2023 WORLD SERIES PREVIEW by NAIA Ball

South Texas- The 2023 World Series has arrived! The pinnacle of our sport and the highlight of the year. Across the nation we saw a variety of upsets but also saw many of the top seeds advance to the World Series. Ultimately we got a total of three “#4” seeds that advanced to Lewiston with three teams making their first ever appearances in the Pacific Northwest. In this preview we will tell you how to: watch, listen, and read about the games, as well we will look at who all 10 of the teams are, plus our top 10 hitters and pitchers in Lewiston, and finally some day 1 predictions for Lewiston.

We will also be continuing to do nightly recaps on twitter spaces and may even open it up to some discussion for some watch along action with me during the night games. Enjoy the series!

How to watch-

HERE is where you can watch the games and the full tournament pass is $35

How to listen-

KOZE Sports has a fantastic and free call of all World Series games. I personally listen to quite a few LC games on KOZE and they always have a sound broadcast, that paints a great picture.

How to read more about the series-

Support the Lewiston Tribune. I cannot stress this enough, please support the good people at the Lewiston Tribune. Even if its just for the month, they will have an incredible wealth of information and articles for the World Series.

TOP 10 OF LEWISTON

Now for the fun stuff. These rankings are compiled via stats and our own sabermetrics to make this list. There was plenty of external and internal debate, as well as blind resume testing. Thank you to all who participated in these trials with us!

TOP 10 HITTERS IN LEWISTON

1. Ajay Sczepkowski- Georgia Gwinnett- .417 average, 86 hits, 91 runs, 17 doubles, 5 triples, 30 home runs, 97 runs batted in, and 36 stolen bases. 1st NAIA player to have a 30-30 season, second player in college baseball history to reach a 30-30 season (Florida State J.D. Drew was first in 1997). You can read about Ajay’s historical run HERE in Baseball America.
2. Isaac Nunez- Southeastern (FL)- .451 average, 96 hits, 79 runs, 17 home runs, and 59 runs batted in.
3. Gary Lora- Southeastern (FL)- .408 average, 87 hits, 13 doubles, triple, 16 homers, and 73 runs batted in.
4. Max Harper- Cumberlands (KY)- .416 average, 87 hits, 70 runs, 14 doubles, triple, 23 home runs, and 84 runs batted in.
5. RJ Stinson- William Carey (MS)- .401 average, 99 hits, 17 doubles, five triples, 11 home runs, and 74 runs batted in. (Presto has him at 101 hits, the team website has him at 99 hits, and either way that’s a lot of hits.)
6. Charlie Muniz- Cumberlands (KY)- .429 average, 93 hits, 30 runs, 25 doubles, 23 homers, and 72 runs batted in.
7. Kaleb Kolpien- Taylor (IN)- .431 average, 93 hits, 20 doubles, 6 home runs, and 51 runs batted in.
8. Jon Ponder- Georgia Gwinnett- .432 average, 89 hits, 79 runs, 16 doubles, 16 home runs, 36 stolen bases, and 56 runs batted in.
9. Lucas Goodin- Indiana Wesleyan- .373 average, 79 hits, 69 runs, 12 doubles, 19 homers, 60 walks, 38 stolen bases, and 66 runs batted in.
10. Stephen Cullen- Southeastern (FL)- .367 average, 58 hits, 8 doubles, 23 home runs, and 61 runs batted in.

The 11th man in this order would have to be Kanta Kobayashi from Bellevue, who does wonders from the lead off position for BU, he is their best player, and he is a pure hitter with defensive upside. If I had to name a 12th then it would be Nick Seamons from Lewis-Clark State who has had a great season hitting in the middle of that LCSC lineup. Both of these players were extremely hard to leave off the list.

TOP 10 PITCHERS IN LEWISTON

An easier list for us to put together but there was a lot of debate over the top spot.

1. Bryan Peck- Westmont- 9-1, 2.84era, 95 innings pitched, 102 strikeouts, 9.66 K/9. Peck generates plenty of swings and misses, he is a tone setter, who can compete in a variety of situations.
2. Darien Smith- Southeastern (FL)- 10-3, 2.96era, 76 innings pitched, and 111 strikeouts. If you don’t face Smith then congrats you get the next guy
3. Robb Adams- Southeastern (FL)- 7-1, 3.03era, 77.1 innings pitched, 17 walks, and 99 strikeouts. A very dangerous 1-2 punch from the Fire, both could be #1 on this list. Robb Adams is legit and I cannot wait to watch him compete again in Lewiston.
4. Gage Williams- Georgia Gwinnett- 10-1, 1 save, 3.15era, 74.1 innings pitched, 28 walks, 103 strikeouts, and a 12.47 K/9
5. Zach Trevino- MidAmerica Nazarene (KS)- 9-2, 1 save, 102 innings pitched, 3.97era, and 98 strikeouts.
6. Cameron Repetti- Georgia Gwinnett- 12-0, 3.50era, 82.1 innings pitched, 16 walks, and 89 strikeouts.
7. Reese Wissinger- Southeastern (FL)- 37.2ip, 4-0, 5 saves, 9 walks, 71 strikeouts, 16.96 K/9, and a 0.96era. A major candidate for reliever of the year, and before you tell me “he doesn’t get any saves” the dude is still very dominant coming out of the pen on a team that doesn’t always need the closer.
8. AJ Stinson- William Carey (MS)- 7-2, 3.18era, 73.2 innings pitched, and 96 strikeouts this season.
9. Greg Blackman- Lewis- Clark State (ID)- 2-1, 2 saves, 43.1 innings pitched, and a 1.87 earned run average. The first arm out of the pen for LC, and wouldn’t be shocked to see him make a spot start or open a game for LC either.
10. Dustin Schorie- Bellevue (NE)- 9-0, 2.05era, 66 innings pitched, and 70 strikeouts. Bellevue’s best overall arm in my opinion and missed a chunk of the year but has been a big help to the Bruins efforts to get back to Lewiston.

Just missing the list are some really great arms like- Andrew Shirah- WCU, Ben Harris- GGC, Hunter Rigsby- UC, Drue Young- IWU, Blake Crippen- Bellevue, Jack Ross- TU, and Gabe Arteaga- Westmont.

THE TEAMS

#10 MidAmerica Nazarene

Team info- Olathe, Kansas

Making back 2 back World Series appearances.

Record- 34-26

Head coach- Ryan Thompson – 2022 NAIA Ball Coach of the Year

Team Average- .286avg (109th nationally)

Team ERA- 5.57era (61st nationally)

Top Hitters- Noah Castillo .357avg, 71h, 11hr, 47rbi/ Javier Melendez .350avg, 71h, 47rbi

Top pitchers- Zach Trevino 3.97era, 102ip, 98k, 9-2/ Tyler Frieders 4.85era, 89ip, 96k, 10-5.

Breakdown- MNU started the year at the #12 spot nationally, and while they might seem like a Cinderella story, at the beginning of the year, they were far from that. The start to the season was less than desirable going 1-8 to open the campaign. The Pioneers stuck with the plan and when conference play started they went 19-13. MNU with their back against the wall, losing the first game of the Heart tournament climbed all the way back to make it to the conference title game, and qualify for the national tournament. Some teams just like their backs against the wall and don’t crack under pressure. The Pioneers have the second worst ISO (isolated power; which measures the raw power metric of hitters only taking extra base hits, and the type of extra base hit into account) only ahead of Westmont of the teams in Lewiston. Yet MNU still finds ways to compete against some of the best competition nationally, eliminating #2 LSUS in the Opening Round of the national tournament. What the Pioneers bring to the tournament is experience, they’ve already weathered the pressure in Shreveport and bring Harris field experience with them back to the Pacific Northwest. It would not surprise me to see them play into the week.

#9 Lewis-Clark State

Team info- Lewiston, Idaho

Plays at Harris field

Record- 33-16

Head coach- Jake Taylor – 185- 49-1 record in 5th year at helm of the Warriors.

Team Avg-.319 (32nd nationally)

Team ERA- 4.68 (24th nationally)

Top Hitters- Nick Seamons .356avg, 15hr, 72h, 44rbi/ Isaiah Thomas .328avg, 62h, 14hr, 47rbi/ Charlie Updegrave 9HR in 15 games.

Top pitchers- Trevin Hope 3.81era, 49.2ip, 5-3, 52k/ GT Blackman 43.1ip, 1.87era, 2-1, 50k

Breakdown- On paper it is hard to find another team as overall rounded out with talent like LCSC. They opened the year at the second overall spot nationally according to the coaches poll, but never really materialized that second ranking during the regular season. After a poor showing in the CCC tournament, the Warriors turned it on scoring 39 runs in three games as the four seed in the Lewiston bracket, sweeping the tournament. No pitcher has thrown more than 50 innings for the Warriors this year, meanwhile five different pitchers have started seven or more games this season. Pu’ukani De Sa was injured most of the Opening Round, it’ll be interesting to see his status for the World Series as he is a really good bat for the Warriors. Obviously names like Nick Seamons and Isaiah Thomas are guys to watch, but Charlie Updegrave has 9 home runs in just 15 games. 57.1% of all fly balls that Updegrave hits are for home runs, in a very small sample size his ISO power metric is at 51% of all of his hits are for extra bases. You cannot count this team out, I’ve said all year they are too talented to not be hypercompetitive. I expect them to play into the week as well this year.

#8 Indiana Wesleyan

Team info- Marion, Indiana

First WS appearance

Record- 39-18-1

Head coach- Rich Benjamin – Final season as head coach of Wildcats

Team Avg- .285avg (112th nationally)

Team ERA- 5.20 (43rd nationally)

Top Hitters- Lucas Goodin .373avg, 19hr, 66rbi/ Evan Salmon 14HR

Top pitchers- Drue Young 3.84era, 6-1, 91.1ip, 89k/ Brock Buckley 68.2ip 4.46era 9-3

Breakdown- No matter how this ends this season, what an absolute story book ending for Rich Benjamin’s time at Indiana Wesleyan. He’s an NAIA Ball guy through and through and we are happy for you in what is next! IWU had an impressive run in the Opening Round as the third “4 seed” to qualify for the World Series. Wins over two teams who spent most of the year upper echelons of the league in Webber International and Missouri Baptist, plus a win over Bryan. It was an extremely impressive showing from the Wildcats in Kingsport. They have a tough task ahead of them in an opening night matchup against the host school LCSC. Lucas Goodin is a really good hitter, 52% of all of his at-bats meet the standard for a Quality at-bat. Goodin also leads the team in runs created by a mile with 78.44 runs created this season. The offense will need to continue to be competitive to give the Wildcats a chance to play into the week.

#7 Taylor

Team info- Upland, Indiana

First WS appearance

Record- 40-15

Head coach- Kyle Gould – Will coach 1000th game of career in Lewiston

Team Avg- .306 (63rd nationally)

Team ERA- 4.70 (25th nationally)

Top Hitters- Kaleb Kolpien .431avg, 93h, 51rbi/ TJ Bass 18HRs/ Kade Vander Molen 57h, 13hr, 58HR

Top pitchers- Matt Dutkowski 75.1ip, 81k, 7-2, 3.35era/ Jack Ross 8 saves

Breakdown- The Crossroads League had zero representation on the national stage in the last 10 years and now in one year it has doubled that number overnight. Here comes Taylor, at 40-15, the Trojans began the year 1-5 overall. That’s an wild 39-10 the rest of the year for the Trojans. Held in the national eye for basketball tradition the baseball boys from Upland made headlines and more than made up for a rough Crossroads League tournament outing. A thrilling tournament opening win over Cumberland (TN) then scoring 24 total runs in back to back games against Point Park to seal the deal on their own field in front of their own fans. TJ Bass, Kade Vander Molen, and Kade Kolpien will the big offensive names to keep an eye on. The Trojan starting pitching trio has left runners stranded on base 71% of the time this season. Matt Dutkowski is the arm they’ll turn to likely first and his numbers have been successful this season for Taylor. The question for the Trojans and I guess all of our first timers or “surprise” teams is really a simple one “is just getting here enough?” If that answer is no, then it’ll be interesting to see how high the Trojans can climb. Big fan of watching this team work during the year, excited to see what they will do in Harris field.

#6 Cumberlands (KY)

Team info- Williamsburg, Kentucky

First WS appearance

Record- 49-7

Head coach- Brad Shelton – Reached 1,000 career wins with the Opening Round title win

Team Avg- .355avg (6th nationally)

Team ERA- 3.54era (5th nationally)

Top Hitters- Charlie Muniz 23hr, 72rbi, .429avg/ Max Harper 23hr 84rbi/ Ryan Shavers .320avg, 18hr/

Top pitchers- Knicko Billings 2.82era, 67ip, 66k/ Hunter Rigsby 64.2ip, 92k, 3.48era/ Cesar Avila 9 saves.

Breakdown- For years it felt like the Patriots kept getting close enough to Lewiston, but just could not breakdown that wall to make it a reality. They would be a host of Opening Rounds and still fall short of the sports pinnacle destination. But there’s no better time than the present. The Patriots would sweep their Opening Round and make Lewiston a reality, I’m sure its a reality that confuses them for that other place in Tennessee that they share a name with, where Brad has been confused as a replacement for the “Jefe de Jefes” Woody Hunt. On paper the Patriots are a force especially on offense, Muniz, Harper, St. Claire, Almanzar, Shavers, and I could pretty much announce the whole lineup. They all combined as a team have hit 129 home runs this season. Against their starting rotation of Billings, DeClue, and Rigsby teams are hitting just .220 average against them. This will be a fun team to watch if they stay within themselves and keep the groove going for them, then UC could make things interesting, great first test versus the class rotation of Westmont.

#5 Bellevue

Team info- Bellevue, Nebraska

1995 National Champs, 16th trip to the World Series

Record- 48-8

Head coach- Duane Monlux – 4th World Series as skipper of the Bruins.

Team Avg- .347 (11th)

Team ERA- 4.00 (10th)

Top Hitters- Kanta Kobayashi 86h, .396avg, 78r/ Jake Lacey .330avg, 69h 13hr, 70rbi/ Logan Grant 75h 11hr 68rbi .377avg

Top pitchers- Dustin Schorie 2.05era 66ip 70k/ Blake Crippen 93.1ip, 72k, 3.38era

Breakdown- Is Bellevue a blue blood NAIA Ball program? 25 tournament appearances, and their 16th World Series appearance, I say yes. Credit to what Duane Monlux and his staff do year in and year out with this program, they are constantly relevant and in the national scope of attention. BU opens the world Series with the game I am most excited for on day one against William Carey. Kanta Kobayashi is the best player on this team, he is a great hitter with a knack for finding a way on. On the mound Dustin Schorie is the Bruins arm who didn’t see the mound much in the first part of the season, but has found plenty of success here in the latter stages of the year. Bellevue all season has been right on that edge of being one of those really elite teams. The last two weekends of the regular season raised a few eyebrows with the two losses, admittedly the Bruins have less room to work in those conference losses due to the overall strength of the NSAA not being high up there. But BU handled its business in the Opening Round against Grand View and an Oklahoma City team who was surging at the time. The pitching has been solid with Crippen and Celiceo being main stays in the rotation, and the offense is more than capable of scoring runs in Lewiston. Great first test in day one for the Bruins. Winner gets to play into the week and learn to love the smell of the paper mill.

#4 William Carey

Team info- Hattiesburg, Mississippi

1969 National Champions

Record- 47-9

Head Coach- Bobby Halford – 2 wins from 1,300 in career

Team Avg- .343 (12th nationally )

Team ERA- 5.00 (36th nationally)

Top Hitters- RJ Stinson .401avg 101h 74rbi/ Jake Lycette .374avg, 79h, 12hr/ Patrick Lee 14HR

Top pitchers- AJ Stinson 73.2ip 96k, 3.18era/ Andrew Shirah 82.1ip, 82k, 3.83era

Breakdown- You want to talk about a dark horse? Look no further than right here in William Carey. The Crusaders were the class of the extremely tough SSAC which has made its re-emergence into being a top 3 conference nationally. Offense is in no short supply for WCU, they won the Opening Round title game 27-4 over Ave Maria, and scored 45 runs over three games in the full Opening Round, outscoring their opponents 45-6. Which brings me to the real interesting part… We know they can hit, RJ Stinson, Patrick Lee, and Jake Lycette are all legit. But their pitching has been really solid as well this season. AJ Stinson has pro makeup as one rival coach called it, and that SSAC pitcher of the year Andrew Shirah was extremely well rounded. That one-two punch combination can be a huge one when you think if the Crusaders win they’re off till Monday. Just something to think about when you’re think which of these teams can jump up and make something special happen.

#3 Westmont

Team info- Santa Barbara, California

back 2 back World Series appearances

Record- 43-8

Head coach- Tyler Latorre – On the pod I did not give Tyler proper credit for the incredible job he has done leading this squad and filling some sizeable shoes. My apologies Tyler on a hell of year with more to come.

Team Avg- .300avg (78th nationally)

Team ERA- 3.60era (6th nationally)

Top Hitters- Ryan DeSaegher 52rbi/ Shane Hofstadler 11HR/ Brady Renck .422avg 70h

Top pitchers- Bryan Peck 102k in 95ip w/ 2.84era/ Gabe Arteaga 8 saves.

Breakdown- Westmont has been solid the last three weeks of gameplay going 9-0 over that time, playing just a single one run game in that span. In those 9 games they also would win 6 of them by five runs or more. The offense for the Warriors is capable, it has not been a powerful one but its been capable of scoring multiple runs. Pitching is where the strength is for Westmont overall this season. Bryan Peck is really good and has posted a very solid 2.84 earned run average in 95 innings with 102 strikeouts. From a bullpen standpoint Gabe Arteaga has been solid as the closer for the Warriors with 8 saves. Harris field is not a pitcher friendly place, but if Westmont’s staff can keep runs off the board they could be a team to watch into the week. They will face an extremely formidable test in game one versus an extremely talented UC offense. But they are absolutely in contention here in Lewiston.

#2 Georgia Gwinnett

Team info- Lawrenceville, Georgia

2021 National Champions

Record- 50-6

Head coach- Jeremy Sheetinger – 170-34 in his time at GGC

Team Avg- .383 (1st nationally)

Team ERA- 3.27era (3rd nationally)

Top Hitters- Jon Ponder .432avg/ Ajay Sczepkowski 30-30 season with 97rbi/ Devin Warner 13HR

Top pitchers- Cameron Repetti 3.50era in 82.1ip/ Gage Williams 74.1ip, 103k, 3.15era/ Ben Harris 56.1ip 2.88era, 69k

Breakdown- There were points early on in the year where I wanted to see more from GGC, and boy did they deliver. At no point this year would I have said they’re not a top 5 team, it would just be where in the top 5 do you rank them? As the season went on it was clear they were inside of the top three undoubtedly. They are extremely well rounded, they can hit for average, power, they will steal bags as well in fact they lead the nation by more than 20 in stolen bases with 256. On the mound they have command and velocity present, along with a quartet of starters who all bring an advantage to the team. Everything is there for Georgia Gwinnett to make this season a very special one in its ending. They have history makers like Ajay Sczepkowski who had the first 30-30 season in league history. They’re third nationally for hits this season and lead the nation in on-base percentage. I expect to see an extended stay if they can continue to play like they have for almost the entire season.

#1 Southeastern

Team info- Lakeland, Florida

Defending National Champs

Record- 55-4

Head coach- Adrian Dinkel – 585-127 career record. 1 of 5 NAIA coaches all-time to lead 2 different programs to the World Series.

Team Avg- .358 (2nd nationally)

Team ERA- 2.69 (1st nationally)

Top Hitters- Isaac Nunez .451avg, 96h, 17hr, 59rbi / Gary Lora .408avg, 87h, 16hr, 73RBI/ Stephen Cullen 23HR

Top pitchers- Robb Adams 77.1ip, 7-1, 99k, 3.03era/ Darien Smith 76ip, 10-3, 111k, 2.96era/ Danny Batcher 63ip, 9-0, 77k, 2.71era

Breakdown- SEU is good at baseball, I could just end this breakdown there and it would be totally sufficient really. They do so many thing well and it starts with coaching, recruiting, and getting these players to buy into the brand they are building. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, the defending champs get everyone’s best, and played a schedule that reflected that this year. Gary Lora is good, Isaac Nunez is good. Cullen, Herrera, Pigozzo, Bryant, Lanzarote, and I mean the list of really talented players goes on. On the mound Darien Smith and Robb Adams have plenty of talent to fool hitters, Batcher has been really solid as the third man in the rotation as well. Reese Wissinger has a 16.96 K/9 (strikeouts per 9 innings) this season over 37.2 innings pitched with 5 saves. The thing to remember with SEU is they always feel like they’re in the fight. There have been many times this year where we have seen the Fire go down early even go into the last third of a game down and come back. Starting pitcher dominating? They’ll wait you out for the pen. You cannot give them extra outs because that extra out turns into multiple runs. Capitalization is a must, when you can, and where you can. There is a reason they have been number one all year long and if they play like it then they could very well be going back to back.

PREDICTIONS

Finally we get to that point of what you want to know… Who picked who.

We will have picks from the following: America decides day 1 results, staff selection of day 1 winners, anonymous coaches select national champions, and staff selects national champions.

America’s picks for day 1

#7 Taylor vs #10 MidAmerica Nazarene- 56% of America selected Taylor to win

#3 Westmont vs #6 Cumberlands (KY)- 60% of America selected Cumberlands (KY) to win

#4 William Carey vs #5 Bellevue- 68% of America selected Bellevue to win

#8 Indiana Wesleyan vs #9 Lewis-Clark State- 55% of America selected LCSC to win

NAIA Ball Staff Picks for day 1

#7 Taylor vs #10 MidAmerica Nazarene

Robby- MNU

Conner- Taylor

Taylor- MNU

#3 Westmont vs #6 Cumberlands (KY)

Robby- Westmont

Conner- Cumberlands (KY)

Taylor- Westmont

#4 William Carey vs #5 Bellevue

Robby- William Carey

Conner- Bellevue

Taylor- Bellevue

#8 Indiana Wesleyan vs #9 Lewis-Clark State

Robby- LCSC

Conner- LCSC

Taylor- LCSC

Anonymous coaches pick national champion

Thank you to our anonymous participants!

Coach A (South)- William Carey

Coach B (West)- Georgia Gwinnett

Coach C (East)- Southeastern

NAIA Ball staff picks the national champion

Robby- SEU

Conner- SEU

Taylor- SEU

I think overall from our standpoint it is pretty difficult not to pick SEU with the success they have had this season. From my perspective if I had to place odds on which three teams I’d place as favorites then it would be the following-

Southeastern

Georgia Gwinnett

William Carey

Those would be the three team that I would feel the most comfortable picking if I had to pick a team or place a team in odds to win.

That will do it for us in our first ever comprehensive front to back breakdown of the 2023 World Series. Thank you to all of the coaches who helped answer questions, thank you to those who picked up calls or called back, thank you those who participated in blind resume test. Having somewhere to put all of our thoughts has been something Cody and I always wanted to have. I think this year the World Series preview podcast took a back seat to this for me because of that. We thank our 250+ weekly subscribers who will get this before anyone else does! We thank those of you who have been here for years on end! And of course we thank you for being part of our family. NAIA Ball is YOUR home for news, stats, scores, and information. It’s also YOUR home for trying to make the game better each and everyday. We hope you continue to grow with us!

Enjoy the games.

-Robby Gutierrez

HE TEAMS

#10 MidAmerica Nazarene

Team info- Olathe, Kansas

Making back 2 back World Series appearances.

Record- 34-26

Head coach- Ryan Thompson – 2022 NAIA Ball Coach of the Year

Team Average- .286avg (109th nationally)

Team ERA- 5.57era (61st nationally)

Top Hitters- Noah Castillo .357avg, 71h, 11hr, 47rbi/ Javier Melendez .350avg, 71h, 47rbi

Top pitchers- Zach Trevino 3.97era, 102ip, 98k, 9-2/ Tyler Frieders 4.85era, 89ip, 96k, 10-5.

Breakdown- MNU started the year at the #12 spot nationally, and while they might seem like a Cinderella story, at the beginning of the year, they were far from that. The start to the season was less than desirable going 1-8 to open the campaign. The Pioneers stuck with the plan and when conference play started they went 19-13. MNU with their back against the wall, losing the first game of the Heart tournament climbed all the way back to make it to the conference title game, and qualify for the national tournament. Some teams just like their backs against the wall and don’t crack under pressure. The Pioneers have the second worst ISO (isolated power; which measures the raw power metric of hitters only taking extra base hits, and the type of extra base hit into account) only ahead of Westmont of the teams in Lewiston. Yet MNU still finds ways to compete against some of the best competition nationally, eliminating #2 LSUS in the Opening Round of the national tournament. What the Pioneers bring to the tournament is experience, they’ve already weathered the pressure in Shreveport and bring Harris field experience with them back to the Pacific Northwest. It would not surprise me to see them play into the week.

#9 Lewis-Clark State

Team info- Lewiston, Idaho

Plays at Harris field

Record- 33-16

Head coach- Jake Taylor – 185- 49-1 record in 5th year at helm of the Warriors.

Team Avg-.319 (32nd nationally)

Team ERA- 4.68 (24th nationally)

Top Hitters- Nick Seamons .356avg, 15hr, 72h, 44rbi/ Isaiah Thomas .328avg, 62h, 14hr, 47rbi/ Charlie Updegrave 9HR in 15 games.

Top pitchers- Trevin Hope 3.81era, 49.2ip, 5-3, 52k/ GT Blackman 43.1ip, 1.87era, 2-1, 50k

Breakdown- On paper it is hard to find another team as overall rounded out with talent like LCSC. They opened the year at the second overall spot nationally according to the coaches poll, but never really materialized that second ranking during the regular season. After a poor showing in the CCC tournament, the Warriors turned it on scoring 39 runs in three games as the four seed in the Lewiston bracket, sweeping the tournament. No pitcher has thrown more than 50 innings for the Warriors this year, meanwhile five different pitchers have started seven or more games this season. Pu’ukani De Sa was injured most of the Opening Round, it’ll be interesting to see his status for the World Series as he is a really good bat for the Warriors. Obviously names like Nick Seamons and Isaiah Thomas are guys to watch, but Charlie Updegrave has 9 home runs in just 15 games. 57.1% of all fly balls that Updegrave hits are for home runs, in a very small sample size his ISO power metric is at 51% of all of his hits are for extra bases. You cannot count this team out, I’ve said all year they are too talented to not be hypercompetitive. I expect them to play into the week as well this year.

#8 Indiana Wesleyan

Team info- Marion, Indiana

First WS appearance

Record- 39-18-1

Head coach- Rich Benjamin – Final season as head coach of Wildcats

Team Avg- .285avg (112th nationally)

Team ERA- 5.20 (43rd nationally)

Top Hitters- Lucas Goodin .373avg, 19hr, 66rbi/ Evan Salmon 14HR

Top pitchers- Drue Young 3.84era, 6-1, 91.1ip, 89k/ Brock Buckley 68.2ip 4.46era 9-3

Breakdown- No matter how this ends this season, what an absolute story book ending for Rich Benjamin’s time at Indiana Wesleyan. He’s an NAIA Ball guy through and through and we are happy for you in what is next! IWU had an impressive run in the Opening Round as the third “4 seed” to qualify for the World Series. Wins over two teams who spent most of the year upper echelons of the league in Webber International and Missouri Baptist, plus a win over Bryan. It was an extremely impressive showing from the Wildcats in Kingsport. They have a tough task ahead of them in an opening night matchup against the host school LCSC. Lucas Goodin is a really good hitter, 52% of all of his at-bats meet the standard for a Quality at-bat. Goodin also leads the team in runs created by a mile with 78.44 runs created this season. The offense will need to continue to be competitive to give the Wildcats a chance to play into the week.

#7 Taylor

Team info- Upland, Indiana

First WS appearance

Record- 40-15

Head coach- Kyle Gould – Will coach 1000th game of career in Lewiston

Team Avg- .306 (63rd nationally)

Team ERA- 4.70 (25th nationally)

Top Hitters- Kaleb Kolpien .431avg, 93h, 51rbi/ TJ Bass 18HRs/ Kade Vander Molen 57h, 13hr, 58HR

Top pitchers- Matt Dutkowski 75.1ip, 81k, 7-2, 3.35era/ Jack Ross 8 saves

Breakdown- The Crossroads League had zero representation on the national stage in the last 10 years and now in one year it has doubled that number overnight. Here comes Taylor, at 40-15, the Trojans began the year 1-5 overall. That’s an wild 39-10 the rest of the year for the Trojans. Held in the national eye for basketball tradition the baseball boys from Upland made headlines and more than made up for a rough Crossroads League tournament outing. A thrilling tournament opening win over Cumberland (TN) then scoring 24 total runs in back to back games against Point Park to seal the deal on their own field in front of their own fans. TJ Bass, Kade Vander Molen, and Kade Kolpien will the big offensive names to keep an eye on. The Trojan starting pitching trio has left runners stranded on base 71% of the time this season. Matt Dutkowski is the arm they’ll turn to likely first and his numbers have been successful this season for Taylor. The question for the Trojans and I guess all of our first timers or “surprise” teams is really a simple one “is just getting here enough?” If that answer is no, then it’ll be interesting to see how high the Trojans can climb. Big fan of watching this team work during the year, excited to see what they will do in Harris field.

#6 Cumberlands (KY)

Team info- Williamsburg, Kentucky

First WS appearance

Record- 49-7

Head coach- Brad Shelton – Reached 1,000 career wins with the Opening Round title win

Team Avg- .355avg (6th nationally)

Team ERA- 3.54era (5th nationally)

Top Hitters- Charlie Muniz 23hr, 72rbi, .429avg/ Max Harper 23hr 84rbi/ Ryan Shavers .320avg, 18hr/

Top pitchers- Knicko Billings 2.82era, 67ip, 66k/ Hunter Rigsby 64.2ip, 92k, 3.48era/ Cesar Avila 9 saves.

Breakdown- For years it felt like the Patriots kept getting close enough to Lewiston, but just could not breakdown that wall to make it a reality. They would be a host of Opening Rounds and still fall short of the sports pinnacle destination. But there’s no better time than the present. The Patriots would sweep their Opening Round and make Lewiston a reality, I’m sure its a reality that confuses them for that other place in Tennessee that they share a name with, where Brad has been confused as a replacement for the “Jefe de Jefes” Woody Hunt. On paper the Patriots are a force especially on offense, Muniz, Harper, St. Claire, Almanzar, Shavers, and I could pretty much announce the whole lineup. They all combined as a team have hit 129 home runs this season. Against their starting rotation of Billings, DeClue, and Rigsby teams are hitting just .220 average against them. This will be a fun team to watch if they stay within themselves and keep the groove going for them, then UC could make things interesting, great first test versus the class rotation of Westmont.

#5 Bellevue

Team info- Bellevue, Nebraska

1995 National Champs, 16th trip to the World Series

Record- 48-8

Head coach- Duane Monlux – 4th World Series as skipper of the Bruins.

Team Avg- .347 (11th)

Team ERA- 4.00 (10th)

Top Hitters- Kanta Kobayashi 86h, .396avg, 78r/ Jake Lacey .330avg, 69h 13hr, 70rbi/ Logan Grant 75h 11hr 68rbi .377avg

Top pitchers- Dustin Schorie 2.05era 66ip 70k/ Blake Crippen 93.1ip, 72k, 3.38era

Breakdown- Is Bellevue a blue blood NAIA Ball program? 25 tournament appearances, and their 16th World Series appearance, I say yes. Credit to what Duane Monlux and his staff do year in and year out with this program, they are constantly relevant and in the national scope of attention. BU opens the world Series with the game I am most excited for on day one against William Carey. Kanta Kobayashi is the best player on this team, he is a great hitter with a knack for finding a way on. On the mound Dustin Schorie is the Bruins arm who didn’t see the mound much in the first part of the season, but has found plenty of success here in the latter stages of the year. Bellevue all season has been right on that edge of being one of those really elite teams. The last two weekends of the regular season raised a few eyebrows with the two losses, admittedly the Bruins have less room to work in those conference losses due to the overall strength of the NSAA not being high up there. But BU handled its business in the Opening Round against Grand View and an Oklahoma City team who was surging at the time. The pitching has been solid with Crippen and Celiceo being main stays in the rotation, and the offense is more than capable of scoring runs in Lewiston. Great first test in day one for the Bruins. Winner gets to play into the week and learn to love the smell of the paper mill.

#4 William Carey

Team info- Hattiesburg, Mississippi

1969 National Champions

Record- 47-9

Head Coach- Bobby Halford – 2 wins from 1,300 in career

Team Avg- .343 (12th nationally )

Team ERA- 5.00 (36th nationally)

Top Hitters- RJ Stinson .401avg 101h 74rbi/ Jake Lycette .374avg, 79h, 12hr/ Patrick Lee 14HR

Top pitchers- AJ Stinson 73.2ip 96k, 3.18era/ Andrew Shirah 82.1ip, 82k, 3.83era

Breakdown- You want to talk about a dark horse? Look no further than right here in William Carey. The Crusaders were the class of the extremely tough SSAC which has made its re-emergence into being a top 3 conference nationally. Offense is in no short supply for WCU, they won the Opening Round title game 27-4 over Ave Maria, and scored 45 runs over three games in the full Opening Round, outscoring their opponents 45-6. Which brings me to the real interesting part… We know they can hit, RJ Stinson, Patrick Lee, and Jake Lycette are all legit. But their pitching has been really solid as well this season. AJ Stinson has pro makeup as one rival coach called it, and that SSAC pitcher of the year Andrew Shirah was extremely well rounded. That one-two punch combination can be a huge one when you think if the Crusaders win they’re off till Monday. Just something to think about when you’re think which of these teams can jump up and make something special happen.

#3 Westmont

Team info- Santa Barbara, California

back 2 back World Series appearances

Record- 43-8

Head coach- Tyler Latorre – On the pod I did not give Tyler proper credit for the incredible job he has done leading this squad and filling some sizeable shoes. My apologies Tyler on a hell of year with more to come.

Team Avg- .300avg (78th nationally)

Team ERA- 3.60era (6th nationally)

Top Hitters- Ryan DeSaegher 52rbi/ Shane Hofstadler 11HR/ Brady Renck .422avg 70h

Top pitchers- Bryan Peck 102k in 95ip w/ 2.84era/ Gabe Arteaga 8 saves.

Breakdown- Westmont has been solid the last three weeks of gameplay going 9-0 over that time, playing just a single one run game in that span. In those 9 games they also would win 6 of them by five runs or more. The offense for the Warriors is capable, it has not been a powerful one but its been capable of scoring multiple runs. Pitching is where the strength is for Westmont overall this season. Bryan Peck is really good and has posted a very solid 2.84 earned run average in 95 innings with 102 strikeouts. From a bullpen standpoint Gabe Arteaga has been solid as the closer for the Warriors with 8 saves. Harris field is not a pitcher friendly place, but if Westmont’s staff can keep runs off the board they could be a team to watch into the week. They will face an extremely formidable test in game one versus an extremely talented UC offense. But they are absolutely in contention here in Lewiston.

#2 Georgia Gwinnett

Team info- Lawrenceville, Georgia

2021 National Champions

Record- 50-6

Head coach- Jeremy Sheetinger – 170-34 in his time at GGC

Team Avg- .383 (1st nationally)

Team ERA- 3.27era (3rd nationally)

Top Hitters- Jon Ponder .432avg/ Ajay Sczepkowski 30-30 season with 97rbi/ Devin Warner 13HR

Top pitchers- Cameron Repetti 3.50era in 82.1ip/ Gage Williams 74.1ip, 103k, 3.15era/ Ben Harris 56.1ip 2.88era, 69k

Breakdown- There were points early on in the year where I wanted to see more from GGC, and boy did they deliver. At no point this year would I have said they’re not a top 5 team, it would just be where in the top 5 do you rank them? As the season went on it was clear they were inside of the top three undoubtedly. They are extremely well rounded, they can hit for average, power, they will steal bags as well in fact they lead the nation by more than 20 in stolen bases with 256. On the mound they have command and velocity present, along with a quartet of starters who all bring an advantage to the team. Everything is there for Georgia Gwinnett to make this season a very special one in its ending. They have history makers like Ajay Sczepkowski who had the first 30-30 season in league history. They’re third nationally for hits this season and lead the nation in on-base percentage. I expect to see an extended stay if they can continue to play like they have for almost the entire season.

#1 Southeastern

Team info- Lakeland, Florida

Defending National Champs

Record- 55-4

Head coach- Adrian Dinkel – 585-127 career record. 1 of 5 NAIA coaches all-time to lead 2 different programs to the World Series.

Team Avg- .358 (2nd nationally)

Team ERA- 2.69 (1st nationally)

Top Hitters- Isaac Nunez .451avg, 96h, 17hr, 59rbi / Gary Lora .408avg, 87h, 16hr, 73RBI/ Stephen Cullen 23HR

Top pitchers- Robb Adams 77.1ip, 7-1, 99k, 3.03era/ Darien Smith 76ip, 10-3, 111k, 2.96era/ Danny Batcher 63ip, 9-0, 77k, 2.71era

Breakdown- SEU is good at baseball, I could just end this breakdown there and it would be totally sufficient really. They do so many thing well and it starts with coaching, recruiting, and getting these players to buy into the brand they are building. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, the defending champs get everyone’s best, and played a schedule that reflected that this year. Gary Lora is good, Isaac Nunez is good. Cullen, Herrera, Pigozzo, Bryant, Lanzarote, and I mean the list of really talented players goes on. On the mound Darien Smith and Robb Adams have plenty of talent to fool hitters, Batcher has been really solid as the third man in the rotation as well. Reese Wissinger has a 16.96 K/9 (strikeouts per 9 innings) this season over 37.2 innings pitched with 5 saves. The thing to remember with SEU is they always feel like they’re in the fight. There have been many times this year where we have seen the Fire go down early even go into the last third of a game down and come back. Starting pitcher dominating? They’ll wait you out for the pen. You cannot give them extra outs because that extra out turns into multiple runs. Capitalization is a must, when you can, and where you can. There is a reason they have been number one all year long and if they play like it then they could very well be going back to back.

PREDICTIONS

Finally we get to that point of what you want to know… Who picked who.

We will have picks from the following: America decides day 1 results, staff selection of day 1 winners, anonymous coaches select national champions, and staff selects national champions.

America’s picks for day 1

#7 Taylor vs #10 MidAmerica Nazarene- 56% of America selected Taylor to win

#3 Westmont vs #6 Cumberlands (KY)- 60% of America selected Cumberlands (KY) to win

#4 William Carey vs #5 Bellevue- 68% of America selected Bellevue to win

#8 Indiana Wesleyan vs #9 Lewis-Clark State- 55% of America selected LCSC to win

NAIA Ball Staff Picks for day 1

#7 Taylor vs #10 MidAmerica Nazarene

Robby- MNU

Conner- Taylor

Taylor- MNU

#3 Westmont vs #6 Cumberlands (KY)

Robby- Westmont

Conner- Cumberlands (KY)

Taylor- Westmont

#4 William Carey vs #5 Bellevue

Robby- William Carey

Conner- Bellevue

Taylor- Bellevue

#8 Indiana Wesleyan vs #9 Lewis-Clark State

Robby- LCSC

Conner- LCSC

Taylor- LCSC

Anonymous coaches pick national champion

Thank you to our anonymous participants!

Coach A (South)- William Carey

Coach B (West)- Georgia Gwinnett

Coach C (East)- Southeastern

NAIA Ball staff picks the national champion

Robby- SEU

Conner- SEU

Taylor- SEU

I think overall from our standpoint it is pretty difficult not to pick SEU with the success they have had this season. From my perspective if I had to place odds on which three teams I’d place as favorites then it would be the following-

Southeastern

Georgia Gwinnett

William Carey

Those would be the three team that I would feel the most comfortable picking if I had to pick a team or place a team in odds to win.

That will do it for us in our first ever comprehensive front to back breakdown of the 2023 World Series. Thank you to all of the coaches who helped answer questions, thank you to those who picked up calls or called back, thank you those who participated in blind resume test. Having somewhere to put all of our thoughts has been something Cody and I always wanted to have. I think this year the World Series preview podcast took a back seat to this for me because of that. We thank our 250+ weekly subscribers who will get this before anyone else does! We thank those of you who have been here for years on end! And of course we thank you for being part of our family. NAIA Ball is YOUR home for news, stats, scores, and information. It’s also YOUR home for trying to make the game better each and everyday. We hope you continue to grow with us!

Enjoy the games.

-Robby Gutierrez