Great expectations

Luther’s baseball team hopes to start this season by picking up where last year’s team left off:winning. To do so, they will need quality hitting, defense and hope that an inexperienced pitching staff can throw well against the Iowa Conference’s toughest teams—Coe, Buena Vista and Wartburg.

In 2009, the Norse posted the lowest ERA in the conference and the highest batting average. This season, there will be more pressure to continue putting up big offensive numbers as the Norse return only two pitchers who threw in multiple varsity innings last year.

“Pitching remains a question mark,” Cody Hyland (‘10) said. “We’re going to need our younger players to step up and pitch well.”

While pitching may be a question mark, hitting certainly is not.

And with more team speed this year, the Norse plan on using those two facets of the game to put added pressure on opposing defenses.

“We play a fair amount of [small ball],” Head Coach Brian Gillogly said. “As long as I’ve been here we’ve always relied on the short game.”

This year, the Norse will be without two of the winningest pitchers in school history, Adam Kohls (‘09) and Nate Todd (‘09), who rank second and third, respectively, in most wins in school history.

Filling that void will be Hyland, who is currently recovering from shoulder surgery, and Max Flaig (‘10), both captains, who together had a 10-2 record last season.

Also rejoining the pitching staff full-time will be Jeff Riddle (‘10), who missed part of last season as a nursing student in Rochester, Minn.

“We have the potential to develop into a quality pitching staff,” Gillogly said. “If we do that we can be very competitive.”

Depth elsewhere shouldn’t be a problem, especially at the corners, where Ben Schott (‘10) and Mark Weber (‘10) combined to play all but seven games last year at first and third, respectively.

Shortstop Steve Beckman (‘11), who started every game last season, is another veteran presence in the infield.

Outfielders Joe Thompson (‘11) and Chris Reynolds (‘12) will likely be starting while Ian Fitzgerald (‘12), Mitch Obey (‘12) and Matt Bruhn (‘11) compete for the third spot.

In Gillogly’s ninth season as head coach, his teams are no longer strangers to success. Having been ranked nationally during the past five seasons and winning the IIAC Championships two of the past three years, Gillogly believes it is all about trying to do as well as one can individually.

“It’s not super in-depth,” he said about his coaching philosophy. “It’s about developing the individual and being solid in pitching and defense. If you’re solid in those two areas, you’ll always have a chance to win.”

He also stresses fundamentals and challenges his teams to commit less than one and a half errors per game. In last year’s conference championship season, they were right at that mark.

“Once you get a little taste of success it becomes expected to do well,” Gillogly said. “We have the potential.”

The Norse open the season March 9 against Carleton (Minn.) at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn.