up tournament play at 1 p.m. today against Saint Martin’s University. Central went 3-4 on the season series with Saint Martin’s. The Saints are led by senior slugger Chandler Tracy, who slammed 12 home runs this year on the way to shattering numerous school and conference records. The Saints have struggled on the mound this year with a team ERA of 6.71.
“I like our matchup,” head coach Desi Storey said.
Storey also mentioned it doesn’t matter who the Wildcats play, or where, but that they can beat any team in this tournament.
In the second game on Thursday, the Wildcats meet their nemesis, Western Oregon. The two teams split the season series, each taking three of four on their home field. Storey mentioned that his team felt they let a couple games slip away at Western Oregon earlier in the season. Western Oregon has been the class of the GNAC the past few years, winning the last three GNAC championships.
The Wolves are paced by the .359 batting average from Daniel McNabb, who also leads the team with 36 RBIs. Eric Huson and Spenser Watkins have been stellar on the mound for Western, with six wins apiece. As a staff, Western Oregon’s pitching doesn’t measure up to Central’s, but their .290 team batting average could give the Wildcat pitchers some trouble.
“It’s a fun experience,” senior right fielder Ethan Sterkel said.
Sterkel has been on a recent tear, raising his average to .401, nearly 100 points higher than what he was hitting going into conference play.
The Wildcats hit at a .301 clip as a team, and are led offensively by Sterkel, junior third baseman Kasey Bielec and senior infielder Eric Tinnell. Bielec led the team in home runs and RBIs and Sterkel led in batting average. Tinnell was recently named GNAC player of the week and hit .341 on the year, to go along with 11 doubles and 23 RBIs.
If all three teams finish day one with 1-1 records, the No. 1 seed will automatically advance to Saturday’s championship game. Last year, Central got off to a great start winning their first two games against MSU-Billings and Western to reach the GNAC title game. Western went on to beat Billings, then met the Wildcats and beat them twice to advance to the West regional tournament.
“The returners, they have that bitter taste in their mouth, losing two in the final day, so they’re pretty well-driven,” Storey said.
This group of seniors has been an integral part of getting the program back on track. It started last year with Central having its first winning season in several years and following that up with a 28-win season this year.
“Hopefully we can come out on top,” senior pitcher Skye Adams said.
Senior pitcher Stuart Fewel will most likely start the first game against Saint Martin’s, and according to Storey, junior pitcher Brandon Williams will get the ball in game two. Williams led the Wildcats with eight wins and 70 innings pitched.
