Baseball Slides Out Spring Preview

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Each of the last two seasons the Cal Lutheran baseball team has earned Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championships, SCIAC Postseason Tournament titles and NCAA Division III Playoff berths. The 2015 goals are the same for a squad that features 20 returners and eight incoming players.

Entering the season ranked No. 8 by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, the CLU line-up boasts four American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-West Region performers including Ramsey Abushahla, Justin Caña, Davey Casciola and Scott Peters, a Gold Glove winner in Collin Crowl and a trio of All-SCIAC honorees with Peters earning two selections while Crowl and Spencer DuBois have one recognition apiece as well.

The pitching staff will look to Peters who is a two-year starter and 2013 ABCA Third Team All-West Region selection. Last spring the southpaw led the rotation with 88.1 innings pitched while earning a 7-2 record with a 2.95 ERA and 49 strike outs. Peters tossed a pair of complete games a year ago including a four-hit outing against SCIAC foe Chapman. He will again be a staple of the CLU rotation this spring and will be joined by Trey Saito and transfer Evan Peterson (Templeton, Calif.).  

Saito transitioned into a pitching role after coming to Cal Lutheran as a catcher. In his first season for the Kingsmen, he came out of the bullpen to earn a 4-0 record with a 2.91 ERA in 21.2 innings of action. Peterson joins the Violet and Gold after a two-year stint at Cuesta College where he earned Honorable Mention league accolades.

The 2015 bullpen will be comprised of returning juniors Landry Kiyabu and Mitchell Shields and sophomores Tyler Nevins and Connor Sipes. Kiyabu assumed an important middle relief role a year ago and finished with a 4-0 record after working 20.2 innings over 11 appearances. He finished with 26 strikeouts and a 4.35 ERA. Shields took the ball 10 times as a sophomore with one start and turned in a 1-0 record with a 1.71 ERA in 21.0 innings. In his first year at CLU, Sipes got the nod nine times and posted a 2-0 record after tallying 19.1 innings of action and a 4.66 ERA while Nevins made five appearances with one start as he finished with a 1.80 ERA in 5.0 innings.

After spending a year with the JV program Marshall Pautsch will appear on the Varsity roster this spring as a sophomore. Also joining the collegiate ranks as pitchers are freshmen Justin Garcia (San Diego, Calif.) and Nate Wehner (Bellevue, Wash.).

Doing the catching for the staff will be DuBois who has been the starting backstop for two seasons. He has landed on the D3baseball.com Team of the Week numerous times and is without a doubt one of the top catchers in the West Region. Last season he threw out four would-be base stealers and was perfect in the field without an error all season on 201 touches (177 putouts, 24 assists). Additionally, he batted .312 with 34 hits, including five doubles and a pair of triples, for 15 RBIs and he scored 16 runs.

Another senior who assumed some catching duties a year ago is Chris Whitmer who served as a designated hitter throughout his first CLU campaign as well. He was also solid defensively with a 1.000 fielding percentage. Offensively, he hit at a .271 clip with five doubles, a triple and a homerun, driving in 15 and scoring 11 times. After an early stint on the JV team in 2014, Andrew Gregorovic was called up late in the season and made one appearance. He will also do some catching in 2015.

Around the infield, the defensive unit is solid with returners at the corners. Crowl earned an ABCA Gold Glove at first base in his inaugural CLU season as he committed just a pair of errors in 386 opportunities, recording 360 putouts and 24 assists for a .995 fielding percentage. Across the diamond at the hot corner, Casciola, an ABCA Third Team All-West Region selection, notched 93 assists and 23 putouts for a .943 fielding percentage. At the plate, they contributed with .333 and .301 averages, respectively. Crowl collected 55 hits with 15 doubles, a triple and a pair of homeruns, to drive in a team-leading 46 runs while scoring 36 times of his own. Casciola recorded 49 hits with 10 doubles and a pair of both triples and homeruns for the Kingsmen. He walked 14 times and scored 34 runs while knocking in 33.

The middle infield this season will feature Austin Kay, Kyle Sanchez and senior transfer Max Price (Thousand Oaks, Calif.). Kay and Sanchez both saw time a year ago though Sanchez was sidelined with a wrist injury late in the year. Kay appeared in 39 games, making 23 starts and provided 46 putouts and 72 assists at second base and shortstop. He started his collegiate career with a five game hit-streak and ended the season with a .195 average from 15 hits. Sanchez started 21 of the 28 games in which he appeared and contributed on both sides of the ball. He completed his first season with a .963 fielding percentage after supplying 68 putouts and 36 assists with just four miscues. At the plate, he hit at a .337 clip with 29 hits, including seven doubles and a homerun, for 24 RBIs and he scored 17 times.

Price brings experience from Morehead State (Ky.) where he played one season of baseball for the Eagles in 2014 and Monterey Peninsula College where he earned All-League Honorable Mention in 2012. He is staged to make an immediate impact in the infield for the Kingsmen.

Senior Nico Filice will contribute in his second season for Cal Lutheran after playing in 23 games last season both in the infield and DH role. He batted .276 with two doubles, a triple and a homerun, driving in nine and scoring eight times. The freshman class brings another pair of infielders into the mix with Jeff Rebello (Windsor, Calif.) and Erik Whittlesey (Northridge, Calif.) competing for playing time.

The outfield is one of the biggest strengths for the 2015 team with a pair of ABCA Second Team All-West Region recipients. Abushahla was the only CLU player to appear in all 46 games a year ago and he started in each one. In right field he totaled 99 putouts and three assists and offensively, he provided pop to the line-up with a .300 average and a .454 on base percentage. In addition to his 48 hits (nine doubles and four homeruns) he drew a team-high 31 walks and scored 45 runs, which is the most among returning players. His 42 RBIs a year ago was second only to Crowl.

Manning centerfield will be Caña who supplied 79 putouts and no errors as he played in 40 games. In his first season at CLU, he showcased his speed both in the outfield and on the bases where he swiped 10 bags to lead the team. At the plate, he hit .342 and represents the second highest average returning in 2015. He notched 54 hits with 10 doubles and a pair of homeruns and scored 41 times after driving in 26 runs.

Gabe Gunter worked his way into the starting line-up as a freshman and eventually made 22 starts while appearing in 30 games. He is the top returning offensive player after batting .356 in 90 plate appearances. Ten of his 32 hits were doubles and he connected for a homerun, scoring 10 times. He also drove in 29 runs for the Kingsmen.

Also vying for playing time in the outfield are sophomores Nick Cohan, Nathaniel Thompson and Sinjin Todd as well as freshman Brett Green (Bainbridge Island, Wash.). Cohan earned 12 starts and took the field in 31 games, Todd came off the bench 13 times and earned five starts and Thompson played six times during his freshman campaign. The trio combined for 31 putouts, an assist and no errors.  Cohan and Todd recorded averages of .358 and .357, respectively, drove in a combined 15 runs and scored 24 times total.

A lot of depth and experience, coupled with the desire to win have driven the team going into 2015.

Cal Lutheran opens its season on Friday, Feb. 6 with a single game against Whitworth (Wash.) inside of Ullman Stadium. Teams will take the field for first pitch at 2:00 p.m. on George “Sparky” Anderson Field.

Roster: 2015 Roster
Schedule: 2015 Schedule
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