2008 Woodie Awards
Baseball's magical season comes to a close, but bright future lies ahead
By: Thomas Lawrence
Issue date: 5/21/08 Section: Sports
| |
|
But, despite a disappointing ending at Nettleton Stadium, the Warriors' ride through the 2008 season was one of thrilling victory, perseverance and grit.
A squad full of newcomers, both freshmen and junior college transfers, the 2008 CSU Stanislaus baseball team was supposed to be a re-building squad - picked to finish seventh out of 10 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
From the first weekend of the season, and a sweep of non-conference foe Central Washington University, the Warriors epitomized the word that appears on the back of each of their jersey undershirts; "finish."
And, as the season wore on, the comeback wins piled up, and senior hurlers Marquis Fleming and Andrew DeMott carried the ballclub, out of the rotation and bullpen respectively, the Warriors turned into a genuine playoff contender.
After earning a playoff spot in the final weekend of the season, on the road at Cal Poly Pomona, the Warriors rolled into the CCAA Tournament and picked up a walk-off win against the University of California at San Diego, and almost defeated Sonoma State in a 4 1/2 hour, 11 inning affair that took a Travis Babin two-run blast to seal it for the Seawolves.
However, with a 4-2 loss against host Chico State to open the Western Regionals on Thursday night - via a brilliant, complete game 13 strikeout performance by Wildcat freshman ace Pete Mickartz, the Warriors backs were against the wall.
That was nothing new to the young, undersized, injury plagued Warriors, though, who had been battling adversity from all angles all season long, all the while maintaining high rankings regionally, nationally and within the CCAA.
To keep their season alive, the Warriors would have to take down the No. 1 seed Sonoma State Seawolves, who were also No. 4 in the nation, according to the National Collegiate Baseball poll.
However, for the seventh time in the 2008 season, the conference regular season and tournament champion proved to be a bit too much for the Warriors, and won handily, 10-4, behind a solid eight inning performance from starter Matt Means.
"That's the best Sonoma team I've seen," said a respectful head coach Kenny Leonesio, a few minutes after the 2008 Warriors season ended against the Seawolves, a team they went 3-7 against in the regular and postseasons combined: their worst winning percentage against any team they'd seen more than once.
Just as they did on opening day, Feb. 5 against the Western Oregon University Wolves, the Warriors battled in the ninth inning to make things interesting, despite a huge deficit.
According to Leonesio, the team's willingness to fight in any situation was what set them apart from other Warrior teams in recent memory, and what got them so far into the postseason.
The Warriors appearance in the 2008 playoffs marked their first postseason appearance since 2003. Only one player remained from that CSU Stanislaus squad: senior infielder Jeff Bellotti, who was the Warriors' starting third baseman during the homestretch of the season.
Despite battling injury problems all year, and only getting 155 at bats, compared to the team leader in Kyle Loretelli with 211, Bellotti hit .303 with 29 RBIs, along with 14 doubles: tied for second on the team with Thelen.
Bellotti took two years off from baseball in between his two tenures with the Warriors, in which he attended Sacramento State University, and for a period, quit playing.
Because of his experience, though, a rejuvenated Bellotti was just trying to keep the younger guys on the team in the right state of mind.
"My main goal was to help the other guys relax," Bellotti said.
The Warriors, despite the losses of key seniors like Fleming, DeMott and Bellotti, will have a ton of returning talent for the 2009 campaign.
"There's a lot of (players) returning that are major impact guys," Leonesio said.
Among these players are Loretelli, who posted a .370 average with 12 home runs and 49 RBIs in his first season at the NCAA level, and freshman hurler Andrew Stueve, who posted a record of 4-2 with an ERA of 4.26 in 14 starts.
The 2008 Warriors were not only the first edition of the squad to reach the Division II regionals, but set the school record for wins at 37, games played at 60 and, of course, won the first CCAA tournament game in school history.
Also, on an individual level, Fleming set the single season strikeout record for the Warriors at 118.
So, as the Sonoma State Seawolves move on to the College World Series in Illinois, Leonesio's masterpiece of a diamond, Warrior Field, will lie in wait for the 2009 Warriors, a team full of hungry, blue collar ballplayers with a trip to Illinois in mind.
Be the first to comment on this story