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Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 16 Stevens Point

March 26, 2022
By: Diego Solares and Isaiah Glidden
PBR Wisconsin Staff

The Wisconsin high school baseball season kicks off on March 29, opening day for regular season action under WIAA regulations. Over the next week, leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2022 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, counting down through the official PBR Wisconsin Preseason Power 25 Rankings.

Perennially, we’ve submitted a Preseason Questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our team-by-team preseason analysis.

Our 2022 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: Stevens Point
Preseason Rank: 16
2021 Record: 18-6
Conference: Wisconsin Valley
WIAA Division: 1
Head Coach: Kraig Terpstra

ROSTER PREVIEW

NAME POS CLASS COMMITMENT
Tommy Drohner OF 2022 -
Riley Warzynski SS/RHP 2022 -
Johnathan Nafe 3B 2022 -
Bryce Ehr CIF 2022 -
Kaden Thauer RHP/CIF 2022 -
Lucca Weinkauf OF./RHP 2022 -
Devin Mrozek INF/RHP 2023 -
Matthew Eiden OF 2023 -
Ty Rechner RHP 2024 -
Noah Marschke LHP 2024 -


KEY PLAYERS LOST

+ RHP Logan Schulfer (2021; Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
+ LHP Kenny Schultz (2021; St. Cloud State)
+ RHP Jacob Sankey (2021)

X-FACTOR

+ Tommy Drohner, OF, 2022: Drohner posted an impressive .397 batting average as a junior and returns with even higher expectations this spring. Coming from a high-pedigree athletic background in the Stevens Point area, Drohner’s role in 2022 will be eerily similar to that of last spring - pace the Panthers’ offense on a game-to-game basis. He’ll look to build off what he started last season with the Wisconsin Valley Conference Player of the Year award in reach. 

STAT RAT

8: The number of outright conference titles that Stevens Point has captured in the last decade. They’ve brought home the honor each of the last three seasons and did so five straight times from 2012 to 2016. 

OUTLOOK

You can pretty much pencil in Stevens Point to be at the top of the Wisconsin Valley conference on an annual basis. As we mentioned above, the Panthers have won eight conference championships in the last decade, adding more accolades to the decorated WIAA career of head coach Kraig Terpstra. Last year’s bunch overcame several obstacles out of their control and still made it to the Marshfield sectional, posting an 18-6 record in the process. 

The Panthers enter this 2022 season with talent across multiple grad classes. Their senior group will be led by the aforementioned Drohner, but there are a handful of everyday players returning. SS/RHP Riley Warzynski (2022) batted .321 and saw work on the mound last season, bringing back key two-way contributions this spring. Seniors 3B Jonathon Nafe (2022) and OF/RHP, Lucca Weinkauf (2022), and CIF Bryce Ehr (2022) add more experience to this lineup, while RHP/CIF Kaden Thauer (2022) returns a perfect 4-0 record on the mound and a bulk of innings necessary to this team. INF/RHP Devin Mrozek (2023) and OF Matthew Eiden (2023) are two juniors to note on this roster. Mrozek is a physically built athlete that’s flashed above-average arm and bat strength to us in the past, while Eiden showed an intriguing blend of power and athleticism at the Eastern Wisconsin Open this fall. 

Replacing the production they got from RHP Logan Schulfer (2021; Wisconsin-Milwaukee), LHP Kenny Schultz (2021; St. Cloud State), and RHP Jacob Sankey (2021) won’t be an easy task, but the Panthers do have two high-octane sophomores waiting in the wing: RHP Ty Rechner (2024) and LHP Noah Marschke (2024). Our most recent look at both Rechner and Marschke came at the PBR Badger State Battle, where the Panthers' potent tandem fit in seamlessly despite playing up two age groups. Rechner went the distance in his start, ran his fastball into the mid-80s, and threw a tight breaking ball for strikes as well. Marschke is equally impressive as his counterpart, featuring lanky upside limbs attached to his highly projectable 6-foot-3, 170-pound frame. He too nearly went the distance in the Dells, pumping his fastball in the low-80s with a sweeping slider-type breaking ball to pair. They're both relatively inexperienced, but the talent that these two sophomores possess is undeniable and the Panthers will likely need them to fill a void left behind by three key seniors.


BOTTOM LINE

A track record of winning has us optimistic about the Panthers in 2022 despite some losing several senior contributors at important positions. They’re consistently competitive, have dominated their conference for the last decade, and coach Terpstra is always going to have his squad ready to compete on a game-to-game basis. 

Make sure to follow @PBRWisconsin on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the 2022 season.

Find more information on the 2022 Panthers below:

+ Team Website
+ Team Schedule

PRESEASON POWER 25 COUNTDOWN