CCIW's All-Program teams?

[BigPoppa]

Just something to pass the time while we wait for the 2017 season to get going. If you had to build an all-time team for your favorite program, who would be on it?

I'll Start with Carthage:
C-John Zulegar '95
1B-Mark Beyer '96
2B-Ryan Lessner '00
SS- (Maybe someone can help here?)
3B- Dean Muthig '99
OF- Shorty Flees '97
OF- Glen Braun '99
OF- Will Hodges '11/Jack Richarz '95
UTL- Gavin Winfield '97
SP- Cory Everts '93
SP- Jeff Kaeppler '77
SP- Dan Falkingham '93
SP- Ryan Taylor '94
SP- Brent Sagedal '95
RP- Layne Grissman '97

Coach- Augie Schmidt IV

[cubs]

SS- (Maybe someone can help here?)

Tom Carden or Justin Hallock?

[Go Cards]

North Central College

I went a little deeper listing the year and several players who have had highest awards bestowed upon them at NCC by position (and highest award for that year i.e. if All-American didn’t list the assumed All-Region, etc.)  Perhaps will spur even further good conversation of comparisons for fun.  Regardless kudos to all listed.

1B Nick Sotiros 3rd Team All-American 16 (still active), Todd Trunk 2nd Team All-Region 96, Kevin Hennessy 3rd Team 13

2B Vito DeRango 2nd Team All-Region 15,

3B Jerry Pietryk 2nd Team All-American 89, Bill Judge 2nd Team All-American 92, Sam Klein 2nd Team All-Region 14 & 15,

SS Rich Ochenkowski 2nd Team All-Region 05, Nick Robinson 2nd Team All-Region 10,

C Michael Corrigan 2nd Team All-Region 09 &10 & 11, Dan Grimm 1st Team All-Region 99 2nd Team All-Region 97 & 98, Zach Ernst 3rd Team All-Region 08, Chris Hill 2md Tea, All-Region 16 (still active)

OF Ken Ritter 1st Team All-American 86 & 88, 2nd Team All-American 87, 1988 D3 Player of the Year

OF Tim Ehlebracht 2nd Team All-American 79, Chris Glanz 1st Team All-Region 97, Matt Abraham 3rd Team All-Region 08

OF Craig Stefan 2nd Team All-American 85, Mario Gianfortune 3rd Team All-American 02,

UTIL Sean Delaney 1st Team All-American 92, Tim McDonough 3rd Team All-American 95, Brant Roth 3rd Team All-Region 04, Dave Hardman 3rd Team All-Region 05, Joe Turek 3rd Team All-Region 09, John Ciolkosz 1st Team All-Region 13, Joe Paparone 2nd Team All-Region 15,

P Matt Richards 2nd Team All-American 87

P Bryan Polowy 2nd Team All-American 15, Central Region Pitcher of the Year 15

P Mike Willner 2nd Team All-Region 95, Mike Kloss 3rd Team All-Region 10,

P Mark Olson 2nd Team All-Region 96, Nate Arenson 2nd Team All-Region 10,

P Joe Piekarz 2nd Team All-Region 01, Brian Nendza 2nd Team All-Region 02, Kris Singh 2nd Team All-Region 14, Ben Krusen 2nd Team All-Region 14,

Coach Ed Mathey (active), Tom Purcell

[Gregory Sager]

Just something to pass the time while we wait for the 2017 season to get going. If you had to build an all-time team for your favorite program, who would be on it?

I'll Start with Carthage:
C-John Zulegar '95
1B-Mark Beyer '96
2B-Ryan Lessner '00
SS- (Maybe someone can help here?)
3B- Dean Muthig '99
OF- Shorty Flees '97
OF- Glen Braun '99
OF- Will Hodges '11/Jack Richarz '95
UTL- Gavin Winfield '97
SP- Cory Everts '93
SP- Jeff Kaeppler '77
SP- Dan Falkingham '93
SP- Ryan Taylor '94
SP- Brent Sagedal '95
RP- Layne Grissman '97

Coach- Augie Schmidt III

What, no Shannon Blansette?

If he'd like a break from taking pictures of volcanoes in Guatemala in order to construct an NPU baseball all-time team, I'll defer to Mr. B's thoughts on the subject ... although I reserve the right to add my own thoughts about some of the Vikings I saw that preceded his involvement with North Park baseball.

[mr_b]

OK, Greg, I will give it a shot from my perch in Guatemala City, though I will apologize in advance for not knowing the regular positions for many of these players.  My first choice for each is in bold face.

C-Zach Deutscher '11, Dan Casas '93, Tony Sanchez '12, Dan Gooris '72, Gary Paulson '88, Scott Paulson '84.  Deutscher was a force at the plate as well as behind it for four years.  Casas played for two years and Sanchez for just one, but both had remarkable numbers.  The Paulsons each put up big offensive numbers but I can't speak to their defense.  Gooris hit .404 one season in the wood-bat era.
1B- Steve Zetterlund '87, Craig King '92, Ken Pittman '83.  All had great career numbers, especially Zetterlund. who hit .431 with 32 HR and 147 RBIs, and King, who had a .422 career BA with 23 home runs and 124 RBIs -- and both players amassed those numbers in three seasons. Pittman was a superb fielder.
2B- Keith McDonald '72, Mike Coduto '14, Paul Biocic '85, Rich Pietrolaj '97.  Here's where I will need some help with positions, because I am not sure where in the infield McDonald, Biocic, and Pietrolaj played.  McDonald hit .455 and .441 his first two years and was an NAIA All-American in 1971.  Coduto was an outstanding fielder and a good offensive player, while Biocic was a speed merchant with 97 SBs. 
SS- Randy Ross '84.  Case closed on this one. But the Vikings have had other fine shortstops, such as Nick Marino '10 and Eric Sousanes '14.
3B- Angel Carrasco '11 probably flew under most people's radar screen, but he was a very good defensive player, a solid hitter, and a quiet team leader.  Brady Josephson '08 and Chris Nelson '92 are also worth mentioning, both very solid players with a very deep understanding of the game.
OF- Mark Slager '84, Pete Balis '86, and Zak Worsley '15, plus Kevin Krawczyk '90 and Andy Athans '11.  A number of other players didn't start as many years (e.g., Wade Yunker '11, Tommy Endres '14, Dion Rubino '03) but were also very good at the plate and in the field.
UTL- Trevor Popp '11.  He could play just about anywhere and was one of the most disruptive players at the plate and on the bases as I have ever seen.  I'll include Anthony D'Andrea here, too, but he's my choice for closer (see below).
SP- Dan Mason '83, Mike Giovenco '10, Nick Soldano '14, Pete Zajac '87, and Steve Kuligowski '12.  Honorable mentions are John Van Kempen '85, Alan Keller '83, Bernie Greene '66, Jeff Hanson '04, and Tim Dykes '99.
RP- Anthony D'Andrea '90, who was also an excellent offensive player (career .393, 26 HR, 162 RBIs) to go along with his 14 career saves.

Coach- Luke Johnson

[BigPoppa]

Just something to pass the time while we wait for the 2017 season to get going. If you had to build an all-time team for your favorite program, who would be on it?

I'll Start with Carthage:
C-John Zulegar '95
1B-Mark Beyer '96
2B-Ryan Lessner '00
SS- (Maybe someone can help here?)
3B- Dean Muthig '99
OF- Shorty Flees '97
OF- Glen Braun '99
OF- Will Hodges '11/Jack Richarz '95
UTL- Gavin Winfield '97
SP- Cory Everts '93
SP- Jeff Kaeppler '77
SP- Dan Falkingham '93
SP- Ryan Taylor '94
SP- Brent Sagedal '95
RP- Layne Grissman '97

Coach- Augie Schmidt III

What, no Shannon Blansette?

If he'd like a break from taking pictures of volcanoes in Guatemala in order to construct an NPU baseball all-time team, I'll defer to Mr. B's thoughts on the subject ... although I reserve the right to add my own thoughts about some of the Vikings I saw that preceded his involvement with North Park baseball.

I was no Dean Muthig!

[BigPoppa]

SS- (Maybe someone can help here?)

Tom Carden or Justin Hallock?

Carden was more of a defensive SS and hit in the 9-hole his entire career... I think Hallock played more 3B than SS (unless I am wrong).

[Gregory Sager]

Here's what I posted regarding North Park's all-time team when Big Poppa raised this topic in the main CCIW room nine years ago:

This is my NPU team. It strongly reflects the Park's baseball heyday, which was the 1980s. Mr. B, who is much more familiar with the past decade and a half of NPU baseball than me, might make some different choices.

P - Pete Zajac ('84-'87)
P - Alan Keller ('81-'84)
P - Dan Mason ('80-'83)
P - Tim Naughton ('79-'82)

C - Dan Casas ('90-'93)
IF - Steve Zetterlund ('85-'88)
IF - Craig King ('89-'92)
IF - Tony D'Andrea ('87-'90)
IF - Paul Biocic ('82-'85)
OF - Randy Ross ('81-'84)
OF - Brad Boelkens ('93-'96)
OF - Mark Slager ('81-'84)

You could have a strong three-way argument over the catcher's spot, since North Park had three outstanding ones during the '80s and early '90s: Scott Paulson, Gary Paulson, and Dan Casas. Scott Paulson was a three-time All-CCIW first-teamer, and Gary Paulson was a two-time All-CCIW first-teamer and the CCIW POTY in '88. But Casas combined both of the peak achievements of the Paulson brothers: He was a three-time All-CCIW first-teamer and the CCIW POTY in '92. Plus, he had to carry a couple of teams as an upperclassmen that lacked the talent of preceding seasons, whereas the Paulson brothers always had a lot of great talent surrounding them.

Randy Ross, who is arguably the greatest player in North Park baseball history, played shortstop for most of his career. However, since the Vikings have a much stronger legacy among infielders than outfielders, I moved Ross to the outfield. He played centerfield as a freshman for the Park, and was good enough at it to be an All-CCIW first-teamer at that position.

Mr. B followed up with these thoughts:

All excellent choices!  I would also add three more recent All-CCIW honorees plus one player who never got all-conference recognition:

IF Cory Clark: a second-team All-CCIW player in 1999, he played just two years at North Park but put up some very solid offensive numbers.  He was probably the most effective team captain the Vikes have had over the past decade, a real leader who showed his teammates how to play the game with energy.

P Tim Dykes: also a second-team selection in 1999, he was a real competitor on the mound.  He was another natural team leader on the best four-man rotation (along with Andrew Postek, Shelly Cohen, and Joe Miller) that North Park has had in two decades.

1b/DH Curtis Tate: one of the most feared clutch hitters in the CCIW, .425 in 1999 and .362 with 10 HRs in 2000.  I also admired his quiet leadership, plus he had one of the most perceptive baseball minds of any player I've seen in my years at North Park.

P Jeff Hanson: a quality pitcher on some very bad teams.  He holds many of the school's pitching records, including IP and strikeouts.  He was a true workhorse in the same mold as Tim Dykes -- give him the ball every week and he'd go out and give you a quality effort every time. 

I'd bet that any coach in the CCIW would have loved having these four players on their teams -- they were  leaders on and off the field and really understood the game and all its nuances.

There are a few other recent players that would have a shot at the "all-time North Park team," but I don't want to crowd the dugout!

Since these posts, of course, NPU had a renaissance on the diamond, adding a whole slew of players (Andy Athans, Angel Carrasco, Mike Coduto, Zach Deutscher, Mike Giovenco, Brady Josephson, Steve Kuligowski, Nick Marino, Trevor Popp, Nick Soldano, Eric Sousanes, Pete Sparacino, and Zak Worsley all come to mind) that should enter into the conversation. I'll have to think about it some more. (I can't really do any justice to commenting about a period of a dozen years or so in the '90s and early '00s during which I really didn't follow the team at all, a period for which fortunately Mr. B is eminently qualified to evaluate.)

The topic of which NPU coach should be considered the greatest in program history is an interesting one. Bosko Djurickovic won four CCIW titles in seventeen seasons at the helm, and Luke Johnson has won two in eleven seasons. Both won the CCIW Coach of the Year award three times. Bosko should get extra credit for having to juggle two head-coaching jobs simultaneously, as of course he won two national titles as North Park's head basketball coach during his tenure in that job from 1984-85 thru 1993-94 (he was head baseball coach at NPC from 1977 thru 1994). In turn, Luke should get extra credit for degree of difficulty. While Bosko did inherit a team that had finished in a last-place tie with Wheaton the season before he took over, his task paled in comparison to the Everest that Luke had to climb in rebuilding a program that had won a grand total of three CCIW games in the three seasons prior to his arrival.

At this point I'd call it a toss-up.