Buckeye State Baseball

Expect McDowell (left) and Groezinger to have more to celebrate about in 2010

As far as dynamic duos go, it’s hard to top these two.

With Justin McDowell being named Buckeye State Baseball’s DIII Preseason Pitcher of the Year and First baseman Matt Groezinger capturing the BSB Preseason Player of the Year honor, Wooster has a tandem ready to lead the Scots back to national glory. 

As we conclude our week long coverage of North Coast Athletic Conference previews Buckeye State Baseball caught up with Groezinger and McDowell, getting their views on what Wooster needs to do to return to the NCAA Divison III Championships, who they idolized growing up, and who would win in a head-to-head battle at the plate?

With one being the straight-faced no non-sense guy, and the other being the lively practical joker, this is an odd couple Coach Pettorini wouldn’t trade for anyone.

By now you know of every award, honor, and accomplishment the two have achieved. The above preseason honors further highlight the players. With that in hand we’ll get right to the questions.

BSB: First, who did you each root for growing up? What players did you want to be like and idolize?

MG: I’m a Braves fan as well as a Rays fan. Chipper Jones was always my favorite player growing up.

JM: I have always been a huge Tribe fan. I use to go to games almost weekly in the summer and I fell in love with the Indians teams of the 90’s. Growing up as both a hitter and pitcher, my two favorite players were Manny and Charles Nagy. Nagy never had the best stuff but he always won and Manny is just a one of a kind player and is so much fun to watch.

BSB: To the present…For you Matt as a consensus pick to be one of DIII baseball’s best in 2010, what will determine whether the season is a success for you?

MG: The season will be a success for me if we make it back to the World Series and win that one more game we needed last year.

BSB: Obviously team goals are at the forefront and the number one thing on your mind entering the season, but how do you juggle keeping the team first while having personal goals and setting a standard for yourself?

MG: Well I believe that individual goals end up helping the team goals in the end. Say my goal is to hit 15 home runs this year and drive in 65 RBIs, those will have hopefully help us win a lot of games and get us to the World Series.

BSB: And to you Justin, you also rose to a level of national success. We don’t want to discredit your talent and abilities, but to a lot of people your 2009 season might have been “one out of nowhere.”  Looking back how was 2009 for you?

JM: I would have to agree with people about last year coming out of no where. I always expected myself to do well, but I did not think that I would do that well and have that much responsibility as I did last year.

I think the biggest step that I had last year was just gaining more confidence as the year went on. Starting the year out, I was expecting to pitch the 3rd or 4th game in our conference games but when Barnesy went down and Trap’s shoulder starting hurting more, everything kind of got put on Mark [Miller], Matty [DeGrand] and I and we all just did our best to keep us in games because with our offense we never are out of any games.

BSB: Take us through the last game of 2009… for the both of you, what was it like being that close to a championship? Is it something you cherish or is it something you throw away because you didn’t take that final step?

MG: That was a rough game. I personally got hosed on a call in the second inning. I got called out on a ground ball that I beat by half a step. It really hurt because we probably would have scored a run that inning also.

Later on when I hit a home run to give us the lead, I was thinking wow I may have just won the game because I knew with Mark Miller on the mound he always has the potential to shut a team down.

Watching that ground ball go through and them scoring and winning was a tough thing to take. But it is something I will remember because it will just drive me that much more.

JM: It is hard to look back and be proud of what you accomplished when you know that it could have been more.

I felt and still feel like we were the best team in the country last year. We had the best talent and the closest team and I can say that with no doubt in my mind.

With that being said, we were really close to not even going to Regionals last year. If Vesco doesn’t get a hit against Wabash in the conference semis, it is possible we could have not even gotten in the tournament.

So when you think about that, it is pretty surreal to go back and look at what we did. Regionals and the World Series were just amazing. It was all new for me because as a freshman I went to Regionals but did not get to play so when I got to start in the first game of Regionals, I was a nervous wreck.

Trap took me aside and talked to me for probably a half hour because I was so extremely nervous. Then when you think of the World Series, we only had one close game before the last two games. We blew through everyone.

On championship day, something just did not feel right and we played that way. Something was just off, I’m not sure what but we did not play as we should of and I did not pitch as I should of.

That is my one regret from last year. Yes it was great that I helped us get there but I still have a feeling that I let my team down in the biggest game of our season last year and I haven’t let that go.

BSB: The 2010 season starts in a way similar to the end of the 2009 season. You guys are #2 behind St. Thomas. To take that next step and grab the championship what must be done in your guys eyes or what will allow you to take the final step?

JM: Everyone just needs to know that when it is their turn to toe the rubber that we are going to win. I think that is the one thing that changed for me from my freshman year to last year. When I took the mound, everyone expected us to win and so did I. It all starts with the guy on the mound.

We have a very talented group of pitchers. Our senior class has Tanner who is so hard to hit throwing sidearm and Gem-Jo who throws hard and then you go to my class and Tyler Fugate is really going to have a good year this year for us. He is throwing hard and has a nasty 12-6 curveball.

Then our sophomore and freshmen class is so deep. Our sophomore class has five guys who all can throw the ball. Landon Wahl, Josh Stidham, and Dan O’Brien all have so much talent but just need to gain confidence and then we have a freshman lefty who is going to be real good in Keenan White.

Our staff is so deep and talented and if everyone can just get the mindset that when they are throwing we will win, then we will be extremely successful.

MG: I really like our strong core of older players, as well as our depth. we have six seniors on the field right now and depending on who is pitching, seven. I think our experience will show, as well as our want to be the best.

BSB: With all that returns it is hard to imagine that there still are two holes to fill. Two All-American holes as well. For you Matt is there any pressure to replace Sean Karpen’s bat in the lineup?

MG: You can’t really replace a Sean “bones” Karpen.  He was a great player. As the returning number four-hole hitter, there is always that pressure to produce. Luckily, there are guys all around me on this team that can pick me up if I get in a slump or something.

Stu Beath is one of those guys. Luke Sutton should have a big year, his bat has really come along. Matthew Johnson is coming back from his injury and he seems ready to show how good he is.

I could honestly go through our whole line up. I don’t really see any glaring weakness for us. So that takes the pressure off a little, knowing that these guys have my back.

BSB: And for you Justin in needing to replace Miller, who combined with you to become one of the nation’s best tandems in 2009, will the return of Barnes keep the title of “best 1-2 punch’ in Wooster?

JM: I really think Barnesy has as much talent as any pitcher I have seen. Mark and I were really close and we were talking and we both really feel like Barnesy can be as effective, if not better.

The thing about Mark was that he did not have many pitches and did not throw that hard. Barnesy has an array of pitches and throws hard. If he is on spots he is unhitable.

I also think that it will be more of a 1-2-3 punch this year because Matty [DeGrand] is a great pitcher as well. The two people who helped me the most last year were our catcher Shane Swearingen and Matty. I worked with him everyday last year on getting the ball down and hitting spots and it helped me immensely throughout last year.

BSB: In saying you learned a lot from Shane and Matty last year, what were you able to pick up from Barnes as well while he was unable to toe the rubber?

JM: Well Barnesy is definitely a unique guy. He has great talent and is as funny as anyone I know.

Once he got hurt, you could tell he just wasn’t himself and everyone was worried about him. We weren’t worried if he was going to play again, we were worried if he was going to be alive because he could have lost his life if the clot wasn’t found.

The one thing Barnesy is though is a great competitor. He wants to have the ball and it was killing him not to have it so that’s what rubbed off on me. Not taking anything for granted and knowing that at any time, baseball can be taken away.

BSB: The two of you enter 2009 with a mountain of awards an honors. Does any honor, achievement, or accomplishment stick out more than the other in your minds?

MG: I am really proud of being named to the D3Baseball.com All-American team.

JM: Oh gosh that is hard to say. I would have to say Mideast Regional Pitcher of the Year or NCAC tourney MVP.

I know that those are two vastly different awards but I feel like the NCAC tourney award was because we really needed to win the tourney. Coach called out the guys that are seniors now and said they haven’t won anything (he didn’t say anything) and that was the first step to our run last year. We gained a lot of confidence from the tournament and that carried us on our run.

BSB: And for the two of you, who keeps the awards? Do they stay in Wooster or sent back home?

JM: Haha my parents have all my awards and honors. My mom and dad love to show them off to people that come over. My mom brings them down when my friends come over and shows them everything.

I always have at least five people at every game that are there for me in my mom, dad, two sisters and my girlfriend. They came to every game last year even the ones out of state.

My mom took off more time at work thank she ever has. They are my biggest fans. They came to every game last year and my dad is by far the biggest Wooster baseball fan.

He gets on your site all the time and d3baseball and just loves to talk about baseball, the Scots, and me. That is definitely where I get my love and passion for the game.

MG: All my awards end up at home, I figured my mom likes to look at them more than I do.

BSB: Speaking of Upper Arlington, your journey from being a Golden Bear to a Fighting Scot has been interesting, describe that for us, as well as being an elder on the team. Do you feel the responsibility to take on a leadership role?

MG:It is a strange journey I have come on. It has been a long one.

Coming out of high school it was between Wooster and Purdue. I decided to try Purdue to see if I could make it, I tried out the first two years and got cut both times.  The third year I got cut, I said ‘I’m going some place that wants me.’

So I called up Coach P and told him I wanted to come play for him.  So I sat out the next semester and transferred in for the fall semester at Wooster. Not to mention I lost a year of credits that didn’t transfer, that added to my journey.

And yes, as an older player I do feel that I do just naturally fall into a leadership role, and Coach P and I talked about that last year, he wanted me to to talk up and start taking a little bit more of a leadership role.

BSB: And as you picked Wooster, so to has many other talented players. What makes Wooster so attractive and has speared the rise to national prominence?

MG: We work hard. Wooster is a fun place to come to. It’s not the biggest place, it’s not the flashiest. You come into this program knowing you have the chance to win every time you go out.

Along with our recent success that just builds the reputation and gets kids thinking, I want to go somewhere and win something.

BSB: And win a lot you have. For you Justin in your victories, is there a pitch that if you get over you know you’re going to be on your game?

JM: My best pitch is definitely my slider. If my slider is sharp, then I can get a lot of guys out. Our pitching coach Jeff Bricker would say it is a first pitch strike and that is true sometimes but I feel like if my slider is on, then it is going to be a good day because I can usually spot my fastball pretty well.

BSB: Who is the toughest batter in the NCAC you faced?

JM: Can I pick guys from our team? If so it is Stu [Beath]. I can’t get Stu out to save my life.

The rest of the conference it would probably be [OWU's Zach] Frentsos. We had a good battle in Florida when I closed against them and I think he got a hit off me but we ended up winning. He fouled a boatload of pitches off and had a real nice swing all day.

BSB: In stepping to the plate yourself Matt, what is your pick in your up-to-bat song?

MG: Oh man walk up songs……I have two, “This Fire Burns” by Killswitch Engage. I think now I would have to go with “Inside the Fire” by Disturbed. they just pump me up I guess.

BSB: With him being an All-American stepping to the plate pumped up, how many hits could Matt score off you in 10 tries?

JM: Maybe one. I know how to get Groez out but I don’t want your readers to know the secret. Groez has a chance to maybe get a Texas-leaguer but that is about it.

BSB: In three words describe Justin..

MG: Justin in three words?…Competitor…  All-American..  and a friend.

BSB: And Justin, Matt in three words…

JM: Baseball wise… powerful, wily, and explosive. Person wise- Old, ginger, and fragile (he’s like 35 if you didn’t know).