If the seeds hold true to form at the 2002 Midwest Conference Championship Baseball Tournament at Monmouth College’s Glasgow Field this Friday and Saturday, area baseball fans should be in for a real treat.

Perhaps as many as three times, a classic battle could be staged between the pitching-rich Fighting Scots and a hard-hitting Ripon team that has broken virtually every offensive record in school history. The teams won the MWC South and North Division titles, respectively, and they’ll meet Friday at approximately 4 p.m. at Glasgow Field if they each win their 10 a.m. games in the double-elimination tournament.

Standing in their way are the second-place divisional teams, Knox and St. Norbert, and those squads are a study in contrasts as well. The Prairie Fire qualified for the tournament on Sunday and sport an 8-24 record, while the Green Knights (23-10) have had a stellar season, storming through the North Division with the exception of a 1-3 mark against Ripon.

“You have to look at Ripon as the favorite,” said MC coach Roger Sander. “They’ve won four straight. But we’ll go into this tournament with the full intention of winning it. It’s double-elimination, though, so you really have to take everybody seriously.”

Sander recently won his 150th game as Scots’ coach, and while certainly impressive, his victories are less than one-tenth the total for Ripon’s legendary coach, Gordie Gillespie, who hopes to be shooting for his 1,600th career win at the event. Gillespie enters the weekend with a record of 1,597-823, having coached at Lewis University and the College of St. Francis a combined 42 years before spending the last seven seasons at Ripon.

Gillespie’s team has made a habit of knocking the cover off the ball this year. In one game, proof of that comes from shortstop Brad Mott, who was 6-for-7 with four homers, a triple and a double in a 32-1 win over Carroll. In the overall season, the poster child for the Red Hawks’ offensive success is catcher Nick Thoen, who’s hitting .429 with 16 homers and 53 RBI.

Other offensive stars for the Red Hawks are second baseman Eric Roecker (.443, 8 HR, 41 RBI), third baseman Aaron Johnson (.443, 7 HR, 36 RBI) and left fielder Luke Hagel (.395).

Ripon does have an Achilles heel, or at least the rest of the field hopes so. After ace Steve Fauk (7-0, 2.96), who’s won his last 15 decisions, Ripon appears to be very beatable on the mound. No other regular hurler has an ERA less than 4.80, and the staff ERA is 4.77.

Ripon’s weakness is Monmouth’s strength, as the Scots’ staff has posted a 1.42 ERA en route to a 16-1 record in its last 17 games. For the year, Monmouth’s ERA is 3.77.

Aces Joe Larkins and Ryan Johnson have been the main contributors during that time. Johnson is 7-0 with a 1.05 ERA since March 30, and Larkins has a season ERA of 1.87.

Both figure to get starts in Friday’s action, but Sander hasn’t decided who will throw first. While he’ll be in good shape either way he picks, the going gets a little tougher should Monmouth survive to play Saturday. Teams that make it to the second day can play as many as three games, and the Monmouth coach was asked if Johnson or Larkins could throw 100 pitches on Friday and have anything left in the tank for Saturday.

“It’s tournament time,” said Sander. “I’m the guy who threw (current assistant coach) Brent Dugan 23 straight innings my first year.”

Other pitchers who could be called into action are Adam Schweitzer (3-3, 2.83), Toby Lannholm (1-1, 6.92) or starting shortstop Beau Hellman (3-1, 2.86).

Offensively, catcher Taylor Thiel (.267, 10 HR, 26 RBI) is one home run away from breaking Monmouth’s all-time single-season mark, and both Thiel and Larkins are a homer away from tying the career record of 17. Fighting Scots hitting above .300 on the year include Chad Goad (.361), Thad King (351), Hellman (.318), Dustin White (.318) and Larkins (.307).

“We played pretty well in the tournament last year, we just didn’t hit the ball,” said Sander. “Hopefully, we’ll put it all together and win it this year.”

While it’s neat to speculate on a Ripon vs. Monmouth do-or-die final, both St. Norbert and Knox hope to have something to say about the ultimate outcome. The Knights are led by power-hitter Nick Olson (.327, 11 HR, 35 RBI), “heart and soul of the team” shortstop Matt Frank (.348, 6 HR, 28 RBI) and relief specialist Brian Lesandrini (5-0, 1.65, 5 saves), while Knox will actually play a home game at the tournament, meeting Ripon at 10 a.m. at the Fire’s Blodgett Field. The rest of the games at the double-elimination event will be played at Glasgow Field.

The winner will earn an automatic berth into the Division III national tournament, and if it’s the Scots, there’s an outside chance they could host an NCAA regional as well. Ripon has won the last four MWC championships, with the Scots claiming their last crown in 1993.

The threat of bad weather always lurks in the spring, and should the event be totally washed out, the NCAA bid would go to Ripon because of their superior MWC winning percentage. If Friday’s game are played but Saturday’s aren’t, the winner would be the lone undefeated team. If Friday’s games are washed out, the event would be shortened to a single-elimination event on Saturday. No games will be played on Sunday.

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