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Printer-Friendly ModePostseason a must after disappointing '06 baseball season
Cardinals looking to recover after missing playoffs last season
February 26, 2007 —
For a team that perennially finds itself in its conference tournament, the coach has some bigger aspirations.
"There's no reason for us not to contend for a championship next year, and maybe we can this year, but next year for sure we should," Cardinals baseball coach Walt Head says. "We need to get to the World Series in the next couple of years."
Even though the Cards didn't make the playoffs a year ago in an injury and mistake-plagued season, Head has already decided that cannot happen again.
"Anything less of getting in the playoffs is not acceptable," he stresses.
Head believes that tougher spring break competition, a young team, smart players, and a new stadium could be the recipe for success.
Going into his 25th season with the baseball team, Head has high hopes for this year.
"I think we are a lot farther along then we were last year," Head says about his team, which went 24-21 but 14-17 in the GLIAC. "We have a better group of kids, I think."
Last year's conference record was three games behind 17-14 Wayne State. "Last year was the first year in a long time that we weren't in the playoffs," Head says.
Injuries were the cause of last year's midseason slump, when the Cardinals went 8-18 after a 10-2 start. When they got the rest of their team back, SVSU was able to finish the season 6-1.
In the GLIAC preseason coach's poll, SVSU is tied for fourth with Mercyhurst, behind Wayne State, Grand Valley State, and Ashland.
If the Cards are going to match that predicted finish or improve on it, they are going to have to rely on some returners from last season. Pitchers Scott Schlaff and Scott Roy will anchor the rotation, while Reed Welker, Brandon Fanion, Max Bell, and Chris Hanna will play major roles in the lineup.
Schlaff, a senior from Warren, and Roy, a junior from Mt. Morris, were both named to the All-GLIAC Second Team last year.
Last year, Schlaff went 9-2 with a 2.62 ERA in 75.2 innings and led the team in wins and strikeouts, while Roy went 6-1 with nine starts and had an ERA of 2.96 in 51.2 innings.
Welker, a junior from Toledo, is a centerfielder with a strong bat. He was named to the All-GLIAC First Team as he led the Cards with 56 hits, 7 homers, and 40 RBIs.
Welker has confidence in the team for the upcoming season.
"It's looking good," he says. "Last year I had high hopes, but there were a lot of injuries. This year we have a lot of returners."
Fanion, a junior from Marysville, plays right field and was recently called back to pitching.
"I haven't pitched for a couple of years, so this is my first year back," he says. "I feel really good about this year's pitching staff and I know it's going to be better than last year's."
For spring break, the Cardinals will be heading to Ft. Myers, Florida, where they will be facing teams from the central and eastern parts of the country.
"Our schedule in Florida is going to be pretty tough," says Head, who believes it will be a good test and will help prepare the team for GLIAC competition.
Hanna, a senior second baseman and outfielder from Caledonia, agrees.
"It's good to see tough teams early on, that way you have some idea of what you need to work on," he explains.
As to a team that only has four seniors and less than a dozen juniors, Head doesn't foresee that as a problem. He does have confidence in his freshmen players. High hopes were expressed in Ryan Webber, Andrew Doyle, T.J. Swanson, and Kevin Kerner.
Webber, a catcher from Clio, has been experimentally put at third base, a position that Head currently doesn't know who will start at.
Doyle is a left-handed pitcher from Flint and Head believes that with work, could be good for the Cards this season and in the future. Swanson, from Saline, and Kerner, from Richmond, are both right-handed pitchers that can throw around 85-86 mph.
With less to spend on scholarships compared to other GLIAC schools like Grand Valley and Ashland, Head has been able to form a strong team by utilizing academic scholarships, which he estimates around half of his players have in one form or another. It not only helps on the field, he says, but with his job, as well.
"[Smart players] are a lot easier to coach," he says. "You only have to tell them once and don't have to follow them to class."
Head doesn't just have optimism about his team, either. The Cardinals' facilities have gone from some of the worst in the conference to some of the best. They have a new field, dugouts, and locker room to show off this season.
Additionally, there will be new bleachers, concessions, and restrooms that both the baseball and softball teams will utilize.
Head describes the new stadium as a "morale booster" when he is feeling down. As to how it will help the team, he believes the players will be excited about playing out there, which he hopes will enhance their playing.
Head even sees the new stadium as a great recruiting tool.
The team opens their season Saturday, March 3 against Stonehill College, from Massachusetts. They play eight games in Florida and four others on the road before opening their GLIAC season by hosting Grand Valley March 24 and 25.