PING!BASEBALL SPOTLIGHT TEAM Gonzaga Bulldogs West Coast Conference

The last time the Gonzaga Bulldog baseball team advanced to postseason play was way back in 1981. “Joanie Loves Chachi” was a top television hit, Indiana Jones was risking life and limb to recover the Ark of the Covenant and “Zenyatta Mondatta” was a top selling album by the Police. Now, twenty-seven years later history seems to be repeating itself. Scott Baio is back on TV with a reality series, Harrison Ford will be donning the famed archeologist’s fedora once again this summer, Sting and the Police have reunited and are touring the world and the ‘Zags are emerging as a West Coast Conference championship contender. Since head coach Mark Machtolf took over in 2002, the Bulldogs have been steadily on the rise. Gonzaga has increased their win total every year, climbing to 33 victories last year (33-25 overall record); a number which hasn’t been reached in Spokane since 1990. The Bulldogs’ 15-6 conference mark was the highest finish in WCC history for Gonzaga, and placed them second overall in the final conference standings. Despite their record success and wins over ranked schools such as Oregon State, San Diego, Pepperdine and UC Riverside, the ‘Zags were denied an at-large bid to the NCAA’s; however with a ton of talent returning to campus in 2008, the ‘Zags will be in contention for a conference championship and a berth to the NCAA tournament.

On the mound Gonzaga will have to recover from the loss of Clayton Mortenson (9-2, 3.92, 122 Ks) who was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 36th overall pick in last year’s amateur draft after his accomplished senior season. Senior Brandon Harmon, a two-time WCC honoree, will be back and is poised to take over the Friday starter role. Harmon won six games for the ‘Zags in ‘07 and pitched a staff high 123.1 innings. With a strikeout-to-walk ratio of nearly two-to-one (62 Ks, 34 BBs) and a solid 4.45 ERA, Harmon provides essential stability to budding Bulldog staff. Sophomore Jeremy Stumetz was named to the WCC All-Freshman team after he went 4-2 with a 3.86 ERA in 21 games pitched. Working as both a starter and in relief, Stumetz provided a pair or spot starts and also saved a team leading four games. CJ McClure, a junior righty, was also a constant presence on the Gonzaga mound. He shared the team lead in appearances with Stumetz at 21, had two saves and earned three victories without a suffering a loss. Big 6’5, 260 pound pitcher AJ Proszek won the team Cy Young award for the Community College of Spokane Sasquatch to earn a Gonzaga scholarship and will be looking to bring his 90+ mph fastball strikeout success to the Bulldogs in ’08.

Offensively Gonzaga’s starting nine should be a pillar of potential 2008 success. The Bulldogs will be without third baseman Darin Holcomb (.369, 6, 49) who was a twelfth round draft selection by the Colorado Rockies, however a stockpile of talent remains. A quartet of “W’s” on the roster should go along way into producing “W’s” in the boxscore. Designated hitter Ryan Wiegand was third on the team in batting average (.338) and led the Bulldogs in homeruns (6) and RBI (45). The junior was awarded with a unanimous selection to the All-WCC team for his statistical performance. Another undisputed All-WCC selection was outfielder Shawn Wayt. Wayt hit .341, good for second on the club, and also contributed on the mound as well, appearing in seven games and earning a pair of saves. The versatile Bryan Winston put up nice numbers his first year as a bulldog after playing his first two years at Spokane Falls Community College. The senior outfielder who can play the infield in a pinch, hit .324 and earned enough walks and hit by pitches to put his on base percentage at .405. Junior infielder Evan Wells, another former community college player (Lassen College), had a steady bat (.274) and glove (.983 fielding percentage) his first year in a Bulldog uniform and will be looking to build on his solid DI debut.