Season Review: Baseball’s young roster shows flashes of promise in 2022

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — With 22 freshmen and 10 sophomores on the roster, the Ohio Northern baseball team entered the 2022 season undergoing a youth movement. The Polar Bears ended up showing flashes of promise in a season filled with individual highlights.

"This season saw a lot of young guys getting their first chance at regular playing time," 11th-year head coach Gene Stechschulte said. "It wasn't a best-case scenario, but that's what happens when you graduate a bunch of guys the year before."

The Polar Bears finished the season at 19-21 overall, including a 7-11 mark in the Ohio Athletic Conference, but put together stretches of solid play. They got a 3-2 victory over No. 1 Marietta, which advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series and finished the year at 44-7, as part of a 7-2 stretch from March 24 to April 4 and went 6-3 in their final nine games of the season.

Junior Tim Knapschaefer (Maria Stein/Marion Local) came up big in the win over the Pioneers, pitching six shutout innings and allowing just six hits and one walk to go with five strikeouts against one of the best offenses in the country. That outing earned Knapschaefer an OAC Pitcher of the Week accolade on March 28.

Junior Jacob Wenning (Coldwater) also played well that week en route to earning OAC Hitter of the Week honors after posting a .556 average with 10 hits, including four doubles, to go with four RBIs and four runs scored over five games.

Just prior to the doubleheader at Marietta, sophomore Logan Stevens (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) had a highlight game, notching three hits, including a home run, and eight RBIs in a 20-8 win over Alma (Mich.).

Northern's strong closing stretch featured highlight performances from junior Nate Webb (Bath, Ind./Union County) and senior Chayten Overholt (Delphos/Lincolnview).

Webb tallied three home runs and five RBIs in an 11-1 win over Oberlin on May 1, falling one homer shy of the program's single-game record.

Overholt capped his senior season with a bang, going a combined 8-for-11 at the plate with three home runs and nine RBIs in a doubleheader against Wilmington en route to earning the OAC Hitter of the Week award on May 9.

Overholt and Wenning closed the season as members of ONU's 100-Hit Club, joining senior Corey McMann (Flower Mound, Tex./Liberty Christian) as current players in that group. McMann is tied for 10th in program history with 164 career hits, and his 20 doubles in 2021 is a single-season team record. Overholt is tied for 41st all-time with 127 career hits, and Wenning is tied for 64th with 102 career hits.

"Those three guys had good years and gave us a chance to win some games. They were the mainstays of our offense," Stechschulte said.

Overall, the Polar Bears hit .305 as a team and averaged 7.25 runs per game while recording 39 home runs and a program single-season record 90 doubles in 2022 en route to garnering six All-OAC selections. Wenning, Knapschaefer and freshman Ethan Spears (Oregon/Clay) were named to the All-Conference Second Team, and Webb, Overholt and McMann were All-OAC Honorable Mention picks.

"We had some good individual performances this year, and I was glad to see us get six All-OAC selections," Stechschulte said.

Wenning, who was an All-OAC Honorable Mention honoree as a sophomore, tallied a team-high 57 hits and ranked second with a .352 batting average in 40 games this season. The third baseman finished the year with 15 doubles, one triple and six home runs to go with 33 RBIs and 33 runs scored. He tied for 10th all-time on ONU's single-season hits list and ranks seventh on the single-season doubles list. He is a career .346 hitter with 58 RBIs over 79 games.

Knapschaefer led the ONU pitching staff in 2022 with five wins and 69 strikeouts. He tallied a career-high 13 strikeouts in a win at Heidelberg on April 30 and finished the season with a 5-4 record while ranking eighth in the OAC in strikeouts and ninth in the conference with a 3.83 ERA in 54 innings spanning 10 starts. He has pitched in 21 games, including 14 starts, spanning 85.2 innings in his career and will enter his senior season with 97 strikeouts and a 4.31 ERA.

Spears led the team with a .395 batting average and 11 stolen bases. The outfielder played in 33 games this season, notching 47 hits, including eight doubles, one triple and nine home runs, to go with 30 RBIs.

Webb finished 2022 with a team-high 10 home runs, which tied for fourth in the OAC and is tied for sixth on ONU's all-time single-season list. The first baseman added 12 doubles and one triple as part of his 47 hits over 40 games. He hit .311 overall with 37 RBIs and 34 runs scored and will enter his senior season as a career .307 hitter with 70 hits, including 17 doubles, one triple and 13 home runs, along with 52 RBIs and 48 runs scored over 66 games.

Overholt finished the year with a team-best 19 doubles and three triples along with three home runs as part of his 54 hits while adding 31 RBIs and batting .325 in 40 games at shortstop. A Second Team All-OAC selection in 2021, he ranks second all-time on the program's single-season doubles list. He ranks 10th in program history with 31 doubles and is a career .322 hitter with seven triples, four home runs, 62 RBIs and 82 runs scored in 108 games.

An All-OAC selection at designated hitter, McMann finished 2022 with a .340 batting average and 52 hits, including 14 doubles, one triple and four home runs, in 39 games. McMann was a First Team All-Conference pick in 2021 and is a career .333 hitter with 13 home runs, 97 RBIs and 84 runs scored in 125 games. He ranks third all-time with 44 career doubles.

Four Polar Bears were also recognized for their excellence in the classroom as 2022 Academic All-OAC honorees. That group included Webb, who is now a two-time honoree, and sophomores Derek Foe (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe), Jacob Rust (Dublin/Coffman) and Tyler Tierno (Painesville/Lake Catholic).

As the Polar Bears prepare for next season, Stechshulte is hoping the experience gained from 2022 will manifest into an improved year on the field in 2023.

"Our pitching wasn't as good as it has been in years past, but there were some guys who took some steps forward individually. Hopefully the freshman pitchers that got some innings this year will use that to their advantage, and we'll have a more veteran pitching staff next year," Stechschulte said. "I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do next season."