Baseball Tabbed 19th In First Preseason National Poll

Dec. 22, 2001

The Notre Dame baseball team is ranked 19th in the Collegiate Baseball magazine preseason poll for the 2002 season while also being tabbed to repeat as the BIG EAST Conference champion, based on preseason polling of the BIG EAST head coaches.

Two Notre Dame players–senior centerfielder Steve Stanley (Arlington Heights, Ohio) and sophomore second baseman Steve Sollmann (Cincinnati, Ohio)-earned preseason All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball while Stanley was picked to repeat as the BIG EAST Conference player of the year (Sollmann joined him on the 2002 preseason all-BIG EAST team, as did senior third baseman/catchers Andrew Bushey).

Five Notre Dame opponents were included on CB”s preseason top 40, including fourth-ranked USC, No. 20 Arizona State and 25th-ranked Rutgers, plus in-state rivals Purdue (27) and Ball State (28). Indiana (3) ranked behind only Texas (5) and California (4) among states that produced multiple teams among the top 30 in the CB preseason poll.

Several players from Notre Dame’s 2002 opponents were named to the CB preseason All-America team, including three first teamers in Rutgers righthander Bobby Brownlie, USC righthander Anthony Reyes and Ball State utility player Paul Henry. BSU righthanders Ryan Bullington (2nd team) and Jason Paul (3rd team) also were named to the team, as were USC catcher Alberto Concepcion, Toledo first baseman Phil Pilewski, Michigan third baseman Brock Koman, BYU third baseman Kainoa Obrey, Rutgers outfielder Val Majewski and Valparaiso outfielder Mark Pederson (all third teamers).

Notre Dame is set to return eight of nine position starters and six letterwinning pitchers from the record-setting 2001 squad that posted a 49-13-1 record and held the nation’s No. 1 ranking for two weeks late in the season. In addition to the above three players, the Irish also return junior leftfielder Brian Stavisky-who earned second team all-BIG EAST honors in 2000 and ’01 while playing right field-plus senior catcher/third baseman Paul O’Toole (2nd team all-BIG EAST in 2001) and senior DH Matt Bok (3rd team all-BIG EAST in 2001). Other returning starters include sophomore first baseman Joe Thaman and junior Kris Billmaier (who is slated to flip from left to right field) while the pitching staff returns a pair of starters in junior righthanders Peter Ogilvie and J.P. Gagne.

Stanley’s stellar junior season saw him earn 2001 All-America honors from USA Today (2nd team) and Baseball America magazine (3rd team), with both those publications yet to release their 2002 preseason polls and awards. Stanley finished 43rd in the nation with a .400 season batting average in 2001 while becoming the first Notre Dame player since 1989 to crack the 100-hit plateau (102). He also led the BIG EAST during the 2001 season in runs (76) and triples (5) while ranking 2nd in stolen bases (31-of-39), 3rd in batting average and on-base percentage (.457) and 6th in total bases (129). He collected 12 more walks (29) than strikeouts (17), hit 14 doubles and his first career home run, and made just two errors (in addition to countless big-league plays) while starting all 63 games.

Stanley-who has patrolled CF for all but 14 career innings while starting all 188 of ND’s games the past three seasons-ranks 3rd at Notre Dame in career stolen bases (84), 6th in hits (266), 7th in batting average (.364) and 8th in runs (179).

Sollmann-the 2001 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year-was a consensus first team Freshman All-American in 2001, after making an impressive position switch from the outfield to second base. He finished third on the 2001 Irish squad with a .362 season batting average while starting 61 of 63 games. Sollmann ranked 4th among BIG EAST players in stolen bases (23-of-34), 5th in runs (52), 6th in hits (80), 7th in walks (30) and 9th in on-base percentage (.440). Four of the righthanded-hitter’s five home runs in 2001 were opposite-field shots.

Collegiate Baseball Magazine’s 2002 NCAA Division I Preseason Poll

2002 COLLEGIATE BASEBALL FIRST TEAM PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
RHP Shane Komine, Nebraska (14-2, 3.35 ERA, 157 K, 36 BB)
RHP Bobby Brownlie, Rutgers (6-3, 2.36 ERA, 86 K, 17 BB)
RHP Jeremy Guthrie, Stanford (13-4, 2.82 ERA, 128 K, 41 BB)
RHP Mike Rogers, Oral Roberts (14-1, 2.37 ERA, 137 K, 46 BB)
RHP Kiki Bengochea, Miami, Fla. (9-4, 4.10 ERA, 89 K, 38 BB)
RHP Anthony Reyes, Southern California (5-4, 3.72 ERA, 97 K, 25 BB)
Relief – Chad Cordero, Cal. State Fullerton (14 SV, 1.83 ERA, 63 K, 12 BB)
C – Tyler Parker, Georgia Tech. (Outstanding defense, injured much of 2001 season)
1B – Ryan Barthelemy, Florida State (.343, 22 2B, 14 HR, 72 RBI)
2B – Chris O’Riordan, Stanford (.359, 17 2B, 12 HR, 68 RBI)
SS – Drew Meyer, South Carolina (Great defense, .303, 12 2B, 7 HR, 37 RBI, 20 SB)
3B – Jeff Baker, Clemson (.369, 23 HR, 13 2B, 75 RBI)
OF – Steve Stanley, Notre Dame (.400, 14 2B, 1 HR, 32 RBI, 31 SB)
OF – Ricki Weeks, Southern (.422, 13 2B, 14 HR, 70 RBI, 28 SB)
OF – Rod Allen, Arizona State (.389, 14 2B, 6 HR, 53 RBI)
OF – Jason Law, Monmouth (.436, 20 2B, 16 HR, 67 RBI)
Utility – Paul Henry, Ball State (.400, 20 2B, 12 HR, 62 RBI, 8 SV as pitcher)

SECOND TEAM PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS

THIRD TEAM PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS

2002 BIG EAST Baseball Preseason Predictions

PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Steve Stanley, Notre Dame, Sr., OF, 5-7, 150, Upper Arlington, Ohio/Worthington Christian

PRESEASON PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Bob Brownlie, Rutgers, Jr., RHP, 6-1, 195, Edison, N.J./Edison

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team

Poll and awards based on voting from BIG EAST head coaches (no voting for one’s own team or players)

** – unanimous selection

A tie created an additional designated hitter position.