Summer State Tournament Preview: Marquette vs. Oak Creek
The WIAA summer baseball state tournament is this Friday. The semifinals will take place in the morning, and the state championship is scheduled for 6:05 in the evening. Marquette and Oak Creek will square off in the first semifinal, to be followed by New Holstein vs. Menomonee Falls. Today, we'll be breaking down the first semifinal.
The rundown
Marquette is 26-6 this summer and finished in second place of the Greater Metro Conference. The Hilltoppers are appearing at the state tournament for the first time since 2011. They last won a state title in 2008. Their road to Mequon saw them defeat Kettle Moraine in the regional finals before clinching their sectional with victories over Pius XI and Pewaukee.
Oak Creek is 31-2 this season and won the GMC ahead of Marquette and Menomonee Falls (two other state tournament teams). The Knights are making their third trip to the state tournament in the last five years. Their last state championship came in 2012. To get to this point, they beat Cudahy in their regional final and both Franklin and Muskego in their sectional.
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: Stats for Oak Creek do not include their sectional games.
Hitting
Marquette: 40/45 points
Oak Creek: 45/45 points
The Knights have been a dominant force on offense this season, and they get the edge in this category. They bat .387 as a team, and have five starters hitting over .400. St. Cloud State commit DJ Ellifson led the starters with a .486 average, while Ben Stanke (.453) and Luke Posig (.451) weren’t far behind. Louisville commit Alex Binelas had arguably the best season for the Knights, though. He hit .453 with 14 extra-base hits (including four home runs) and 41 RBIs. Illinois State commit Matt Hamilton (.402) was the other Knight starter to bat over .400. All nine of their starters bat over .300.
Marquette also has a powerful lineup. All of their starters bat over .300, and the Hilltoppers hit .352 collectively. Oklahoma State commit Connor Kimple leads the team with a .414 average, 18 extra-base hits and 34 RBIs. The firepower doesn’t stop there. Jeromy Schultz is hitting .405 this year, while Matt Schwartz is a shade under .400 with a .398 average. Schwartz has the second highest RBI total on the team at 30. There’s more college-level talent on the roster as well. UW-La Crosse commit Jack Dwyer hits .370, Nebraska commit Joe Acker hits .310 and Bradley commit Jim Jarecki bats .302 with 27 RBIs for the Hilltoppers.
Pitching
Marquette: 35/45 points
Oak Creek: 35/45 points
Marquette and Oak Creek are very similar on the mound. Neither is dominant, but they’re both very solid. The Hilltoppers have a number of options to start on the mound in the semifinals. Matt Schwartz got the start in the sectional semifinals, so they might go with him. He’s 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA in 34.1 innings pitched this summer. Jim Jarecki has the most starts this season for Marquette. He’s 7-1 with a 2.66 ERA in 47.1 innings. Austin Trowbridge (6-0, 2.02 ERA) and Jack Shemanski (3-1, 3.61 ERA) provide depth to the pitching staff.
The Knights will likely turn to either Kurtis Sippy or Tyler Bujanowski to start the game. Sippy is 4-1 this summer with a 2.43 ERA in 31.2 innings. Bujanowski has a 7-0 record with a 2.03 ERA in 38 innings. Like Marquette, Oak Creek also has good depth on the mound. D.J. Ellifson (4-0, 1.70 ERA), Dylan Fluegel (6-0, 1.88 ERA) and Matt Hamilton (2-1, 3.33 ERA) can all get the job done for the Knights.
Base running
Marquette: 10/10 points
Oak Creek: 9/10 points
Both of these teams are excellent on the base paths. The Hilltoppers get a slight edge, though. They stole 130 bases this season with a 91% success rate. Connor Kimple led the squad with 32 steals. He didn’t get thrown out at all this year. Joe Acker had the next highest total at 20. Jack Dwyer had 14, while Joe Gilpin had 11. As a team, Marquette likes to run, and that should play to their advantage.
Oak Creek also has a dangerous team on the base paths. The Knights stole 86 bases with a 91% success rate. Alex Binelas had a team-high 23 steals. Matt Hamilton had the next best total at 14. D.J. Ellifson, Ben Stanke and Alec Kent all had 10 stolen bases to round out a balanced attack.
The verdict
Marquette: 85 out of 100 points
Oak Creek: 89 out of 100 points
On paper this should be the best semifinal game. These two teams roughed each other up during the regular season. Marquette crushed the Knights in their first meeting, 30-4. Oak Creek responded by battering the Hilltoppers 14-3 in their next matchup. The Knights also beat them 5-4 in the GMC tournament championship game. All bets are off at this point in their rivalry. Who will rise to the occasion with a state title game berth on the line? It’ll be fun to watch and find out.
