Baseball America Takes A Look At The Upcoming MAC Baseball Season
Jan. 21, 2003
Mid-American Conference (18)
How They’ll Finish
East Division
1. &Kent State
2. Ohio
3. Miami (Ohio)
4. Marshall
5. Akron
6. Buffalo
West Division
1. Bowling Green State
2. Eastern Michigan
3. Ball State
4. Central Michigan
5. Western Michigan
6. Northern Illinois
7. Toledo
Projected NCAA Teams (1): Kent State.
Conference Schedule: 28 games. Schedule begins March 28.
Conference Tournament: Six teams, May 21-24 at team with best conference winning percentage.
Players To Watch
All-Conference Team
C—Mitch Maier, Jr., Toledo (.362-14-43). 1B—Kelly Hunt, Sr., Bowling Green (.402-*22-*84). 2B—Chris Welsch, Sr., Kent State (.336-7-55). 3B—Adam Fox, Jr., Ohio (.368-12-59). SS—Brian Bixler, So., Eastern Michigan (.320-12-47). OF—Ryan Goleski, Jr., Eastern Michigan (.381-*22-70); Eric O’Brien, Sr., Kent State (.332-6-29, 20 SB); Brad Snyder, Jr., Ball State (.389-13-57). DH—Michael Carlin, Sr., Miami (.345-19-55).
P—Marc Cornell, Jr., Ohio (6-5, 5.60); Dirk Hayhurst, Sr., Kent State (8-4, 3.29, 93 IP/94 SO); Pat Misch, Sr., Western Michigan (6-2, 5.63, 78 IP/95 SO). RP—Gus Hlebovy, Jr., Kent State (3-3, 3.03, 35 IP/33 SO, 11 SV).
Player of the Year: Mitch Maier, c, Toledo.
Pitcher of the Year: Dirk Hayhurst, rhp, Kent State.
Freshman of the Year: Matt Long, rhp, Miami.
Top Prospects
1. Mitch Maier, c, Toledo. 2. Brad Snyder, of, Ball State. 3. Pat Misch, lhp, Western Michigan. 4. #Brian Bixler, ss, Eastern Michigan. 5. Ryan Goleski, of, Eastern Michigan. 6. Dirk Hayhurst, rhp, Kent State. 7. Marc Cornell, rhp, Ohio (6-5, 5.60, 71 IP/63 SO). 8. Matt Lorenzo, rhp, Kent State (6-3, 5.37). 9. Adam Fox, 3b, Ohio. 10. Eric O’Brien, of, Kent State.
Top Newcomers
1. Matt Long, rhp, Miami (Fr., undrafted in 2002). 2. Joe Tucker, ss, Kent State (Fr., undrafted in 2002). 3. Francois Larmore, of, Marshall (Jr., Tr.—Gloucester, N.J., CC).
Best Tools
Best Pure Hitter—Kelly Hunt, Bowling Green. Best Raw Power—Kelly Hunt, Bowling Green. Fastest Runner—Brad Snyder, Ball State. Best Baserunner—David Barkholz, Bowling Green.
Best Defensive Catcher—Mitch Maier, Toledo. Catcher/Best Arm—Ben Crabtree, Ohio. Best Defensive First Baseman—Kelly Hunt, Bowling Green. Best Defensive Second Baseman—Chris Welsch, Kent State. Best Defensive Third Baseman—Adam Fox, Ohio. Best Defensive Shortstop—Brian Bixler, Eastern Michigan. Infielder/Best Arm—Brian Bixler, Eastern Michigan. Best Defensive Outfielder—David Barkholz, Bowling Green. Outfielder/Best Arm—Ryan Goleski, Eastern Michigan.
Best Fastball—Marc Cornell, Ohio. Best Breaking Ball—Pat Misch, Western Michigan. Best Control—Mark Skrukrud, Northern Illinois.
Short Hops
The MAC has three new coaches in 2003. Former assistant Greg Beals takes over at Ball State for Rich Maloney, who became the new coach at Michigan; assistant Steve Jaska moves in at Central Michigan for the retiring Judd Folske; and former North Central (Ill.) coach Ed Mathey replaces Dave Schrage at Northern Illinois, after Schrage became the coach at Evansville . . . Ball State lost two first-round picks off its pitching staff, Bryan Bullington (11-3, 2.84) and Luke Hagerty (7-4, 3.02), 1-2 in the league in ERA, but regains senior RHP Jason Paul, who shared the Mid-American lead with 11 wins in 2001. He was granted a medical redshirt in 2002 because of an injured elbow . . . Kent State earned the unanimous endorsement of league coaches to repeat as league champion. The Golden Flashes return seven regulars, including unrelated seniors C Pat O’Brien (.335-17-56), the team’s top power hitter in 2002, and OF Eric O’Brien (.332-6-29), who hit 19 homers in 2001 with a conference-high 33 stolen bases . . . Central Michigan is hoping for a big season from fifth-year senior RHP Dan Horvath, who went 4-5, 5.58 in 2002 but had a strong summer in the Great Lakes League, going 4-2 with a league-best 0.57 ERA. Eastern Michigan sophomore SS Brian Bixler (.320-13-47) was named that league’s No. 1 pro prospect . . . Bowling Green senior Kelly Hunt was passed over in the 2002 draft despite setting school records for home runs (22) and RBIs (84). The Falcons move from the East to the West Division . . . Marshall added some thunder to the middle of its batting order by importing a pair of junior college all-Americans: 3B Corie O’Bryan (.428-10-78 at Frederick, Md., CC) and OF Francois Larmore (.412-12-85 at Gloucester, N.J., CC). "This will be the best Marshall team in the last 10-15 years," coach Dave Piepenbrink said . . . Northern Illinois hopes to get a boost from junior RHP Jim Caine, a 10th-round pick out of an Illinois high school in 1999 who resurfaced after attending Kansas as a freshman and Kishwaukee (Ill.) JC a year ago.
