CCIW pushes forth a few candidates as well in to Challenge Carthage in Illinois Wesleyan, Augustana and Wheaton (IL).
Carthage Head Coach Augie Schmidt (699-274-5, .715%) is a single victory short of 700 career wins and this season should see him keep on winning. Winning the CCIW will not be an easy task for the Red Men as their two biggest guns from 2009 are absent from the roster. D3baseball.com All-American RHP Trace Ruffie (Arlington Heights - Hersey) will miss the entire 2010 season after off-season Tommy John surgery and while ABCA All-American RHP Jordan Jaehne-Llanas has transferred leaving the burden of the pitching expectations to fall on two-time All-CCIW selection, junior Mario Perez - 6-1, 4.09 ERA (Gurnee, Illinois - Warren Township High School).
The Red Men return seven of their nine starters from a team that reached the national semi-finals in 2009. Carthage has added a Division I transfer in Matt Soderlund (Valparaiso) to replace CCIW player-of-the-year catcher Mike Hughes who graduated in 2009. #8 Carthage may stumble out of the gate with a brutal stretch of games that pits them against #2 Wooster twice, #14 Heidelberg, #6 Kean and #1 St. Thomas in their first week of action, but this will only prepare them for the post-season run they have grown accustomed to.
The Titans of Illinois Wesleyan appear poised to make a run to challenge Carthage for the CCIW title. All-American pitcher Brent Kulavic returns after missing all of 2009 with an injury to boost the Titans chances along with seniors Kraig Ladd - Shelbyville High School, Shelbyville, Illinois (.410 in CCIW) and Brett Moore - Bloomington High School, Bloomington, Illinois(.383) who both pounded CCIW pitching in 2009.
The CCIW has been dominated by these two powerhouses, with no one else winning the title since 1998, but 2010 could be the breakthrough for the Wheaton Thunder, who qualified for their first ever post-season in 2009. Shortstop Brian Kolb, First Team All-American, in 2008, leads a powerful lineup.
The conference is full of tremendous talent including Minnesota Twins draftee Pitcher Mike Giovenco - (Fenwick High School), of North Park and five All-CCIW selections from Wheaton (Brian Kolb-INF, Charlie Antal- OF, Ryan Miller-INF, Steve Dennison-UTL and Tim Urbanowicz- P).