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Coro: GCU tips cap to seniors
5/15/2019 11:10:00 AM | Baseball, Paul Coro
Class features 4-year players who lifted program
To build something special and successful, it takes time, guts and the right people.
In November 2014, Grand Canyon baseball head coach Andy Stankiewicz empowered a recruiting class to lead the Lopes program into a new era, level and ballpark.
That included five players who are finishing their fourth regular season this week, when the surging Lopes set up their WAC Tournament fate with a season-ending series at Sacramento State.
The Lopes' four-year seniors took the program past the 2,000-win threshold, won 78 percent of conference games over the past three seasons, beat top-25 programs, won two regular-season WAC titles and delivered while adhering to class – the character kind and the academic kind.
"They're quality people who come from great families," Stankiewicz said. "They're a big part of the success we've had. If you look at the quality of work on the weekends in the last four years, it's been really good. That's why they're a special group. They really believed in each other and wanted to have success together."
The eight-man senior class, which includes three junior college transfers, has accounted for 937 games. That does not include fellow 2014 signees Jake Wong and Zach Malis. Wong left after his junior year as the 80th overall pick of the 2018 MLB draft, nearly four years after Stankiewicz predicted he would be "the sleeper of the entire recruiting class."
That class, also recruited by sixth-year assistant coach Gregg Wallis, signed when GCU Ballpark and postseason tournament eligibility were promises to come in their junior years. The seniors played their final home game Sunday, wiping away tears as they took Brazell Field (home for all four seasons) before the national anthem for the final time.
"We came here to start something and help build something," senior center fielder Preston Pavlica said. "Hopefully it'll become big and GCU will become recognized as a power in Arizona. We really like Stank. We didn't have any egos or anything like that. We just wanted to play really good baseball and build it from the ground up."
It is ending on a promising uptick. After winning the past two regular-season WAC championships, the Lopes climbed the standings with 12 consecutive conference wins to be in position to claim a tournament first-round tournament bye or even make up the one-game deficit on leader New Mexico State.
Milestones are falling. Third baseman Tyler Wyatt (198 games) and second baseman Austin Bull (194) are closing in on the program's Division I record for career games (203 by Trevor Blake in 1992-95). Bull tied the D-I career walks mark and is nine away from the hits record. Pavlica has reached base in 25 consecutive games, just as he ended last season with a streak of 24. Marc Mumper is having his best hitting season after batting .318 in his past 17 games.
"It's pretty cool to see how this place has changed and how it's going to continue to change," Mumper said. "This program is getting better, better and better. It's cool to be in the beginning stages and be a foundation for something extremely special here."
As freshmen, this group watched NCAA regional games on television together and talked about getting there someday. As the first GCU team to move 12 games above .500 in the Division I era, it has a chance to be a regional qualifier if it can win the WAC Tournament next week in Mesa, Ariz.
"We were in a transition period where it was growing," Bull said. "I think we've done a pretty good job of helping to build the foundation and I'm glad I got to be a part of it."
Stankiewicz is proud of how the seniors developed as players but is just as pleased to see the quality experience they shared. From campus life to road trips across the nation, the players bonded like family to make lifelong relationships.
"The memories that we've made here, the brotherhood we've built, everything we've done is incredible with how close we are and how it's evolved over the years," Wyatt said. "I couldn't be more blessed. I couldn't be happier. This is probably the best decision I ever made in my life."
The hardest part is anticipating an end without knowing when it will come until it happens. They are promised at least five more games with this week's three-game series and next week's double-elimination conference tournament, but they plan on playing into June.
"We don't know when our last game is together so we want to make the most of it," Pavlica said. "We are an extremely talented team – best team I've played on here – and I think that's showing. We know how to play good baseball. Stank and the other coaches have taught us. This is it."
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