Illinois Baseball Report

Illinois’ All-Big Ten Third Team pitcher Wes Braun got some post season press coverage.  He was interviewed by Jeremy Fine of Oy! Chicago, an online Jewish social website. It’s an illuminating interview… you’ll find out Wes’ hopes for the future, favorite Jewish ballplayers and favorite pizza. By the way, you might recognize the photo from [...]

Filed under: Media on June 29th, 2011 | Leave a Comment! »

Good news for former Illini 3B Dominic Altobelli.  One week after getting written up in the local paper where he plays for the Tri-City Dust Devils, he’s been promoted to the next level.  He’ll be playing for the Class A Asheville Tourists in the Colorado Rockies organization. Dom is off to a hot start this [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 27th, 2011 | Leave a Comment! »

An excited email from Mike Altobelli landed in my inbox today.  He was happy because Jack Millikin of the Tri-City Herald did a write-up on his son, former Illini thirdbaseman Dominic Altobelli. “I like the attitude Altobelli brings to the park. He wants to move up, but he’s not going to bury a teammate to [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 23rd, 2011 | Leave a Comment! »

By now, those members of the 2011 Illinois baseball team who were drafted and signed are getting used the minor league system and how it works.  In some cases, players have been shuffling from one level to another. Case in point, I saw Adam Davis’ tweet today that he is leaving for Aberdeen to play [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on June 23rd, 2011 | Leave a Comment! »

Wow, what a game that two Illini had yesterday in the Northwoods League! Playing for the Madison Mallards, Willie Argo drove in six runs and Justin Parr got five hits. The Mallards won 16-3 over the Waterloo Bucks.  For the record, Argo was 2 for 4 with two homeruns and six rbis.  Parr was 5 [...]

Filed under: Summer League on June 22nd, 2011 | Leave a Comment! »

Congrats to Adam Davis who got signed by the Baltimore Orioles yesterday.  Davis was drafted in the 11th round of the MLB rookie draft by the Orioles. Davis reported yesterday to the Orioles’ minor league complex in Sarasota, Florida.  He joins Josh Parr, Chris Pack, and Corey Kimes as Illini who have been signed by [...]

Filed under: Draft on June 18th, 2011 | Leave a Comment! »

After six years as the University of Illinois pitching coach, Ken Westray has been given his walking papers by Coach Hartleb. From the News-Gazette: “I have decided to go in a different direction with our pitching coach position,” he wrote. “I want to thank Ken Westray for his work and contributions over the past six [...]

Filed under: Announcements on June 18th, 2011 | 1 Comment »

According to the News-Gazette’s Jeff Huth, Illinois will be the first opponent of Big Ten newcomer Nebraska.  We’ll see them next year and the exact date is already set.  On March 23-25 Illinois will travel to Lincoln to play the Cornhuskers. Not only will the Nebraska be new to the Big Ten but they’ll have [...]

Filed under: Media on June 14th, 2011 | 3 Comments »

Corey Kimes Chris Pack There were two more signings of Illini players this weekend. Corey Kimes inked a contract with the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.  Kimes was picked in the 18th round by the Twins.  He’ll report to the Fort Myers (Fla) Miracle in the Florida State League which is a single-A advanced league. Also, [...]

Filed under: Draft on June 13th, 2011 | Leave a Comment! »

For those who want to follow the Illini ballplayers during the summer, fightingillini.com has posted a handy web page listing which summer teams they will be playing with.  It comes complete with links to the teams’ and leagues’ web sites so finding their schedules and boxscores is only a few links away. Nineteen Illinois players [...]

Filed under: Summer League on June 12th, 2011 | Leave a Comment! »