In the 22 years Augie Schmidt IV has been at the helm, the Carthage College baseball program has had more than its share of success.

The Red Men just finished off their 10th College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship. They’ve made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances and Friday Carthage will begin its seventh trip to the NCAA Division-3 Championships.

The only thing that has eluded the Red Men during Schmidt’s tenure is a national title. These Red Men, ranked fourth in the latest D-3 coaches poll, boast the balance needed for a championship run.

Carthage has a team batting average of .334, while its opponents bat .260. The offense has outscored the opposition 381-191. The pitching staff — led by Jordan Jaehne-Llanas, Mario Perez and Trace Ruffie — has a team ERA of 3.44.

Carthage has finished third twice (1993, ’94) and fourth twice (1995, ’97) ... but never first at the D-3 Championships. That time has come.

* Bowling ... young at heart: In the story detailing 20-year-old Ben Betchkal’s victory in the Men’s Division of the Kenosha News Match Game Bowling Tournament, reference was made to Betchkal being the youngest to ever win. Upon further review ... he’s not.

Jeff Rampart was 19 when he won the first of three championships in 1984. Rampart went back-to-back at age 20 in 1985. Once it was pointed out and verfied, I sent an e-mail apology to Rampart, who just happens to be Betchkal’s uncle.

“No problem,” Rampart replied. “When you get old people forget about you.”

For the record, I don’t consider 44 “old” and no one “forgets” a Hall-of-Famer.

* Thank you, Joe Maddon: Three days after railing against the American League’s designated hitter rule in this space, Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon helped prove my point.

In case you missed it, per usual Maddon signed his line-up card and gave it to the umpires, but after the top of the first a mistake was spotted. Maddon was going to give stud third baseman Evan Longoria a day off from the field at DH with Ben Zobrist at third base. The only problem is Maddon listed them both at third. The rulebook remedy was to lose the DH. Starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine was put in the lineup batting third.

Sonnanstine had an RBI double in a five-run fourth, managed to survive running the bases and recorded the 7-5 victory despite facing a Cleveland Indians team with an extra hitter in the lineup. It goes to show, even A.L. teams can get by without the DH.

* Book it (13-11): The Milwaukee Brewers helped put some distance between me and the .500 mark by sweeping the Cardinals after at least 2-of-3 was predicted for the series in St. Louis.

This week, the Chicago Blackhawks will win Game 3 of the Western Conference finals when Detroit comes to the United Center on Friday.

Mike Larsen can be contacted at