WINONA, Minn. -- When casual baseball fans think of stellar pitchers, names like Stephen Strasburg, Randy Johnson and Nolan Ryan come to mind, all of whom tower on the mound and throw blazing fastballs. However, Greg Maddux, arguably the best pitcher in the past 30 years, did not fit the flamethrower model. Instead, he relied on pinpoint control to befuddle batters.

Teddy VanRanst of Saint Mary's is a pitcher in the Maddux mold. The 5-9 left-hander does not have over-powering speed. Like Maddux, he works on location and placement. VanRanst mixes pitches and nips the corners, which has helped him become one of the top pitchers in the MIAC.

“When I think of Teddy, I don't think an overpowering pitcher, I think of an intelligent pitcher,” said SMU Head Baseball Coach Nick Winecke. “Teddy works hard and is a real student of the game. I have known him since he was in grade school. He's a smart, competitive pitcher.”

VanRanst and the Cardinals struggled some during his first two seasons in Winona. SMU was 4-16 in MIAC play his freshman year and 12-28 overall. VanRanst started nine games that season, posting a 2-3 record. As a sophomore, he dropped to 1-2 as Saint Mary's slipped to 3-17 in league play and 11-27 overall. SMU finished last in the MIAC both seasons.

Before the 2012 season, VanRanst and others decided make changes to the off-season training regimen. “We wanted to turn things around. We were tired of losing,” he said. “We shifted the emphasis to more weights and conditioning. We did things like lifting a tractor tire to increase stamina.”

SMU started the season with a trip to Arizona, and returned home 6-4. They dropped their first six MIAC games before things suddenly clicked. The Cardinals swept back-to-back road doubleheaders at Gustavus and St. Olaf, jump-starting a 10-4 run that vaulted them into a tie with Augsburg for fourth place. By virtue of the tiebreakers, they nailed down the school's first berth in the MIAC Baseball Playoffs since 2002.

With VanRanst on the mound, fourth-seeded Saint Mary's delivered the upset of the tournament in the very first game. Behind his strong effort on the mound, the Cardinals stunned regular season champion and top-seeded St. Thomas, 4-2. In the winners' bracket, they lost to Saint John's 4-2 and then were eliminated by St. Thomas, 10-2, to close a remarkable turnaround season.

SMU's 10-10 record in conference play was the Cards' best showing since 2003. Their 22-19 overall record was the program's first winning season since 2001.

It was a breakout season for VanRanst as well. His ERA improved to 3.00 as he posted a 6-4 record and allowed 69 hits in 66 innings. Opponents batted just .269 against him and he ranked second in the MIAC in complete games with four. VanRanst was eight in the conference in innings pitched.

“He is mentally more mature, and that was a big factor in Teddy having a breakout season last year,” said Winecke. “He no longer has fears of giving up hits. He has confidence in himself as a pitcher and confidence in his teammates behind him.”

With heightened expectations, Saint Mary's is off to a good start again in 2013. The Cardinals had a very successful trip to Tucson, coming back with a 7-3 ledger. Going into last night's twin bill with UW-Superior, SMU is 8-5. Saturday's MIAC opener against Bethel has been postponed due to the lingering winter weather, but when conference play finally does open, the Cardinals are expected to be in the thick of the battle to return to the MIAC Playoffs.

For many years, Saint Mary's was one of the MIAC's top baseball programs. However, in the early 2000s, the program struggled and sunk to the bottom runs of the conference. In 2009, Winecke, a 2007 SMU graduate, was promoted from assistant to head coach. “We've tried to change the mindset here,” he said. “In the first couple of years, we tried to instill more discipline into the program, and create a winning mindset. That kind of change takes time and you need to bring in the right kids.”

VanRanst and this year's seniors are the first true recruiting class of Winecke's and they have bought into his philosophy and plans. “This class is helping build the foundation of success here,” he said.
VanRanst and Winecke have known each other since VanRanst was a sixth grader. “I went to Dennis Denning's baseball camp the summer after sixth and seventh grade and then to the Cretin camp the next summer,” he recalled. “[Coach Winecke] worked at those camps.”

Growing up in the Highland Park area of St. Paul, VanRanst was raised in an athletic household. “My older sisters, Amanda and Emily, both played volleyball and softball in high school,” he said. “And my parents both played sports in high school, too.”

VanRanst learned baseball from his father, “My dad always taught me to be humble and to remember the game is bigger than you. Be confident but not cocky.”

He played Little League ball in the Midway 12U program and contributed to a team title when he was 11.

VanRanst enrolled at Highland Park High School, where he played basketball and soccer as a freshman and sophomore years. “I gave them up to focus on baseball,” he said.

He spent his first year on the freshman team but made the varsity as a sophomore. “I started in the outfield most of the season, usually in right field but some games in center,” VanRanst said. “I pitched some, mostly in relief but got a big start against St. Paul Central. Our ace hurt his elbow and I got the call and got the win.”

VanRanst became the team's ace as a junior and carried that role through graduation, pitching one to two games a week. When not on the mound, he patrolled center field. The Scots tied with Central for the St Paul City Conference championship both years, and played in the Twin Cities game in VanRanst's junior year. “My senior year, we lost to Central, 1-0, in 11 innings,” he recalled. “I pitched the entire game.”

Though his high school team's luck ran out in the Section playoffs both seasons, VanRanst's accomplishments were well-decorated. He garnered All-Conference honors as a junior and as a senior and was All-State Honorable Mention his senior year. VanRanst was selected to play in the Lions All-Star series the summer after his senior year as part of the East Metro team. “That and the MIAC Playoffs last year were the most fun times I've had in baseball,” he said.

Coming out of high school, VanRanst was recruited by many schools in the Upper Midwest, notably UM-Duluth, Concordia-St. Paul, Hamline and Saint Mary's. His high school coach, Peter Brown, had played with Winecke and VanRanst knew Winecke from the varoius summer campshe attended when he was younger.

“Coach Brown put a bug in my ear about Saint Mary's and Coach Winecke contacted me and got me interested,” VanRanst said. “Two of my cousins had gone to Winona State and, as a result, I knew the area and liked it.”

After visiting SMU, VanRanst was convinced it was a good fit. “I liked the small class size and the student-teacher ratio,” he said. “I knew I wanted to play baseball and I thought I could play and contribute right away here.”

VanRanst has found success off the field as well, as a Sports Management major with a 3.00 grade point average, and he has been offered an internship with the Ford Fields program in Highland Park. “The past few summers I've worked there, overseeing the grounds crew and their work, doing maintenance, and running the concessions stand and things like that,” VanRanst said. “The internship would be a financial advisor position for the summer of 2013.”

VanRanst and his mates are eager for the MIAC season to begin. After surprising the conference with a run to the postseason a year ago, they know they will be taken seriously as Playoff contenders and the relish the challenge.

For VanRanst, SMU has been everything he hoped for in a college. “It has been a great place for me,” he said. “Everything about it has been right, from baseball to the friends I've made to the education.
“It feels like this place was meant for me."