CHICAGO, Ill. -- Coach Luke Johnson enters his 20th season at the helm of Viking Baseball as the defending College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) co-champion. Six starting position players are back from that 2024 team, alongside a pair of starting pitchers and six other arms that logged 14+ innings pitched. The addition of 14 newcomers will keep this 2025 squad motivated to chase their second-straight league title.

Returning Position Players

Outfielders Alex DiVito and Joe Perona both had 60+ hit seasons, Perona with 60 on the dot and DiVito with 67. The duo return in their respective senior and junior years after realizing plenty of success in 2024.

DiVito led the Vikings in Batting Average (.396), Slugging Percentage (.574), On-Base Percentage (.495), Runs (51), Hits (67), Home Runs (5), and Total Bases (97). He was 33-for-37 on the bases, clubbed 11 doubles, two triples, and five home runs to earn All-Region honors by both the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and D3baseball.com. He committed only two errors as the everyday center fielder, totaling 94 putouts and four assists. The hard-hitting lefty carries a career slash line of .343/.434/.455 with 80 runs driven in and 77 runs scored.

Perona was an everyday starter in right field for the Vikings last season, stealing a program second-best 43 bases. He stole multiple bases in 11 different games, including four in a win over Beloit. The ABCA All-Region pick slashed .351/.454/.474 with eight doubles, a home run, and five triples while scoring 46 runs. Perona struck out just 17 times in a team-leading 171 at-bats, leading NPU with 30 walks and 20 different multi-hit games. He posted nearly identical numbers to DiVito in the outfield - a .980 fielding percentage, 92 putouts, and four assists. The junior enters 2025 with 49 career stolen bases, 13th all-time at NPU. 

Three-year starting shortstop Reece Arakaki will captain a NPU infield that will showcase plenty of new faces since 2024. Arakaki was a leadoff-style hitter in the 5-6-7 spot last season, punching out only 18 times in 148 at-bats while batting .284/.360/.331. The Hawaiian upperclassman boasted 11 multi-hit games, drove in 27 runners, and scored 28 times. He fielded .942 with 94 putouts, 52 assists, and was in on 17 double plays.

Nate Sommerfeld was one of three players, alongside DiVito and 2023 All-American second baseman Justin Swanson, to start in all 43 of North Park's games last season. The left fielder, a Second Team All-CCIW selection in 2023, set a single-season record for hit-by-pitch, getting plunked 26 times last season. He's second all-time at North Park with 43 HBP in his career. In his three seasons, Sommerfeld has 16 doubles, four triples, five home runs, 73 RBI, and 72 runs scored.

Catchers Reyn Matsuzaki and Gio Lucchetto split time behind the plate in 2024 and combined to nab 15 would-be base stealers.

Matsuzaki's 2024 freshman campaign featured 17 starts, holding a slash line of .273/.338/.409 in 66 at-bats. He collected four doubles, a triple, and a home run and fielded a perfect 1.000 with 17 assists, throwing out six of 18 runners. The lefty from Honolulu, Hawaii enjoyed a breakout game against Carroll where he went 4-for-5 with a double and three runs scored.

Lucchetto started 27 times in his 2024 junior season, slashing .225/.325/.245 across 102 at-bats. He knocked in 13 runners and scored 14 times, slugging a pair of doubles. The Chicago product from Saint Patrick made just one error, cutting down nine of 19 runners on the bases.

Rylan Kawakami made 28 starts, primarily at third base, as a freshman in 2023 and can fit in at a few positions for the North Park offense. In 109 career at-bats, Kawakami is slashing .248/.322/.330 with four doubles, a triple, home run, and 14 RBI.

Rylan Li (So./OF), Riley Jepsen (Sr/.INF), Graham Porter (Sr./UTL), Griffin Self (Sr./C), Enzo Vertucci (Jr./1B), and Noa Fujitani (So./OF) round out the offensive pieces that saw playing time in 2024.  Porter has seen the most at-bats from this batch of returners (82), slugging .402 with five doubles, two homers, and 16 RBI in his two seasons at NPU.

Returning Pitchers

Coach Trent Abernathy begins his first year guiding the North Park pitching staff after working in the same role at his alma mater, Division II Concord University in West Virginia. 2024 All-American two-way player Bobby Bartlett, who is spending his final college season at Division I Northern Kentucky University, and fellow two-way player Carlos Martinez represent nearly 70 innings that need to be filled this season. However, the Vikings return significant arm talent that led NPU to championship status just nine months ago. 

Junior right-handed pitchers Brandon Leidolph and Ethan Condit were both Second Team All-CCIW picks in their 2024 sophomore seasons, showing legitimate swing-and-miss stuff as underclassmen.

Leidolph logged the most innings of any pitcher on the Vikings' staff (67.0) and led the team with 59 strikeouts against just 18 walks. His lone loss of the season came at Carthage where he threw seven innings, struck out eight, and allowed just one earned run on four hits. The hard-throwing righty struck out 5+ batters in seven different games and allowed 2 or fewer earned runs in seven different appearances. In league action, he boasted a 2.78 ERA and .238 BAA alongside a 1.15 WHIP and 4-1 record.

Condit was a multi-inning closer in 2024, leading the Vikings with 19 appearances (34.1 IP) and five saves while adding five wins. He allowed only eight earned runs all season, carrying a 2.10 ERA with 36 strikeouts and .252 BAA. The ABCA All-Region pick allowed just three extra-base hits, one HBP, and one wild pitch all season. In his 10.2 CCIW innings pitched, he had a sub-2 ERA (1.86) with four wins, three saves, and had a 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (18-6). In 14 appearances, he did not allow an earned run, and he totaled 13 different relief stints allowing 2-or-fewer hits.

Junior right hander Kevin Ayeski and senior left hander Brett Ravitz are expected to shoulder plenty of innings this year after realizing significant success in 2024.

Ayeski logged the second-most innings on the staff (63.1) and tied for the team lead with a record of 5-3. He had the second-best starter's ERA of 3.55 and struck out 46 batters against 20 walks. Batters hit .257 against him and he allowed just 15 extra-base hits in 241 at-bats. Ayeski struck out 5+ hitters in three different games, including his first appearance of the season at Covenant (Feb. 17) where he fanned eight.

Ravitz' versatility was on display in 2024, appearing in seven games with three starts on the mound. The lefty held a record of 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 24 IP. He struck out 14 batters - 3+ batters in four different appearances, including four at Millikin. Ravitz also tossed six innings of scoreless relief en route to a win against Augustana where he allowed just four hits and one walk.

Zach Price (Jr./RHP), Griffin Self (5th/RHP), and Jackson Nuese (Jr./RHP) account for 31 innings from 2024 and hope to expand their roles this year.

Price made 11 relief appearances to total 17.1 innings on the mound, striking out 13 against nine walks. He ended the season with a 5.19 ERA and featured three appearances of scoreless relief.

Self is a two-way player that made six relief appearances and played in 16 games last season. In his nine innings on the mound, he fanned five hitters, including three at No. 25 Webster where he notched his first collegiate save.

Nuese pitched in eight games, including one start, to total 14 innings on the mound. In those 14 innings, he struck out five hitters and allowed just one extra-base hit in his 67 batters faced.

Right hander Samuel Jackson is looking forward to his return to the bump, after sitting out nearly all of 2024 with an injury. In his 2023 freshman season, he appeared in 12 games and made six starts across 39.1 innings pitched, culminating in a 2-2 record. He struck out 20 batters and did not allow an earned run in four separate outings.

CCIW Preseason Coaches' Poll

In a scattered CCIW Preseason Coaches' Poll, North Park, who received a pair of votes in the ABCA Preseason National Top 25 Poll last week, was picked to finish tied for third with defending Co-Champ Millikin University. The Vikings received three first-place votes and Illinois Wesleyan was at the top of the poll with four first-place votes.

Opening Day Not So Far Away

North Park will open its season in Berea, Kentucky against Asbury University on Saturday, Feb. 15. First pitch at Berea College Baseball Field will be 12:00 PM ET.