Illinois Baseball Report

As a follow-up to my note on Kyle Hudson yesterday, I’d like to give props to Hannah Seward who is a big Delmarva Shorebird fan.  A week or so ago, I linked to a photo of hers here on IBR.  Anyway, Hannah emailed to say hi and passed on her website, GoShorebirds.com which covers the [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 26th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

The Mattoon Charleston Journal-Gazette Times-Courier has a nice feature article on former Illini centerfielder Kyle Hudson who is faring just fine with the Oriole Class A Delmarva Shorebirds.  Hudson has 17 stolen bases so far this year and 31 runs scored both good for second on the team. Share Tags: kyle hudson, Media Related posts [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 25th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

By now, the minor league season has started for the Illinois players who were drafted earlier this month.  Let’s take a look at how they are doing in their new minor league settings. Well, Brandon Wikoff is off to a hot start for the Tri-City ValleyCats in New York State.  After last night’s two-hit performance, [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 25th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

There was a great article on Matt Dittman in the Libertyville Review.  In summer league action, Ditt made the trip up to the Great North so his Lake Erie Monarchs could take on Alaska Goldpanners (summer league teams have such great nicknames, I think). Don’t think Dittman didn’t lose some sleep over the extended daylight [...]

Filed under: Summer League on June 18th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

Last night, Bryan Roberts, who is spending his summer pitching for the Dupage Dragons, made the best of his relief appearance against the Butler Blue Sox in Prospect League play.  After his starting pitcher gave up seven runs, Roberts came in and pitched 3 2/3 innings of shutout ball. His Dragons didn’t pony up the [...]

Filed under: Summer League on June 17th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

The Troy Record (NY)  welcomes the new guys to the Tri-City Valley Cats.  Brandon Wikoff is a new member of the single-A Astros team. Wikoff is a lefthand-hitting shortstop who batted .373 in 228 at-bats for Illinois, with 17 doubles, five triples and four homers, 56 runs and 41 RBIs. Until the Astros sign No. [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 16th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

  Bonadonna:  Bound for Rookie League As of today, four Illinois draftees have signed pro contracts with their respective teams.  Big Ten Network has the info. Brandon Wikoff has signed with the Astros and will report to single-A Tri-City Valley Cats in the New York-Penn League.  He’ll start June 23.  As mentioned before, Dominic Altobelli [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 16th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

 There’s an excellent article about Illini 2B Josh Parr who is spending his summer in the state capital playing for the Springfield Sliders.  The article is focusing on Josh’s strong Christian faith.  Springfield is only an hour and half away… maybe I’ll try to swing over there and catch a game sometime.  Something at the [...]

Filed under: Summer League on June 13th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

SS Shawn Roof dogging baserunner and brother Eric Roof in a 2007 MSU-ILL game "It’s awesome, it’s the coolest thing ever.  He’s worked his tail off, and not too many people get to say they have a brother who plays minor-league baseball as well. Now, he gets to play in the same organization. Hopefully, he [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 12th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

Looks like Brandon Wikoff has already reached a deal with the Astros.  Wikoff and the Houston Astros have agreed to a contract today and he’ll start playing in the minors soon.  He’ll be joining the Tri-City Valley Cats in the New York-Penn League. Share Tags: brandon wikoff, minor leagues Related posts Exploratory committee to begin [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 12th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »