Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 5 Stevens Point

The WIAA high school baseball season opens on March 26, the opening day for prep baseball in Wisconsin.

Leading up to the opening week of action, we’ll be rolling out team-by-team previews, counting down to our state’s preseason No. 1-ranked program for the 2019 season. We’re combing over all classifications and corners of the state to determine our top-25 ranked teams ahead of what’s sure to be an historic campaign, with the merging of the spring and summer divisions into one single WIAA season.

Perennially, we’ve submitted a Preseason Questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our analysis.

Our 2019 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: Stevens Point
Preseason Rank: 5
2018 Record: 21-3
Conference: Wisconsin Valley
WIAA Division: 1
Head Coach: Kraig Terpstra
Playoff Run: Sectional Final
2018 Final Rank: 9
Returning Starters: 5
Returning Pitchers: 5

TOP PLAYERS

KEY PLAYERS LOST

Cole Wright, INF (Winona State; football)
Michael Glodosky, INF
Isaac Perner, RHP/OF
Sam Lawrynk, INF

NEWCOMER TO WATCH

Ranked juniors Jamie Praefke and Kaleb Schulist are the two arms on this staff that can transform this Stevens Point team from its current state of great to all-state, elite territory. You’ll see for yourself in the paragraphs below, but the Panthers are already deep on the mound, even without these two 2020s. But once you tack Praefke and Schulist on, the potential for this staff alone to haul SPASH all the way to state becomes a realistic consideration.

Neither Praefke nor Schulist saw the field as sophomores and both have high upside, 6-foot-5, lanky, projectable frames. Praefke has two-way capabilities and actually moves well and with athleticism on defense despite his spindly, long-limbed frame. He’s a left-handed bat who hits with some rhythm and with feel for the barrel. On the mound, he sat in the 78-81 mph range the last time we saw him on the mound, back in August. Given his frame, he projects for more, and is one of the more interesting juniors on this team to watch develop – on both sides of the ball.

Schulist is a highly projectable southpaw, one of just two on staff, who has a wide-shouldered build, helping create some optimism that the best is yet to come from him. We saw him at our preseason Madison event last month where he was sitting 78-80 mph and touched 81 mph with a hard running fastball. He has some interesting offspeed, too, including a curveball that flashed some swing-and-miss potential, a change-of-pace slider, and a firm changeup.

Kaleb Schulist (3/10/19)

X-FACTOR

Sophomore right-hander Logan Schulfer was ranked just outside the top 30 on our latest Class of 2021 rankings update, but after his impressive bullpen at our preseason Fox Cities event, he’s set to greatly climb north up the board. Schulfer stands in at 6-foot, 175 pounds, and has a strong lower half that he effectively utilizes in order work down the mound, helping his fastball reach 89 mph. In the Fox Cities, he sat in the 87-89 mph range and coupled his fastball with a pair of exciting and aggressive secondary offerings: a hard slider and firm changeup.

While this team has a senior ace that has both the stuff and pedigree to keep his No. 1 role, Schulfer has the makings of a front-line starter on this staff in the next couple of springs. He’s too talented not to get a regular role of some kind, and even earned nine innings and two starts as a freshman last year. His uptempo delivery and live arm might be most potent in a high-leverage role for now – especially with the depth Stevens Point has on staff already.

Logan Schulfer (2/24/19)

OUTLOOK

The Panthers gave up five or more runs just five times all spring in their 25 games played, and they held their opponents to two or fewer in 15 games total. The depth of their pitching is simply stunning, and it should keep them in each and every ballgame this spring, because it’s more than just a jam-packed rotation. Since the talent on staff is bursting at the seams, the overflow has molded the Stevens Point bullpen into a strength, too.

We touched on a couple juniors in our Newcomer(s) to Watch section, and we also focused on the supremely talented sophomore righty Schulfer in the X-Factor section.

And, really, we’ve only just scratched the surface on how deep this SPASH staff is.

Since all of the players we’ve covered to this point have been juniors or younger, it’s fair to wonder if inexperience will be a factor this spring for the Panthers. But it helps to know that they’ll be guided by senior righty J.D. Schultz, who operated as this team’s No. 1 as a junior.

In 43.1 innings last spring, Schultz finished the year with an ERA of 0.81 and had notched 78 Ks across that span. He committed to his hometown college, Wisconsin-Stevens Point, in late October, and is going to be a steady force atop a rotation oozing with state-bound potential. Schultz is a 6-foot athletic righty who touched 88 mph in August in front of our staff, but was down a few ticks in his next outing in front of our staff. It was a long, arduous season for the right-hander, so it was understandable to see his velocity dip by September. We’re excited to see him refreshed and recharged headed into this spring.

The two-way talent Austin Beyer has looked sharp on the mound in our looks, and probably fits best there long-term, but he’s also a very talented right-handed bat with the athleticism to play somewhere on the infield. He managed to earn 23 at-bats as a sophomore last spring and received regular playing time after taking to the pace of varsity play with relative ease. He hit .391 and was reaching base at a .481 clip, proving he needed everyday opportunities. Beyer only managed a few innings on the mound, but his low-80s fastball and slider with swing-and-miss potential should help him become a factor in his junior season – and it might even play up in a high-leverage, late-inning role.

Austin Beyer (8/20/18)

Beyond all of the juniors (and the sophomore) vying for time on the mound in 2019, seniors Brady Franz, Dylan Trigg, and Reese Gaber should be able to adequately eat innings, too. Franz made it into nine games last spring, totaling 16.1 innings, and recorded an ERA of 1.74. Trigg was this team’s No. 2 behind Schultz last year, and tallied 39.1 innings on the mound. His 3.20 ERA was certainly respectable, but he might see a little less time on the mound since there’s so many arms who need reps and time to carve out roles for themselves. And Gaber added 13.1 innings as a junior and had a 1.05 ERA on the season, but as one of just two southpaws on staff, he should have a good opportunity to show his stuff.

While the Stevens Point staff was excellent at suppressing runs in 2018, the Panthers offense proved that they didn’t need their staff to keep the ballgame close constantly in order to eek out wins. SPASH was capable of running up the scoreboard, and with a 21-3 record, you have to be able to do both.

Still, when it mattered most, the Panthers’ offense was stifled, 5-2, in a loss in the sectional final to Eau Claire North. There had been times all spring long where Stevens Point’s offense was bailed out by its supreme pitching: two separate 2-1 wins over De Pere, another 2-1 win over Green Bay Preble (which coincidentally followed up a 1-0 defeat to Preble in game one of a doubleheader), and even a 3-2 win over New Richmond in their regional final. This time, SPASH’s streaky offense caught up with them.

And, unfortunately, a few of last spring’s most heavily relied on bats are graduated, leaving seniors Jack Kelly, Brett Ehr, Tristan Aldrich, Mason King, and Franz with a lot of slack to pick up. Kelly is an all-around athlete who’s committed to Illinois State on a football scholarship, but was also among this team’s most productive offensive weapons last spring, and even earned conference player of the year honors because of it. He hit .365 and slugged .541, but actually trailed another football commit in both categories: the since-graduated Cole Wright, who’s at Winona State. Still, Kelly is going to pull his weight and then some from the middle of the order, but it’s about what his fellow seniors can do around him. And Ehr scuffled offensively, but is more known for his savvy glovework at shortstop anyway.

As for Franz, King, and Aldrich, they all hit in the .300 vicinity – though their playing time varied. Franz was an everyday outfielder, however, who returns a .288 average and a .472 on-base percentage. Their contributions, and, hopefully, a step forward taken on offense, should help the Panthers account for last year’s graduates on offense.

BOTTOM LINE

A rotation this deep makes SPASH among the Wisconsin Valley favorites to make their way to Grand Chute for the first time since 2014, after finishing as runners-up in 2013. They’ve dominated the conference over the past decade-plus, winning eight of the last 11 conference titles. But truly, this team’s eyes are locked on a shot at lifting a state championship for the first time in over 40 years.

The Panthers will need to show some progression on offense despite missing some major pieces from last year’s everyday lineup. Frankly, this year’s staff looks even better than last year’s version, the one that virtually schlepped SPASH a game shy of a state tournament berth. With some consistency on offense, solidified by a respectable senior core, the Panthers look like they might have just enough offense to take full advantage of its menacing rotation.

Make sure to follow @PBRWisconsin on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the season.

Find more information on the 2019 Panthers below:

+ Full Schedule
+ Team Website

PRESEASON POWER 25 COUNTDOWN