Local talent has Judson flying high

The 2011 Judson University baseball team has a chance to be the best in school history, powered in large part by local talent.

Fourth-year coach Rich Benjamin’s Eagles set program records for wins in 2009 (30) and 2010 (39). With multiple position players returning and a pitching staff now even deeper thanks to some incoming transfers with familiar names, 40 victories and a berth in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament are realistic goals.

“We have to stay healthy,” said Benjamin whose team defeated Wheaton College Thursday to improve to 14-4, thereby breaking the school record with their 10th straight win. “If we stay healthy, keep throwing strikes and fielding the baseball, we’ll be OK.

“But certainly with the pitching depth, it’s a huge plus. Depth is our biggest strength.”

The pitching staff is led by senior Nick Krisman, who tied the school record with 8 wins as a junior and was named NCCAA all-region. He also led the Eagles in innings pitched (86), appearances (15) and strikeouts (50) and demonstrated remarkable control by walking only 14 batters.

“I learned it in junior college and really even in high school,” Krisman, a St. Joseph-Ogden graduate, said of his control. “I’ve just always been fortunate enough to be able to throw strikes and just get it across the plate when I really need to.”

Senior Mitch Smith, a Downers Grove South graduate, went 6-5 with a 4.77 ERA last season. The lefty walked only 12 hitters in 71 innings. Senior right-hander Joe Huenecke from Palatine went 1-3 last year with 18 strikeouts in 12 appearances. Junior Tyler Ware, a 6-foot-6, 245-pound right-hander, finished 9-2 last season for Kankakee Community College, which placed third at the NJCAA World Series.

The staff has also been bolstered by the influx of talented Division-I transfers Ben Palmer (Dallas Baptist) and T.J. Swank (Coastal Carolina).

Palmer, a left-hander, led nearby Westminster Christian to its first state finals appearance in Class A in 2007. Swank was the starting pitcher in Prairie Ridge’s 3-2 victory over Neuqua Valley in the Class 4A state championship game in 2008. Both were honored as 2008 honorary co-captains of the Daily Herald All-Area baseball team in the Fox Valley.

“I just wanted to be back toward home,” said Palmer, who was 4-1 with 22 strikeouts in 29 innings as a sophomore at Dallas Baptist. “Being 1,000 miles away is kind of hard. I tried to adjust. My family didn’t get to see me play a whole lot. It’s nice being back home and being back in the community more.”

Palmer, who plans to attend medical school in the Midwest, works in his spare time as an ER tech at Sherman Hospital.

Swank is a submarine-style pitcher. He has been installed as the staff closer, and his big bat also makes him the Eagles’ everyday first baseman.

“I spent my first two years down at Coastal Carolina and things didn’t work out down there for me, so I talked to coach Benjamin this summer along with some other schools,” said Swank, who redshirted in 2010. “I just felt like Judson was the best fit. It had everything, the total package. So here I am.”

More local talent populates the lineup. Streamwood graduate Brian Brauer was named a Daily Herald All-Area honorary co-captain in 2009. The second baseman started 44 of 50 games as a Judson freshman and hit .345 with 4 home runs, 5 triples, 8 doubles and 42 RBI.

Former all-area pick Johnny Amann, a 2009 Jacobs graduate, was named CCAC freshman of the year and first-team all-region after leading Judson in at-bats (185), runs (46), triples (7), walks (32), total bases (102) and steals (10). He hit .271, slugged .551 and hit 6 home runs and 12 doubles.

Playing alongside what amounts to a collection of area all-stars certainly makes the clubhouse banter more interesting.

“It’s good when you’re surrounded by a bunch of good athletes with good talent and they’re all from your own backyard,” Brauer said. “We all seemed to play each other at least once, so we all have a background story. We poke fun at each other. Some people hit some home runs off some people. Some people struck out some people. It’s fun.”

Other Eagles hailing from Chicago-area high schools include senior relief pitcher Jake Zappia (Larkin), senior center fielder Levi Pippenger (Woodstock), senior catcher Ben Vincent (Larkin), senior catcher Andrew Parsill (Niles West), senior shortstop Gio Cantwell (Nazareth), junior relief pitchers Kevin Carmody (Bartlett), Tom Lawton (Huntley), Scott Newton (Bartlett), Jeremy Winnan (Marengo) and Ryan Pollock (Crystal Lake Central), junior infielder Steve Janezic (Barrington), sophomore outfielder Nick Norris (Homewood-Flossmoor), freshman outfielder Brandon Fowkes (Libertyville), freshman utility man Derek Talbot (Johnsburg) and freshman infielder Billy Wright (Crystal Lake South). Wright hit a grand slam during Judson’s spring trip.

“I didn’t expect to play with a lot of guys locally,” Amann said. “I expected to meet a wide variety of kids from all over the place. I’m kind of fortunate to come here and play with a guy I grew up with like Billy (Wright), and played against like T.J. If there was a guy I idolized in high school, it was T.J. Swank. It’s a lot of fun, and I’m super happy about how this team looks in general.”

Recruiting local talent has been part of the long-range plan for Judson’s successful head coach, who won his 100th game at the school Wednesday and needs 7 more victories to become the program’s all-time leader.

“The best advice I got when I took over was from a mentor of mine who said, ‘Make every decision like you’ll be there forever,’” Benjamin said. “Part of making long-term decisions is to build alumni bases and increase local recruiting to put Judson at the forefront in the Fox Valley area for the first time in a long time.

“Our main focus was to get as many quality players locally as we can, and whatever we can’t find at the late date go elsewhere. It’s worked out where 18 of our 30 guys are from within 35 minutes of campus. And they’re pretty good. It’s been a huge blessing to us to have that kind of talent level, and it’s been a huge focal point for us in recruiting to have local guys.”

Benjamin said local players benefit from choosing a program close to home like Judson.

“I tell our recruits if you stay in your backyard, we have to be loyal to you because we want those relationships in our backyard,” he said. “We cannot live without them, whereas, if that person goes to school out of state, programs don’t have to be loyal to that player for them to be successful year after year. So we’ve really built by bringing in local players and taking care of them.”

Not every Judson player is from the Chicago suburbs, of course. Other key returnees for the Eagles include Missouri native Matt McHenry (. 347, 12 doubles, 30 RBI) and Rockford’s Nate Rohl, who led Judson last year in batting average (. 388), hits (62), doubles (16) and home runs (6). Rohl already has 5 homers this season.

These Eagles are poised to take flight after opening the season with wins in 14 of their first 18 games. As for the possibility of 40 victories?

“I think that’s the bare minimum of what we’re trying to get,” Amann said. “We’re trying to get to the World Series, and I think this is the year to do it.”

“We want to win conference first, then move onto the conference tournament, then NAIA,” Palmer said. “Our ultimate goal is to win the World Series in Idaho. I think we have the coaching and the ability to do that, so it should be a fun year.”