CURTIS WILDUNG
By Terry Mosher
Editor, Sports Paper
Raised by his single mom and nursed in life by uncle Brent Stenman, Curtis Wildung has emerged after 22 years, almost all of it playing baseball, as one of the better defensive catchers in the long history of Pacific Lutheran University.
Wildung did not commit an error this year in the 28 out of the 42 games (25 starts) he played this season, which ended last weekend (May1-3) with the PLU Tournament.
“Curt was like five years old when his dad took off,” says Stenman. “It’s pretty amazing that Curtis turned out as good as he did. I have spent a lot of time with him and he took an interest in baseball as a young lad, which helped. He also spent a lot of time with my son and with my parents, which also helped him.”
No matter the circumstances, Wildung has turned out well. He will have used up his NCAA eligibility this weekend – unless the Lutes, the top-ranked NCAA D-3 team in the West Region, get an at-large berth into the regional tournament, which is far from certain – and he is one year short of his degree in business administration after losing an academic year when he switched his major from athletic training, but has blossomed and is focused on what he wants to do with his life post-school.
While it is likely his long baseball career will end soon, Wildung would like to keep his hand in the sports scene. He has his sights set on working in retail, hopefully with a sports giant like Wilson Sporting Goods. He will prep for that this summer, hopefully with a job with a firm like Dick’s Sporting Goods or Sports Authority.
There is also the good possibility that Wildung will keep his hand in baseball as a coach somewhere along the line. Once the sport got in his blood, he was all in and it is difficult to just walk away from it for good.
Speaking of good, the six-foot, 220-poundWildung was good this year not just behind the plate where he threw out over 40 percent of runners trying to steal on him, but swung a meaty bat from the left side. He finished the season batting .308 with an on-base percentage of .446, a slugging percentage of .487 and an OPS of .978.
“He’s been our starting catcher for four years,” says PLU coach Geoff Loomis. “He’s a good one. “
In April, Wildung was named national D-3 catcher of the week after blasting four doubles and a single in seven at-bats while driving in three runs, scoring four runs and stealing a base.
Wildung helped the Lutes win the regular season Northwest Conference title. They were upset in the NWC Tournament by Whitworth, which because of its victory gets the automatic berth to regional. There is the small chance the Lutes will get an at-large berth based on its top regional ranking, but nobody is holding their breath waiting for it to come.
Winning the conference championship was as thrilling for Wildung as it was in 2012 when his summer team, the Wenatchee Applesox won the West Coast League championship.
Then the past two summers he’s played for the Bend Elks in the WCL.
“I enjoyed my time and experience there,” says Wildung.
The catcher is considered the quarterback of a baseball team and Wildung was very good at providing that leadership from behind the plate.
“He’s a student of the game,” says Loomis. “Ultimately he has to have an understanding of our defense, be able to handle the pitching staff, and all the arcane things that come with that. He has to know what each pitch brings to the ballclub.”
Wildung led Kingston High School to the state baseball playoffs every year he was there and gives credit to his coaches there for keeping him on track to get a college education and still play baseball.
He also gives credit to Stenman, who has been involved in baseball for too many years to count. Stenman continues to be an assistant coach at North Kitsap and helps the national Babe Ruth organization run it’s tournaments during the summer.
“He’s Mr. Baseball,” says Wildung. “When I was young (Stenman) would take me to get my equipment and baseball glove. He’s kept my interest in baseball alive.”
All the help along the way from his coaches at Kingston and Stenman have helped shape his knowledge of the sport of baseball to the point he now thinks he has a high baseball IQ.
“Having a high IB in baseball is something that is huge,” says Wildung, who quite quickly made the adjustment from the high school game to the improved speed of the college game.
“The jump from high school to college is immense,” says Wildung, “and the sooner you figure that out the better you will be. The game is so much faster. For instance, the velocity of the baseball is higher, speed of the players is faster, and speed of the bat is quicker. A baseball hit in the gap in high school may be a hit, but in college that gets caught.”
If this weekend was the end of his playing days, it will be tough for Wildung to handle it. This is what he has done for so long that it’s asking a lot for him to just walk away from the game.
“I won’t be playing baseball next year (when he still will be at PLU getting his degree), and that will be a tough pill to swallow because I will miss the game quite a bit,” he says.
Pro scouts usually don’t dip down into the NCAA D-3 ranks looking for players, unless it’s a pitcher. So Wildung is not going to hold his breath waiting for a call on draft day in June.
There might be the possibility he could keep his hand in the game by helping with the PLU program while going to school. But there are no guarantees of that at this point.
But if this is it and Wildung can hook on with a sporting goods company (Wilson is his top target) then maybe he can keep in the game by selling equipment and gloves to Major League players.
If a job offer like that comes (Wilson is headquartered in Chicago) Wildung will accept the position faster than one of his throws to second base to catch a base stealer.
“He’d be gone in a moment,” says Stenman, who adds, “He’s a really good kid. I’m real proud of him. He’s worked hard and kept his nose straight. He’s just like one of my kids, and we love him.”