Dupage Policy Journal

North Central College's baseball team has shown remarkable resilience, turning around a challenging start to the 2025 season. After beginning with a 3-11 record, the Cardinals finished strong with a 12-1 run, securing an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament. The tournament kicks off Friday against Case Western Reserve University.

This upcoming game marks the first encounter between North Central and Case Western Reserve in program history. Previously, North Central has faced Arcadia twice (losing both games) and Centre twice (also losing both).

The Cardinals have participated in the NCAA Tournament 14 times, with Head Coach Ed Mathey '86 leading them to eight of these appearances. In their last appearance in 2022, they achieved second place at the UW-Stevens Point Regional.

North Central's path to this year's tournament involved sweeping through the CCIW Tournament. They currently hold a season record of 26-17 and are on a six-game winning streak. Since April 19, their pitching staff has allowed an average of just 2.8 runs per game while their offense scores nearly seven runs per contest.

Key players include Austin Wienke with a .306 batting average and Jackson Bland hitting .322 with a .443 on-base percentage. John Michael Scumaci has accumulated 77 total bases across all games this season.

Parker Wyatt enters the tournament on a high note with a 13-game hitting streak and leads his team with 35 RBIs over just 31 games played. Chris Rogers spearheads the pitching lineup with 47 strikeouts from his starts since mid-April without allowing more than two earned runs per game.

In relief roles, Payton Diaz serves as primary closer recording eight saves this season while maintaining a low ERA of 2.91 across his appearances since February. Elijah Hammond also contributes significantly from bullpen duties tallying numerous strikeouts over recent outings without conceding any earned runs recently.