‘It’s going to be fun baseball to watch’: Hawks set sights on making another run at trip to Cary

QUINCY — The Saturday Morning Breakfast Club is ready to trade its name for something more meaningful and permanent.

Something like “World Series champion.”

That’s why 20 or more Quincy University baseball players gathered around 9 a.m. each Saturday during the offseason at the QU Health and Fitness Center to lift weights, do cardiovascular exercises and engage in work outside of their typical schedule.

“We were getting that extra workout that no one else was doing,” starting center fielder Brock Boynton said. “Everyone was getting after it with something to prove. Everything about this squad is hungry, just hungry.”

Hungry to continue the QU tradition.

Hungry to win another ring.

And hungry to raise another championship flag beyond the right-field wall at QU Stadium.

“The goal stays the same,” Boynton said. “Let’s raise multiple flags — the conference, the regional, the super regional, the World Series. Let’s raise all four of them.”

The Hawks are confident they can. Last year’s team won a single-season school record 47 games, Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season and tournament championships and reached the Midwest Super Regional for the second straight year.

However, a trip to Cary, N.C., which is the site of the NCAA Division II World Series, eluded them as Indianapolis won the first two games in the best-of-three series.

“The past two years, I’ve been one game away from going to Cary,” Boynton said as the Hawks enter the season picked to win the GLVC and ranked 13th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association national poll. “I get emotional just thinking about that. The competitor in me wants it even more. That’s what drives me.”

Boynton will be a central figure in the Hawks’ plans — this will be his fourth year as the mainstay in center field — and one of four returning bats. Junior first baseman Austin Simpson and senior catcher Dustin DuPont were everyday players last season, while sophomore shortstop Joe Huffman started all nine postseason games.

Simpson, who hit .343 with 19 doubles, 19 home runs and 62 RBIs last season, and DuPont, who started at third base and hit .369 with 11 home runs, were all-region selections.

“There aren’t many teams in the country bringing back two all-region guys in the middle of the order,” QU coach Matt Schissel said.

Even so, there are plenty of opportunities for at-bats after the graduation of first baseman Lance Logsdon and second baseman Nolan Wosman and the transfer of All-American catcher Luke Napleton and shortstop Gino D’Alessio.

Those four combined for 72 home runs and 260 RBIs.

“We have a lot of sophomores and juniors who see this as their time this year,” Schissel said. “We have a couple new faces who will contribute, too.”

Flanking Boynton in the outfield could be a mix of players with experience. Senior Adam Lewis played in 32 games last season, sophomore Cole Erickson saw action in 33 games and sophomore Ben Dahlof started eight postseason games. Junior Jake Vitale is ready to contribute, too.

On the infield, senior JD Ortiz and sophomore Harry Fandre will get at-bats, while freshmen David Broughton and Evan Davis will log innings.

“They show up, they work hard and they play hard,” Schissel said. “They do things the right way.”

Boynton sees that every day.

“We had a lot of guys on this year’s team that were itching to play last year and never got that opportunity. We were just too deep,” Boynton said. “This year, being a second-year or third-year guy who is finally getting that time, these dudes are hungry.

“I’ve never been a part of a harder working QU baseball team than this year.”

It will be a different team. Last season, the Hawks tied the NCAA Division II home run record with 131 bombs, matching the West Georgia team from 1998. Napleton hit a QU record and GLVC record 29 home runs, which is tied for the second most in a single season in D-II history.

The Hawks averaged 9.1 runs per game with just 21 stolen bases and 15 sacrifice bunts.

“It’s going to be a different style of QU baseball,” Boynton said. “Last year, everybody in the lineup 1 through 9 could have put the ball 400 feet. This year, you’re going to see how baseball should be played — bunting, hit-and-runs, stealing, gap-to-gap, first to third.

“We have a very talented and athletic club this year that is going to make noise in statistical columns that we’ve never made noise in. QU’s not really known for stealing bags. I guarantee we’re going to have three or four dudes with 15-plus stolen bases this year. It’s going to be fun baseball to watch.”

The Hawks expect to be solid defensively, especially up with middle with DuPont behind the plate, Huffman at shortstop and Boynton in center field.

That takes pressure off a pitching staff that has seasoned starters, fresh arms and a solid backend of the bullpen.

Junior left-hander Griffin Kirn will be Quincy’s No. 1 starter, having gone 7-2 with a 5.91 ERA last season. Senior right-hander Kobe Essien went 6-1 in 12 starts last season and sophomore left-hander Aaron Smith went 1-1 in four starts. Freshman right-hander Kade Ruffner, a transfer from Purdue, figures to be in the rotation.

At the backend, the Hawks return sophomore left-hander Roman Harrison, who made 16 appearances with 31 strikeouts in 26.1 innings, and senior right-hander Eli Ecton, who struck out 33 in 17 innings over 16 appearances. Left-hander Brett Panick struck out 16 in nine innings last season.

“The bullpen is where you win and lose games in college baseball,” Schissel said. “The middle ground is the question mark for us right now. There are enough talented arms to get the job done, but we have to figure roles out.”

That process starts this weekend with the season-opening road trip to North Georgia. The Hawks will play a midweek game at Valdosta State and end the trip with a three-game set at Columbus State. Quincy’s home opener will be March 1 against Davenport.

“The guys that are here came here for a reason,” Schissel said. “They came here to continue the tradition and the success. That’s the same message going into every year. Be a team that raises a flag. Raise a conference championship flag. Raise a regional flag. Raise a flag in right field, and hopefully it ends up on our end at the end of the year.”