Another Year for Kingsmen to Seek Crown

Year after productive year, Cal Lutheran goes to the baseball battles with some of the best Division III clubs in the nation.

To Marty Slimak, the Kingsmen’s perpetually optimistic coach, this season looks no less promising.

“We got it to a point now where we know we are going to win games,” Slimak said. “I think potentially we have a team that can take it to the next level. Only time will tell.”

The next plateau for the Kingsmen is a national championship, like the one that slipped through their fingers two years ago, when they blew a four-run lead in the eighth inning of the final against William Paterson, N.J.

Other than that, Cal Lutheran doesn’t have much to prove.

The Kingsmen practically own the six-year-old Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, winning every championship except 1995, when they took second place behind eventual national champion La Verne.

Last season, the Kingsmen finished 35-10 and cruised in the SCIAC with a 20-1 record, the only setback coming against runner-up Claremont early in March.

Slimak, who is 123-48-2 in four seasons at Cal Lutheran, is counting on a largely new pitching staff and some explosive bats to keep the Kingsmen in the division’s upper echelon.

Cal Lutheran is ranked No. 2 in the national Division III poll behind North Carolina Wesleyan, in Baseball America’s preseason poll.

The Kingsmen lost ace left-hander Richard Bell to graduation and replacing his 9-1 record and 1.83 earned-run average won’t be easy, but Erik Kiszczak returns and is complemented by transfers Rich Igou and Jaime Duran.

Kiszczak, a junior right-hander from Lake Havasu, Ariz., last year had a 10-4 record with a 3.61 ERA and was selected to the All-SCIAC team for the second consecutive season. He is 19-7 with the Kingsmen, two victories shy of tying the school’s career record.

Igou, a left-handed senior from Notre Dame High, last year was 3-6 with an 8.95 ERA at San Francisco.

Duran, a right-handed junior who went to Fillmore High, was 5-0 with a 2.65 ERA last season at Bakersfield College.

“Igou will be such a big part of the staff,” Slimak said. “He brings such a wealth of experience at the Division I level.”

Perhaps the most difficult spot for Slimak to fill is catcher, handled superbly last season by All-American Tom McGee, the SCIAC player of the year who batted .404 with a 15 doubles and 14 home runs. He is playing in the Baltimore Orioles’ organization.

Slimak said seniors Bill Finnerty and Joe King and junior Eddie Romero are the catching candidates.

The offense is solidified by seniors Anthony Olden and Adam Rauch, and the infield is anchored by senior second baseman Joseph Jauregui, who last year committed only two errors in 100 chances and batted .321.

Olden, a left-handed first baseman and designated hitter, led Cal Lutheran with a .430 batting average and had 58 hits, 12 home runs and 45 runs batted in. He was an All-SCIAC selection.

Rauch, a outfielder from Moorpark High, batted .365 and had a team-high 22 stolen bases.

The newcomers include freshman right-hander Tom Canale from Payson (Ariz.) High and transfers Brian Malchow, an outfielder from Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif.; Clint Britt, a second baseman from Pima College in Tucson, Ariz., and Jeremy Schloesser, a third baseman from Scottsdale (Ariz.) College.

“[Canale] will be a player for the future here,” Slimak said.

The Kingsmen open the season at Biola in a nonconference game Wednesday.

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CAL LUTHERAN SCHEDULE

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Date Opponent Time 2-11 at Biola 2:30 p.m. 2-13 at Whittier 2:30 p.m. 2-14 Whittier, DH 11 a.m. 2-17 Westmont 2:30 p.m. 2-18 Azusa Pacific 2:30 p.m. 2-20 *Occidental 2:30 p.m. 2-21 at *Occidental, DH 11 a.m. 2-27 *Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2:30 p.m. 2-28 at *Clar.-Md.-Scrps., DH 11 a.m. 3-3 UC San Diego 2:30 p.m. 3-4 Northwestern College 2:30 p.m. 3-6 at *Caltech 2:30 p.m. 3-7 *Caltech, DH 11 a.m. 3-10 Montclair State 2:30 p.m. 3-21 at California tournament TBA 3-22 at California tournament TBA 3-25 North Central 2:30 p.m. 3-27 at *Pomona-Pitzer 2:30 p.m. 3-28 *Pomona-Pitzer, DH 11 a.m. 3-31 at The Master’s 2:30 p.m. 4-1 at UC San Diego 2:30 p.m. 4-17 *La Verne 3 p.m. 4-18 at *La Verne, DH 11 a.m. 4-24 at *Redlands 3 p.m. 4-25 *Redlands, DH 11 a.m. 4-28 at Chapman 3 p.m. 4-29 Chapman 3 p.m. 5-2 at CS Northridge 1 p.m. 5-3 at CS Northridge 1 p.m.

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All times local