Regional losses don't tarnish another strong baseball season at Beloit College

BELOIT — The season didn’t end exactly follow the course the way Beloit College’s baseball team had hoped for back in March, but the highs definitely outweighed the lows and head coach Dave DeGeorge ranks two members of the squad among the program’s all-time best.

The head coach knew from the start it would be difficult to replicate last season’s success, when the Buccaneers rolled to 31 victories, a Midwest Conference regular-season and tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

But that’s what the players and their fans expected.

“We had huge expectations and that makes it really hard,” the coach said. “We were doing well, but people were still frustrated. The loss of (shortstop) Garrison Ferone, an experienced catcher and a right fielder who had a career year made us shuffle things around a bit. It took us a long time and it took our freshmen a long time to gain confidence and know what we wanted.”

The Bucs (24-17, 14-10 MWC) rolled at times and sputtered at others, but qualified for the MWC Tournament and there was no team better in Appleton that weekend. Beloit repeated as champs and headed back to the NCAA D-III regional, this time in Lexington, Ky. Two losses there, 7-3 to Spalding and 5-2 to Transylvania, don’t tarnish anything.

“I’m really proud of the guys,” DeGeorge said. “We had a very good season. I’m really glad that we played so well at the conference tournament and won back-to-back titles and got the bid to the NCAA Tournament. That puts our program in a new realm. This was a year about perseverance and development and about coming together at the most important time.

“I’m happy for the guys and excited for our future.”

DeGeorge said his Bucs competed well in the Lexington Regional hosted by Transylvania University. Aiden Phipps (8-4) took the mound the first day for Beloit.

“The biggest problem we had the first day was the umpire’s strike zone,” DeGeorge said. “Aiden Phipps battled and kept us in it, but It really hurt him because his pitches tail off the plate. If the pitch wasn’t right on top of the plate it was a ball. I noticed Spalding was going right after the hitters, even with two strikes, because they’d had the umpire before.”

The highlight for Beloit was a long home run by Matt O’Leary that broke the school’s all-time hit record.

“O’Leary’s home run was great,” DeGeorge said. “It was a majestic shot and it got us back to 4-3. That home run broke Ferone’s all-time hit record so that was fun and exciting.”

The Bucs came back on Saturday with freshman Ben Schweit on the mound.

“The second day, I don’t think we played very well,” DeGeorge said. “We had a passed ball that led to a run. We didn’t make a play at third. We had a wild throw from our pitcher on a pickoff play. Man, if we had played defense it might have been 2-2 or we’re ahead 2-1. We also had runners on base, but when we needed a critical hit we got beat in those matchups.”

The experience was definitely worth the trip to Kentucky.

“The teams we played were good,” DeGeorge said. “It was a really cool stadium. Overall it was a really neat experience for the guys. Every time you get there you’re a little more used to it and a little more comfortable. Your chances of winning a game and advancing get better and better.”

2025, however, will come with a new set of challenges, including replacing two of the players DeGeorge ranks among the best five in program history: O’Leary and slugger Brett Kiger.

“You look at Ferone, O’Leary and Kiger and they all belong in the top five and to have all three at the same time is special,” DeGeorge said. “They did some great things and we have some great memories from this time period. Our hope is that we can continue to perform at this kind of level. That will be the challenge. Can we continue to be a top team in the conference after losing those three guys in a two-year period.”

Both O’Leary and Kiger are members of the 2024 All-MWC First Team, along with Phipps.

Kiger was a home run hitting machine as he took advantage of the bonus season offered to players whose seasons were impacted by COVID-19. He broke the MWC career homer record with his 43rd career blast on April 27. That same day he shattered the Beloit College single-season homer record which he already owned.

Kiger finished with 46 career home runs and hit 18 round-trippers this season. He also hit .331, scored 37 runs and drove in 55 more. His on-base percentage was .464 and slugging percentage .768.

O’Leary, also a fifth-year player, set the school record for hits with 224, passing former teammate Garrison Ferone, who had 223. O’Leary also graduates as the MWC and Buc career lead with runs at (187), triples (10), batting average (.375) and walks (130). In 2024, he hit .338 with eight homers, 44 runs and 28 RBIs, posting .460 on-base and .576 slugging percentages.

The Bucs will return All-MWC Second Team outfielder Jack Alport and infielder Connor Vogel , who put up some strong offensive numbers. Alport led the Bucs with a .347 average and scored 44 runs with 36 RBIs. He stole 14 bases and played outstanding defense in center field. Vogel hit .294 with 30 runs scored and 38 RBIs. The Bucs also have Miles Souza returning who matched Vogel at .294.

Plenty of underclassmen saw valuable time in the lineup, including infielder JT Tamburini, catcher Blake Nelson and outfielders Seth Brankey and Nolan Tomsyck, who is actually O’Leary’s likely replacement at shortstop.

“We had a great offensive team last year and a very good one this year,” DeGeorge said. “Next year we will be different. We will be faster. We’ll probably bunt more, do more hit-and-runs and stuff like that. We may not be as powerful on offense, but maybe we can be consistent.”

DeGeorge said the real strength of the future team will be pitching, where top starters Phipps and Ben Schweit return as does Erick Tiegs, a freshman DeGeorge was extremely high on, but suffered a season-ending injury in the first indoor practice.

“Our pitching could be unbelievable,” DeGeorge said. “We get Tiegs back and one of the 15 recruits we have committed may be the best pitcher we’ve ever recruited. Phipps is back and so isSchweit, who was our best pitcher the second half of the season. On (the TU) scoreboard they told you how fast a pitcher was and his fastball was clocked at 88. That’s what pitchers throw in the regional and we’re going to have a number of guys next year who can do that.”