While it may not look like it outside, baseball season is right around the corner for the Bradley Braves, who hit the road next week to start their season with 21 straight road games.
While the long road stretches can prove to be inconvenient at best and grueling at worst, head coach Elvis Dominguez says the time away from the Peoria cold can prove to be important.
“Mother Nature does not allow us to play early games at home,” Dominguez said. “When we travel, we have to put together trips that are not only a great experience for our student-athletes, but it has to be competitive RPI (Ratings Power Index) wise as well with our conference.”
The Braves have a tough non-conference schedule ahead of them this season, which may benefit them down the road, where they will face the likes of Pittsburgh, Southeast Missouri State, South Florida, Illinois and Iowa.
In the preseason Missouri Valley Conference rankings, Bradley was picked to finish fifth. The Braves received votes for the NCAA Top-25 Preseason Poll, but the voting is not an area of concern for the Bradley skipper.
“To me, it says that people see the way we have worked our program and the success we have had over the last seven or eight years,” Dominguez said. “It says that we should be near the top, but it doesn’t mean anything to me. It means we have three good months to figure things out, but I have seen teams picked number one that [finish] fifth or sixth in our league. At the end of the day, it is about who stays healthy and consistent within our league.”
The Braves are glad to be playing baseball again soon after the 2020 season was canceled, and saw a handful of cancellations last year. Due to the last two seasons being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Braves are an inexperienced group.
O’Brien, Vogel lead offense
The Braves will be led by senior first baseman Connor O’Brien, who is coming off a season in which he batted .366 with four home runs and 17 RBI’s but missed a handful of games due to a foot injury. O’Brien was named to preseason all-MVC Preseason Team and was ranked as one of the top 20 first baseman in the country by the D1 Baseball publication.
Sophomores TJ Manteufel and Jackson Chatterton return after impactful freshman seasons where each started all 42 games. Chatterton was third on the Braves team in 2021 with six round trippers and Manteufel’s 23 RBI’s ranked fourth on the team.
Despite losing seniors Dan Bolt and Brendan Dougherty, the Braves have a pair of seniors who started a majority of last season’s games in catcher Keaton Rice and outfielder Carl Valk. Rice cemented himself as one of the best defensive catchers in the midwest last season with 10 runners thrown out on the basepaths while Valk homered thrice in a game against Illinois State.
Third-year sophomore and center fielder Ryan Vogel is getting set for a breakout season after a hot run towards the end of last season. Vogel has been an everyday player for the Braves the last two seasons, appearing in all 52 games played. While the sophomore showed power off the bat towards the end of the season last year, his strength lies in his speed and ability to get on base.
“The main thing that the coaches and I talked about is getting on base,” Vogel said. “My number one goal for this season is to get on base as much as I can.”
Vogel played in the Colorado Collegiate League over the summer and felt it was beneficial to him for this upcoming season.
“Colorado gave me a good look of the other side of the country,” Vogel said.“I tried to get away from baseball for a bit since we play year-round, but it also gave me the chance to work on a lot of things. My stealing especially was one thing I got to work on as I stole a lot of bases.”
In two seasons with the Braves, Vogel has a total of 17 career stolen bases. Last season alone, he stole 15 bases on 18 attempts.
Arsenal of arms
From the outfield to the pitcher’s mound, the Braves have quite a few local players. Taylor Catton, a third-year sophomore from Dunlap, is ready for whatever this season throws his way.
Catton was the star ace at Dunlap for the Eagles’ program but has played a variety of roles here at Bradley. From starter to reliever, Catton has seen it all in his first two seasons.
“I never know where I will be heading into the weekend, it just depends on what we need that day,” Catton said.“We typically plan ahead so I can prepare for a role, but the plans don’t always work as expected.”
Last season, Catton was tied for third on the team in total appearances and shared the team lead of five wins. In the shortened 2020 season, Catton held a 1.86 ERA and a .200 opponent batting average in his three appearances.
When asked about his pitching style and what has led to his early success, Catton mentioned the mind games that opponents can play with one another.
“Oftentimes, hitters are waiting for us to make mistakes, and we as pitchers are waiting for hitters to make mistakes,” the reliever said. “For me, I will continue to throw fastballs and fill up the zone as often as I can hoping that they pop one up or hit the ball into the ground.”
The Braves lost two integral arms from last year after Brooks Gosswein and Theo Denlinger were drafted by the Chicago White Sox this past summer. However, Dalton Mall returns after posting a 3.86 ERA and only letting batters hit .209 off of him in seven starts last season. Seniors Grant Jausel and Nick King return also return to the pitching staff after quality campaigns in swingman roles in 2021.
Tests await
Bradley is seven days away from its first game and Dominguez is excited to see how his team looks.
“I really like our club,” Dominguez said. “My one area of concern is around the experience of our team. Due to the pandemic, we had a lot of fifth-year players return, which meant quite a few of our players have yet to see any action. We are talented, but we will see how we react to Division I talent.”
Bradley plays Incarnate Word to start the 2021-22 campaign. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. next Friday in San Antonio, Texas.
