Illinois Baseball Report

  I just got off the phone with Mike Altobelli, father of Dominic Altobelli.  Turns out a representative of the Colorado Rockies will be coming to the Altobelli household tonight so that Dom can sign his first pro contract.  Over the weekend, Dominic will be heading to his first assignment which I assume will be [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 12th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Illinois fans can celebrate again today as Illini centerfielder Joe Bonadonna was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 43rd round.  This makes three current Illinois players drafted, the most since 2005.  Yesterday, Brandon Wikoff was chosen in the fifth round and Dominic Altobelli was picked in the 16th round. Bonadonna is a speedster and [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 11th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

Former Illini pitcher Tanner Roark is making his way up the ladder in the minors.  He was just promoted to Double-A and is now playing for the Frisco Roughriders in the Texas League. He made his debut last night and had a little trouble but nothing awful allowing a run in 2/3 inning in a [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 11th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

Dominic Altobelli, our thirdbaseman, has made it to pros.  As someone who watched Illinois games from the left field fence, I got to see a lot of Dom so that makes me happy.  I’m also happy for his parents who I got to know pretty well.  They were kind enough to let me hitch a [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 10th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

Once again, congratulations to Brandon Wikoff.  Wikoff, chosen by Houston Astros in the fifth round in the MLB draft deserves it.  He’s been one of the most hard working, talented Illini baseball player since I’ve been covering the team.  A quiet player on and off the field, I’m happy his small stature (5’8”, 5’9” according [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 10th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Wikoff: 5th round pick by Houston The fifth round was magic for the Illini in the First-Year Player Draft.  Brandon Wikoff was picked by the Houston Astros in the 161st pick overall. Seven picks later, Seth Schwindenhammer was drafted by the Red Sox.  Schwindenhammer is a 2008 recruit of Coach Hartleb’s crew.  I’ll post more [...]

Filed under: Announcements on June 10th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Indiana did pretty well in the first day of the MLB draft.  Three Hoosiers were drafted in the first 50 picks. Share Tags: Big Ten, first-year player draft, indiana Related posts Something new to check out for the new year (0) Big Ten updates their Records Book (0) Check out the new IBR banner! (1) [...]

Filed under: Big Ten on June 9th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

More mantle hardware for the Illini hardballers.  Willie Argo was named to the Louisvile Slugger Freshman All-American team by Collegiate Baseball newspaper last Wednesday.  Argo hit .355 for Illinois in 2009 with 12 homeruns and 47 rbis and 10 stolen bases.  His homerun mark was tied for second all-time for Illini freshman.   Brandon Wikoff, who [...]

Filed under: Awards on June 9th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

Just ran across a nice photo of Kyle Hudson on Flickr presumably taken by a Delmarva Shorebird fan (with a VERY nice camera). …and yes, he’s running.  Share Tags: kyle hudson, minor leagues Related posts Exploratory committee to begin talks on minor league team in Champaign (2) More info on the Hot Stove Banquet on [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 8th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

Junior Brandon Wikoff is an obvious choice by teams next week when MLB has their First-Year Player Draft.  I think we all knew that.  But the News-Gazette’s Jeff Huth has a posting on IlliniHQ.com on other Illini players and recruits (other than Brandon Wikoff) who also might get the call on MLB Draft Day.  Check [...]

Filed under: Draft on June 6th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »