State Tournament Preview: Janesville Craig vs. Burlington
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 some of the Division 1 quarterfinals. In this edition, we're taking a look at Janesville Craig vs. Burlington.
The rundown
Janesville Craig is 26-2 this season and is the champion of the Big Eight Conference. The Cougars are making their thirteenth appearance at the state tournament, and their second in a row. They won the Division 1 championship last season. To return to Appleton, they beat Oregon, Janesville Parker and Verona.
Burlington is 22-5 this spring with a Southern Lakes Conference title to their name. The Demons are at the state tournament for the third time in their history, and for the first time since 2005. Their playoff journey has seen them beat Westosha Central, Racine Horlick and Kenosha Bradford so far.
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.
Hitting
Janesville Craig: 35 points
Burlington: 45 points
Burlington’s offense has some of the most impressive numbers we’ve seen at the state tournament in recent years, so they have the advantage in this category. They hit .384 as a team and have an astounding total of five starters batting over .400. Bryan Sturdevant leads the team with a hefty .495 average, and he also has 14 extra base hits this year. Aaron Mutter has produced numbers that put him in contention to win player of the year awards after the season. He’s batting .456 with 23 extra base hits (including five home runs) and a staggering 40 RBIs. Dale Damon has driven in 30 runs this year, and he’s hitting .462. Leadoff man Zach Campbell sets the table with a .443 average. This is pretty telling about the Demons’ offense: Aaron Sturdevant is batting .417 this year, and that’s not even good enough to be one of the team’s top four hitters.
Janesville Craig may not have an offense that’s quite as explosive as Burlington’s, they’re still a unit that should not be taken lightly. They collectively bat .322, and they have six starters batting over .300. Austin Kraus leads the squad with a .390 batting average, while Jack Blomgren has arguably been the Cougars’ top hitter this year. He’s hitting .382 this season with seven doubles, two triples, a home run and 27 RBIs. Hit fellow infielders, Noah Berghammer and Evan Spry, are batting .347 and .337 respectively. Spry has a team-high 33 RBIs. Catcher Jacob Campbell has been solid at the plate as well with a .306 average and five extra base hits. There’s a lot to like about the Cougars’ lineup.
Pitching
Janesville Craig: 40 points
Burlington: 30 points
Just as Burlington excels as the plate, Janesville Craig excels on the mound. The Cougars have a lethal pitching rotation which surrendered more than three runs in just seven of their 28 games this year. Over the course of their last six games, they have allowed only three runs total. Evan Spry is their ace, and you’ll probably see him tasked with stopping Burlington’s juggernaut offense. He is 8-1 this season in 51 innings with a 1.24 ERA. The depth of the Cougars’ pitching staff bodes well for a championship run. Brandon Dunham is 5-0 with a 0.75 ERA in six starts this season, while Nick Cramer has posted a 2.33 ERA and a 4-1 record in eight appearances. Jared Filter has pitched 32 innings in relief this season, and he has a 1.09 ERA. Jack Blomgren has also worked in relief a lot. He’s got a 1.62 ERA in 21.2 innings. Chase Nyborg pitched a shutout for Craig in last season’s state semifinals, and he’s allowed no earned runs in 15 innings this spring.
Burlington also has a good pitching staff, but it doesn’t have the same depth as Janesville Craig. Wichita State commit Jacob Lindemann will start in the quarterfinals (barring a late injury or something like that). He is 9-1 this season with a 0.61 ERA in 57 innings. After Lindemann’s dominance, the numbers start to drop off a little bit for the Demons. Aaron Mutter is their number two pitcher. He’s 5-1 in nine appearances with a 3.32 ERA. Their number three, Houston Cowan, is 3-0 with a 3.40 ERA in 22.2 innings. They have some guys who have been solid in relief. Zach Campbell has a 2.57 ERA in 16.1 innings, while Cal Tully posted a 0.68 ERA in seven appearances.
Base running
Janesville Craig: 10 points
Burlington: 4 points
The Cougars are a big threat on the base paths, and they earned a perfect score in this category. They stole 94 bases this season with an 87% success rate. Jack Blomgren led the team with 31 stolen bases in 32 attempts. Austin Kraus stole 15, and Noah Berghammer swiped 12. Connor Wright and Jacob Campbell both stole eight bags. If you do the math, you’ll find that the Cougars have five starters with at least eight steals.
Burlington only ran about half as much as Janesville Craig. They stole 36 bases with just a 69% success rate. Grant Tully and Aaron Mutter tied for the team lead with six stolen bases each. Zach Campbell and Dale Damon both had five. Other than those four guys, there’s really nobody else that did much damage on the bases.
The verdict
Janesville Craig: 85/100 points
Burlington: 79/100 points
Janesville Craig is more well-rounded in all facets of the game, and that makes them the slight favorites in this matchup. The battle between Burlington’s overpowering offense and Janesville Craig’s stifling pitching staff will be really fun to watch. The presumed pitching matchup of Lindemann vs. Spry will be one of the best in the Division 1 quarterfinals. This game, like so many others at the state tournament this year, should be a good one.
