Gene's Blog: No ordinary Joe, no ordinary season

June 17, 2009

Dennis Denning rarely goes anywhere in the Twin Cities without running into an old acquaintance. It happened again Tuesday night at the Metrodome.

Moments before the Twins-Pirates game, Denning stood behind home plate with his grandson, Logan, his assistant coaches, and 25 of his Tommie baseball players.

As Denning and his entourage were waiting for the start of a pre-game ceremony to honor St. Thomas’ recent NCAA championship, one of his former summer baseball campers from the 1990s hustled over to shake his hand and say hello.

Suddenly, a gathering of St. Paul and Cretin-Derham Hall baseball legends broke out. Denning and assistant coach Buzz Hannahan were surprised by Joe Mauer, who trotted over to welcome them to his workplace.

It’s hard to say who’s having a better year. Mauer endured a frustrating injury layoff in March and April but over the last seven weeks has responded with 13 home runs and a .429 batting average.

Denning also overcame several off-season/early-season challenges to guide the Toms to their seventh consecutive MIAC championship. Then the coach helped St. Thomas find an extra gear and win six NCAA playoff elimination games to claim the program’s second national title of this decade.

“Joe told me that when he found out I was throwing out the (ceremonial) first pitch, he wanted to be my catcher, but they wouldn’t allow it,” said Denning, who instead hurled the ball into the mitt of Brian Buscher.

“They were either afraid of my fastball or thought I would be so wild Joe would get a fluke injury," Denning said. "So I told Joe, ‘That’s okay, just go out and get a couple of hits.’ ”

Mauer took the advice of the old CDH Raiders baseball coach who taught him and so many other St. Paul kids fundamentals at those summer clinics. The Twins all-star congratulated the Tommie players, posed for a couple of photos, then dashed back to the dugout as game time approached. Mauer then helped lead an 8-2 Twins victory with a 4-for-4 batting performance -- the 12th four-hit game thus far in his six major-league seasons.

It wasn’t the first time Denning had witnessed a Mauer string together a memorable day at the plate.

Joe’s older brother Jake (pictured at right) was a four-year starter for the Tommies. The MIAC career hits leader (243 in 187 games), Mauer led UST’s 2001 national championship team. In March 2001, Jake had a four-hit day in a sweep of No. 5-ranked Southern Maine, then one day later started 9-for-9 in a doubleheader vs. U. Mass-Boston. In his last at bat of the day, Jake hit a line drive into the gap, but a diving catch by the UMB right fielder denied him a 10-for-10 day. In the 2000 NCAA playoffs, Jake also had a streak where he reached base in 13 consecutive at-bats with 11 singles, a walk and an error.

Stats tell story

The final 2009 NCAA baseball statistics are posted (http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-basebl/stats/ncaa-m-basebl-stats-index.html) and reveal some clues as to how the 41-13 Tommies put themselves in position to win a national championship.

Not only did the Tommies rank first among 381 Division III teams in fielding percentage at .978, but the 59 double plays they turned also were the most in the nation. UST had only one error in its last 51 innings at the College World Series.

St. Thomas pitchers also ranked ninth nationally in earned-run average (3.39), including their 2.12 ERA in 12 NCAA playoff games. In the Toms’ 6-0 run in NCAA playoff elimination games, opponents scored just nine runs (1.42 ERA).The Toms also ranked second nationally in fewest walks per nine innings (2.44), including no walks in the 12-inning NCAA title win over Wooster. Pitching coach Chris Olean -– who had a remarkable 97-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio as a senior All-American in 1999 -– was not surprised to learn that UST went 11-0 this season when it didn’t walk a batter.

St. Thomas also tied for seventh in Division III in sacrifice bunts with 40. That total includes 29 in their first 51 games and 11 in their last three elimination victories at the College World Series. UST's power and overall batting averages were down. Its leading hitter, Matt Olson, ranked 399th nationally in batting at .380; its leading home run hitter, Brian Schmitz, ranked 370th with five HRs.

Junior All-American Matt Schuld broke a school record with his 12-1 pitching record, and his 108 innings worked were second most in D-III. He was one of just five Division III pitchers to win 11 or more games this season. Two of the others, Wooster’s Mark Miller (11-2) and Justin McDowell (13-3), were the pitchers UST beat on the season’s final day to win the championship. Miller came into the title game 3-0 with three saves with a 1.09 ERA in six career NCAA playoff games but the Toms finally outlasted him to win 3-2 in the 12th inning.

The other 12-win D-III hurler, Trinity senior Jeremiah Bayer, was drafted by the Red Sox in the 30th round. Bayer was 21-0 on his Trinity career before losing 8-5 to Kean in last month’s College World Series.

Early challenges

Just as Joe Mauer had to wait out his back injury, Denning faced an unusual amount of preseason challenges and headaches. Off the field, a freshman came to tell him that he had been diagnosed with cancer and couldn’t play this season. Two top pitching prospects faced season-ending surgery, then a third missed the season with various ailments.

With soaring fuel prices last fall, Denning had to pay steep rates to lock in 32 plane tickets for the Florida trip. Then the airline went into bankruptcy, and the tickets eventually cost $200 more per person.

On the field, Denning had to move forward without three All-Americans who finished their eligibility in 2008, including catcher Matt Pexa. The catching situation was so unsettled that pitcher Brandon Stone spent the first three weeks of preseason drills behind the plate. It was only after Brady Field and Ben Wartman showed promise that Denning moved Stone back to pitcher, where he made huge contributions capped by seven shutout innings to win the NCAA title game.

PHOTO: Brady Field (22) helped comprise a good catching tandem (Mike Ekern photo)

The Tommies’ season opener was March 1 against St. Scholastica, the team that ended their 2008 NCAA playoff run. Six days earlier, the Saints’ 17-year head coach John Baggs died of stomach cancer, but the Sunday night games were played as scheduled. UST lost that first game of the season after collecting just one run and four hits, then lost its third game to UW-Whitewater in the last at bat on a disputed call. After a strong Florida trip, the Toms lost their conference opener 1-0 to Bethel.

The roller-coaster season of 2009 continued, but with patience and poise, Denning and Co. were steady and ready when opportunity knocked in the NCAA playoffs.

And now there’s second photo destined for the UST archives that includes a smiling J. Mauer from St. Paul posing next to a Tommie NCAA championship baseball trophy.