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By John Baracani

Sporting a newly repaired field, IVCC’s baseball team has gotten off to an impressive start to this season. At press time, the Apaches were 21-13, with a 2-0 mark in the Arrowhead Conference

Heading into the season, one question mark for Bob Koopmann’s club was the pitching staff. Of the 12 pitchers on the roster, only 3 are sophomores.

But 34 games into the season, the Apaches’ pitching has been the key to their success, according to Koopmann.

"Our pitching staff as a group has been outstanding," he said. "Because the pitching has done well, we’ve done well, because we score a ton of runs."

Leading the way for the Apaches from the mound are sophomore southpaws Tim Breuning and Brian Lewis.

"They are showing great leadership by example," said Koopmann

Pitching against Joliet on March 31, Breuning and the Apaches defeated the home team, 7-4. Breuning leads the staff with four victories against just one loss with a 3.62 earned run average

"We haven’t beaten them a lot in the past," said the coach. "Breuning threw great."

On April 1 Lewis took the mound in the first game of a double header at Morton.

He took the loss in a 5-4 decision in the first game, while the Apaches bounced back to thump the home team 19-5.

The loss dropped Lewis’ record to 3-3, with a sparkling ERA of 2.72.

"He is great out of the bullpen," said Koopmann. "He does the job every time.

Returning home on April 2, IVCC the Apaches scored twice in their final at bat to defeat Moraine Valley 3-2 in eight innings in the first of two contests.

"It was a fun game to win," said Koopmann.

The Apaches followed the exciting win with a 10-3 loss.

Starting pitching has not been the only strength for Koopmann’s team. Coming out of the bullpen and shutting down opposing hitters is left handed freshman closer Ryan Bailey. Bailey owns a 4-0 record with four saves and a minuscule 1.69 ERA.

"He is great out of the bullpen," said Koopmann. "He does the job every time.

Not to be outdone is the Apaches’ offense, set up by center fielder Cory Newman and shortstop Jason McStoots at the top of the order.

The pair both have batting averages of over .400, setting the table for the rest of the order to drive them home, including Joe Sester, who leads the team with 5 home runs and 38 Runs Batted In in just 34 games.

Jason Grubar, batting ninth in Koopmann’s lineup leads the team with a .576 on base percentage. He has also drawn 22 walks.

"Grubar is like a second leadoff hitter once we turn the lineup over," Koopmann said.

With all of the impressive offensive and pitching numbers, Koopmann knows one player is a big factor in his team’s success.

Matt Glupczynski, the team’s only catcher, has caught 222 of a possible 239 innings at press time.

"He is as valuable at anyone on the team. He is the one player we definitely couldn’t lose."

Looking to improve on their unblemished conference record, the Apaches played a doubleheader against conference rivals Carl Sandburg on April 4, and play today at Sauk Valley.

IVCC has never defeated Sauk Valley under Coach Koopmann, going 0-4 in his tenure as baseball coach.

Upcoming games for the Apaches include April 7 at home against Concordia, April 8 at home against Prairie State, April 9 at Waubonsee, and April 11 at home against Black Hawk.

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