State Tournament Preview: Lodi vs. Milwaukee Lutheran
The 2016 edition of the spring baseball state tournament begins on June 14. There will be 20 teams competing for a state championship across four divisions. The Division 1 quarterfinals and semifinals take place on Tuesday, followed by the Divisions 2-4 semifinals on Wednesday. All four Divisions will play their championship games on Thursday. Today, we're breaking down the Division 2 semifinals. In this edition, we're taking a look at Lodi vs. Milwaukee Lutheran.
The rundown
Lodi is 26-2 this season and the champion of the Capitol North Conference. The Blue Devils are making their third overall appearance at the state tournament, and their first since winning the Division 2 title in 2013. Their road to state saw them beat Marshall, Portage, Dodgeville and Whitewater.
Defending state champion Milwaukee Lutheran is 23-7 this season. The Red Knights finished in second place in the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference behind fellow state tournament team Arrowhead. This is their second consecutive appearance in Appleton, and their fifth overall. To get here, they beat Wisconsin Lutheran and University School in regional play before beating Catholic Memorial and Campbellsport at sectionals.
Here’s a breakdown of the matchup based on the following categories: hitting, pitching, and base running. The teams are rated on a 100 point scale, with 100 being the best. There are a possible 45 points in both the hitting and pitching categories, and 10 in the base running category.
*Note: Lodi’s stats listed below do not account for their two games at sectionals.
Hitting
Lodi: 35 points
Milwaukee Lutheran: 35 points
Lodi and Milwaukee Lutheran put up similar numbers at the plate this spring. The Blue Devils hit .305 as a team, and their lineup is powered by three players named Garret(t). Garrett McGraw is batting .423 this season with an impressive 19 extra base hits. Over half of his hits have gone for extra bases. Garrett Schreiber has a team-high .439 batting average and 26 RBIs. Garret Wegner hits .354 for the Blue Devils, and he has tallied 15 RBIs this season. Overall, the Blue Devils have five players batting over .340.
The Red Knights bat .307 collectively. Nick Winter has produced all-state type numbers this season. He’s hitting .515 with 12 extra base hits and 14 RBIs from the number two spot in the batting order. Leadoff hitter Christian Gerner is batting .376 this season with eight doubles and 21 RBIs. TD Walker has the team’s highest RBI total at 24, and he’s hitting .330 this year. The Red Knights have five starters batting over .290.
Pitching
Lodi: 37 points
Milwaukee Lutheran: 43 points
Milwaukee Lutheran has been fantastic on the mound this year, and they have a small advantage in the pitching category. The one-two punch of Nick Winter and James Wright has been lethal for the Red Knights. Winter is 9-1 this year in 76.1 innings with a 0.83 ERA. He has 108 strikeouts this spring. Wright has compiled an 8-3 record with a 1.17 ERA over a span of 66 innings. Ryan Selner is their number three pitcher, and he hasn’t allowed an earned run in 23.2 innings this season.
The Blue Devils have spread out the workload more evenly than the Red Knights. Four Lodi pitchers tossed at least 28 innings this year. Either Zach Steuck or Garrett McGraw is likely to start in the semifinals. Steuck is 5-1 with a 1.50 ERA this year. He’s pitched 37.1 innings and has thrown six complete games. McGraw is also 5-1, and he has posted a 2.94 ERA in 35.2 innings. Alex Mashak and Garrett Schreiber provide good depth for the Blue Devils. Mashak is a perfect 5-0 with a 1.87 ERA, while Schreiber is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA.
Base running
Lodi: 4 points
Milwaukee Lutheran: 5 points
The Red Knights did a little more damage on the bases than the Blue Devils this year, but not by much. As a team, Milwaukee Lutheran stole 46 bases. Nick Winter had a team-high 23 steals, followed by Christian Gerner’s 15. Nobody else on the team stole more than five bases.
Lodi stole 35 bases this season, led by Garrett Schreiber’s eight swipes. Zach Steuck and Rob Volk both stole five bases apiece. The Blue Devils only got caught stealing seven times this year, but they didn’t run that much either.
The verdict
Lodi: 76/100 points
Milwaukee Lutheran: 83/100 points
This game pits two of the best teams in Division 2 against each other, which is exactly what you want to see at the state tournament. Both of these teams have experienced what winning a state championship feels like (most of Milwaukee Lutheran’s players were on the team last year, and Lodi has three starters remaining from their 2013 championship squad). Runs should be hard to come by in this matchup, so the first team to push one or two across may end up the winner.
