Veteran IWU Team Looks for CCIW, Regional Repeats

10 March 2005

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The Illinois Wesleyan baseball team returns 18 lettermen from a team that finished 28-19, won the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin title and advanced to the NCAA Division III regional tournament last spring

The Titans, under head coach Dennis Martel, begin with their annual spring Southern trip, playing Westminster (Mo.) at 3 p.m. Sat., March 12 in Memphis, Tenn.

Leading the returning players are senior third baseman Mick Curran and junior centerfielder Cory Lapinski , last year’s co-winners of the team’s “Most Valuable Player” award.

Curran (Orland Park, Sandburg HS) batted .383 with five home runs, 14 doubles and 36 runs batted in. He led IWU with a .466 on-base percentage and coaxed 27 walks.

After three seasons, Curran is No. 10 all-time at IWU with 158 hits, No. 9 in doubles (33), No. 13 in runs batted in (96), and No. 16 in runs (99).

Lapinski (Niles, Maine East HS) led IWU with a .397 average and set school season records with 73 hits and 184 at bats. He tied Curran for the team lead in doubles (14) and had eight homers and paced IWU with four triples and a .647 slugging percentage.

Curran and Lapinski also shared the Titans’ “Best Defensive” award.

Five other starting position players return, including juniors Brian McCabe (Cary, Cary-Grove HS) at first, Pat Cinquegrani (Barrington, Fremd HS) at short, Joe Howard (Downers Grove, Montini HS) in left, and Nick Chilczenkowski (LaFox, Geneva HS) in right, and senior Jason Shearn (Wheeling, Buffalo Grove HS) handling the catching duties.

McCabe batted .317 and had 54 runs batted in, a total second in an IWU season to James Rinne, who had 57 RBI in 1997. Cinquegrani (.303), Howard (.301), Chilczenkowski (.327, six homers) and Shearn (.326) all batted over .300 for the Titans, who set season records in hits (486) and doubles (96).

The lone newcomer to crack the starting combination is freshman Ricky Angel (Glen Ellyn, Glenbard West HS) at second base. Last spring Angel was a Chicago Tribune first team all-state third baseman as he hit .456 with 16 doubles, six home runs and 45 runs batted in.

Another freshman, Nate Rittenberry (Gurnee, Carmel HS), is the top backup at short and second.

Also returning is designated hitter/pitcher Dave Dobosz (Lombard, Glenbard West HS), who batted .344 last spring and was 1-3 with a 3.13 earned run average with two saves.

In addition to Dobosz, Lapinski will be used as a starting pitcher this spring along with juniors Brandon DuBois (Beecher HS), Drew Himes (Princeton HS) and Russ Koper (Bartlett HS). DuBois was 5-1 with a 5.76 ERA last spring while Himes was 4-4 with a 5.66 ERA for the Titans, then went on to go 4-1 with a 1.38 ERA last summer with the Twin City Stars of the Central Illinois Collegiate League.

Sophomore righthanders Travis Myers (Lake Forest HS) and Robert Inzinga (Glen Ellyn, Glenbard West HS) head a deep bullpen. Myers was 3-1 with a 4.12 ERA in 10 relief appearances. Inzinga started seven games, made 12 appearances and was 2-3 with a 6.75 ERA.

Martel is looking at sophomore Mike Berry (Crystal Lake, Prairie Ridge HS) to be the closer. Slowed by an injury last spring, Berry pitched only eight innings but struck out six. The placekicker on the Titan football team, Berry will also see some action as a reserve outfielder.

Martel, whose 17-year record is 413-290-3 (.602), has pitted his veteran squad against its usually stiff schedule, including the annual Bass-Horenberger Classic game at Illinois State on May 3. IWU will also serve as the host for the CCIW tournament May 13-15.

CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, 309-556-3206