1971 Baseball Team (2009) - Hall of Fame - Central Michigan University Athletics

1971 Baseball Team

Induction:
2009
Class:
1971

NCAA College Division national runner-up … posted a 35-7-1 record in Dave Keilitz's first year as head coach … second-best national finish in any sport in school history behind the football team's 1974 Division II national title … finished the regular season with a No. 1 national ranking, the only team in school history to ever hold the country's top ranking during the regular season … led by first team All-America selection Andy Kanoza and second team All-America pick Ralph Darin … Darin went 12-1 with a 2.24 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 100.1 innings pitched … Kanoza batted .331 while belting a team-high five homers … Jim Cooper posted a team-high .369 batting average and a team-high 37 RBI … the squad had a 12-game winning streak and another 12-game unbeaten streak (11-0-1) … won the Midwest Regional with a 4-1 record after dropping the first game to Southern Illinois … defeated Mankato State and San Diego in the College World Series before falling in a pair of games to Florida Southern.

1971 CMU Baseball Team Roster: Head coach Dave Keilitz, assistant coach Dean Kreiner, pitcher Glenn Allen (St. Charles, Mich.), infielder Gary Arbogast (Ann Arbor, Mich.), infielder Chuck Cassady (Grand Blanc, Mich.), outfielder Jim Connell (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.), outfielder Jim Cooper (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.), pitcher Ralph Darin (River Rouge, Mich.), catcher Kirk Hamilton (Pontiac, Mich.), outfielder Leo Haynes (Flint, Mich.), outfielder Chuck Heeringa (Grand Rapids, Mich.), pitcher Jerry Hoag (Wyoming, Mich.), catcher L.D. Jones (Elsie, Mich.), catcher Alex Kanoza (Grand Rapids, Mich.), infielder Andy Kanoza (Grand Rapids, Mich.), pitcher Bob Kocinsky (Bay City, Mich.), pitcher Gary Lewandowski (Bay City, Mich.), outfielder Dave Machemer (Benton Harbor, Mich.), pitcher Greg Main (Southfield, Mich.), infielder Ed Papes (Freesoil, Mich.), pitcher Cap Pohlman (Saginaw, Mich.), infielder Jack Roelofs (Zeeland, Mich.), outfielder John Schroeter (Livonia, Mich.), infielder Steve Shragal (Detroit, Mich.), infielder Jeff Sovern (Battle Creek, Mich.), outfielder Bob VonReichbauer (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.), pitcher Craig Wadsworth (Lapeer, Mich.), infielder Dick Watkins (Burlington, Mich.), pitcher Dave Weisler (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.), outfielder Larry Whitehead (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.), catcher Wally Williams (Walled Lake, Mich.) and pitcher Dennis Wooster (Pontiac, Mich.).