Cinderella baseball team aims for PSAC title

What: PSAC Baseball Playoffs
When: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 – Saturday, May 3, 2008
Where: Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster, PA

Team Info
The KU baseball team will head into this week’s PSAC playoffs looking to turn its improbable last season run into a division championship. The Golden Bears enter the postseason at 25-23 overall and qualified for the playoffs with an 11-9 record against PSAC East opponents, which was good enough for the second seed. KU entered the final weekend of the regular season with grim playoff hopes, but managed to stun the PSAC with wins in three of four games against nationally-ranked West Chester.

The Golden Bears opening playoff game will be against Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Thursday. IUP went 36-17 this season, including 13-7 in the PSAC West. The teams have not met since 1997.

The Golden Bears will play twice on Thursday. If they beat IUP, they play at 6 p.m. and if they lose, they will go at it at 3 p.m. The tournament is double elimination.

The two other first round playoff games are Millersville (1^st – East) vs. Slippery Rock (3^rd – West) and Shippensburg (1^st – West) vs. West Chester (3^rd – East).

The Golden Bears were 1-3 against Millersville this season, 2-0 vs. Shippensburg, 3-1 against West Chester, and did not play Slippery Rock.

Last season, KU defeated Shippensburg in the first round of the PSAC playoffs before falling in back-to-back games to East Stroudsburg and California (Pa.), which eliminated them from the tournament. The Golden Bears did, however, go on to win the North Atlantic Region Championship. The regional championship qualified them for the Division II World Series, but they were eliminated in just two games.

Probable Starting Lineup
1. Corey Buletza – LF/RF
2. Mike Kacelowicz – 2B
3. Chad Lightcap – LF
4. James Quigley – DH/3B
5. Jared Frey – 1B
6. Matt Kulbacki/Scott Kacelowicz – CA
7. Mike Dugan – 3B/DH
8. Garrison Rausch – CF
9. Mark Renda/Jeff Kistle/Brett Wigder – UT

Probable Pitching Rotation
1. Darin Gorski
2. Phil Rummel
3. Derek Reis
4. Garrison Rausch

KU Scouting Report
The Golden Bears are led offensively by Chad Lightcap (.383-5-34). He leads the team in batting average, RBIs, runs scored (39), slugging percentage (.596), and on base percentage (.480). Jared Frey (.282-0-17) has progressed nicely in his second season and will man first base and bat in the top half of the order. Scott Kacelowicz (.298-0-9) and Matt Kulbacki (.299-7-29) have been a formidable catching combination and each will see time behind the plate. Kulbacki leads the team in homers and is second in RBIs and slugging percentage (.523). James Quigley (.329-0-12) will cleanup and is second on the team in hitting despite missing nearly half of the team’s games due to injury. Corey Buletza (.301-1-21) is the favorite to lead off and is second on the team with 15 stolen bases. Mike Kacelowicz (.302-1-17) has lifted his average back above .300 and is tops on the team with 17 doubles and 22 walks. He will bat second and play second base. Garrison Rausch (.188-0-8) will man center and bat in the lower part of the order. Mike Dugan (.291-1-17) and Brett Wigder (.289-0-18) have hit well in extensive action as freshmen and will see time in the infield. Jeff Kistle (.230-0-10), Mark Renda (.250-0-16), Nole Saylor (.286-1-7), and Andy May (.311-1-9) are four other freshman who will see a few at-bats and spot starts during the tournament. Renda leads KU with 17 steals this season.

The team’s strength is its pitching and the anchor of that staff in 2008 has been the lefty Darin Gorski (8-2 2.19). Gorski has been one of the PSAC’s best pitchers this season and joins with Phil Rummel (4-5 3.42) to form one of the league’s best pitching duos. Derick Reis (3-2 2.89) has been outstanding this season and could see a start in the tournament. Garrison Rausch (1-3 6.57) has started seven games in 2008, but has struggled in a majority of those outings. Trent Mertz (1-0 2.08) will be counted on as a relief pitcher as he leads the team in ERA in 17.1 innings of work out of the bullpen this year. Justin Jachowicz (0-3 3.44), Ryan Cassidy (1-2 5.19), Mike Bucklin (2-0 3.60), Steve Craig (2-1 7.04), Jason Herr (0-2 3.60), Jordan Smith (1-1 5.02), Anthony Fegely (1-1 2.89), and Mike Moran (1-1 4.86) round out the pitching staff and several of them could see a few innings out of the pen.

Outlook
The Golden Bears aren’t the team that everyone feared in 2007, but teams are likely to take them more seriously now they knocked off a top team like West Chester three times in four tries. It will not be easy against the PSAC’s top teams, but KU has the pitching to make a run. If Gorski, Rummel, and Reis pitch how they have all season and the young offense can extend their recent hot streak into the playoffs, there is no telling how far this team can advance.

As mentioned earlier, KU is a combined 6-4 against the four playoff teams they’ve faced earlier this season. The team has proven it can show up for big games and the Golden Bears also have the advantage of a few veterans who played at the national level a season ago. That experience, along with an excellent coaching staff led by Chris Blum, could give KU an advantage against the less playoff experienced teams in the tournament.

On the other hand, we have to remember that KU’s starting lineup will be almost half made up of freshmen. Of the players likely to see significant action in the upcoming week, only Mike Kacelowicz and Chad Lightcap were everyday players a season ago. The young crop of players is full of talent, but experience can mean a lot come playoff time.

In all likelihood, the success of KU will likely hinge on the aforementioned offense. The pitching isn’t much of a question mark, so that should keep the opposing offenses at bay. However, many of the Golden Bears’ losses this year were by scores of 2-0, 3-1, 4-0, etc. The offense has been much better as of late and if it can provide enough run support for the pitching staff, KU could be a sleeper pick in the PSAC.