Answer Special Call to Serve - King's College

Knoblauch, Venarchick Achieve
Rare Milestones by
Reaching 200-Hit Plateau
It is not often that a
college baseball or softball
player reaches the coveted
200 base hit plateau. It is
even rarer to have more
than one player reach the
milestone in one season.
Abbey Knoblauch
That is exactly what happed
in the spring when King’s softball standout Abbey Knoblauch
and baseball star Jon Venarchick reached that plateau.
A four-year starter at shortstop and second base, Knoblauch
became just the third King’s softball player to reach the
milestone. Venarchick, a four-year starter who played primarily
at third base, etched his placed in the record books by becoming
the first Monarch baseball player to reach the mark.
Knoblauch concluded a brilliant career at King’s where she
helped the Lady Monarchs to a pair of Freedom Conference
championships and three NCAA Division III national
tournament berths. As a senior, she batted .424 with 16 doubles
14 RBI, and 33 runs as King’s leadoff hitter. She concluded
her career with 208 base hits, ranking second behind Maria
Zangardi ’04 and ahead of Jess Harvey ’02 who tallied 217 and
200 hits, respectively, for the Lady Monarchs.
During her time at King’s, Knoblauch posted a career .411
batting average with 35 doubles, 10 triples, four home runs, 79
RBI, and 132 runs scored. She was a four-time All-Freedom
Conference selection and an MAC All-Academic selection.
Venarchick, meanwhile, also put the wraps on one of the
finest careers at King’s with one of the best single-season
performances.
As a senior, he finished the year by winning the 2009
Freedom Conference batting title, posting a .447 batting
average. His 67 base hits stands as a new King’s single-season
record and ranked first in the Freedom Conference in 2009.
He also led the conference with 10 triples, 118 total bases and a
whopping .787 slugging percentage.
Venarchick also finished the season ranked first on the team
with 46 runs scored and 43 runs batted in 36 games. During the
year, he posted a career-best 14-game hitting streak. After the
streak was snapped, he promptly closed out the season by hitting
safely in the final 11 games of the year. In all, he posted at least
one base hit in 34 of the 36 games in which he played.
Venarchick ended his career with a school-record 227 base
hits. Overall, he finished his four-year career with 41 doubles,
18 triples, 10 home runs, 134 RBI, and 135 runs scored, while
posting a career .383 batting average. Additionally, he was
a two-time All-Freedom
Conference selection and
a three-time MAC All-
Academic choice. He
wrapped up his time at
King’s by receiving the 2009
Middle Atlantic Conference
Baseball Scholar-Athlete
award by posting a 3.544
overall grade-point average as
a biology major.
Venarchick helped the
Monarchs to three berths Jon Venarchick
in the Freedom Conference Tournament during his tenure,
including a Freedom Conference championship and the
program’s first-ever NCAA Division III National Tournament
berth in 2006.
“Both Abbey and Jon enjoyed outstanding careers at King’s,
careers that mirrored each other in many ways,” King’s Director
of Athletics Cheryl Ish stated. “Both were tremendous
competitors and extremely hard workers, but their level of
consistency is what separated them from many athletes. Gamein
and game-out, they were counted on to produce and they
never let the pressure get to them. They came through time
and again and were true leaders in every sense of the word. We
are very proud of what they accomplished at King’s and know
their skill and talents will be greatly missed but always admired.”
Winter Sports (continued from page 16)
had in a number of years as the women went 6-7 while the
men’s team was 5-9. A total of 13 swimmers return to the team
in 2009-10.
The women’s team will be led by senior captain Susan
Hughes and junior Maggie Nealer, who set four individual
school-records a year ago in the 1,650, 1,000, 500, and 200
freestyle events. Amanda Casey set a new school record in the
100 backstroke while she, Krystina Homanko, Becca Smith,
Caitlin Casey, and Nealer were all part of record-setting relay
teams.
For the men, junior Eric Stencovage, a past Middle Atlantic
Conference place-winner, returns to the squad, as does Brian
and Patrick Seslar, who teamed with Stencovage to set the 200
medley relay school-record during the 2007-08 campaign.
Pride ✦ Fall 2009 17