Kelly Norris Jones rounds the paths

Yes, baseball in January. On Tuesday, I got word that the Illinois Baseball team was practicing at Illinois Field so I grabbed the Canon and got out to shoot some photos.

Two hurlers that the Illini will depend on in the 2012 season:  Kevin Johnson and Nick Chmielewski

It was good to see former Illini Casey McMurray on the sidelines watching over the progress of the 2012 squad.  Casey is finishing up classes and coaching a traveling team.

More photos of Tuesday’s practice at the IBR photo gallery. 

Infield Recruits

While the Illini were practicing, news is out that the staff has recruited two more infielders for the 2012-13 class.  Both are Illinois suburban products. 

The critical data on each player from FightingIllini.com:

Richie Gorski, IF
6-2 // 185 // R/R // Fr. // Streamwood, Ill. // Streamwood HS

Zack Kolakowski, IF
5-10 // 175 // R/R // Fr. // Inverness, Ill. // Fremd HS

The Illini continue to be deep in the infield which is never a bad thing.  As an added bonus, Gorski can pitch (he went 4-1 with a 1.91 ERA for Streamwood in 2011).  Both recruits can hit, of course.  Gorski hit .405 in 2011.  Kolakowski batted .342.  K-man has a bit of speed, too with 10 stolen bases.

A little over two weeks away till opening day!

Illini freshman David Kerian rounds third base for the Blue team

I’ve spent the last two afternoons at the ballpark and it’s a joy to see an Illinois  baseball game even if it’s just a scrimmage among the team.

It’s nice to see the new guys… the freshmen and transfers who will help the team to success in 2012.  I have to say, I like what I see so far.

Monday it was Kevin Johnson and Matt Milroy on the mound.  The Orange team hit Milroy pretty hard but I could tell he throwing pretty hard.  I would love to know what his numbers on the radar gun were.  Mostly, I was impressed with the relievers on both sides, all of them newcomers.  Brian Kost, P.J Brennan (above, who has a nasty sidearm), and Tyler Hamer all did fine out of the pen.  Even catcher Alex “Abe” Lincoln tried his hand at the other side of battery by pitching an inning.  He gave up just one unearned run.

On Tuesday, it was a battle of Tommy John pitchers.  Nick Chmielewski (above) and Rob McDonnell who both have had the surgery, represented their squads.  I talked to Nick’s dad, Chris while he came on mound and I’m sure we both were very interested in how Nick would respond to his first competitive outing in 18 months.  Nick seemed to do fine.  He placed his pitches well and had good speed.  I told Chris that we really could use Nick’s arm and leadership for the 2012 season if we are to compete.

We had a couple of special visitors Tuesday.  Wes Braun was on the field during practice and chatted with us.  During the game, I saw Casey McMurray and Corey Kimes (above) and they were happy to talk about what’s going on in their lives.  All three are finishing up their degrees here at the U of I.  Corey talked a bit about life in the Pittsburgh organization and despite a bout with mono, he really seems to enjoy it and is looking forward to spring training.

You’ll find more photos in the (new) gallery.

Monday game photos

Tuesday’s game photos

Technically, they may not be the BEST quality photos I’ve taken but they are my favorites from this year.

The sun setting in the west beyond Illinois Field after a game.

Anyone who’s followed Josh Parr knows he’s made amazing progress in the field in just one year.  He’s saved Illinois many runs with his glove.

Willie Argo getting some air time stealing second.

I love getting shots of emotion.  This photo of Willie Argo was taken right after he scored in the comeback win in our first home game against Indiana State.

I just like the look on Pete Cappetta’s face as he motors into third base.

Matt Dittman gets a quick respite as he stands safely on third base.

All eyes follow the foul ball.

It might be worth looking at a larger version of photo.  The look on each player’s face shows how excited they are about Casey McMurray’s homerun in the last game of the year against Indiana.

Wes Braun comes off the field after one of many successful innings off the mound.

Matt Dittman mentally prepping for the first game against Indiana.

Josh Parr slides in for a triple against Indiana.

Pitcher Bryan Roberts was out for 2011 but he played an integral role in the dugout keeping it real.

Iowa head coach Jack Dahm expresses his opinion to the umpire

I don’t know why I like this photo of Brandon Hohl standing in the edge of the dugout but it’s one of my favorites.  .

Justin Parr always as an intense look on his face when on the field.  Here he his after scoring against Iowa.

These photos aren’t in any order of preference but I am saving the best for last.  This shot of Matt Dittman’s Big Ten title-clinching homerun trot is one of favorite photos I’ve taken.  There’s something about a smile on player knowing what he has helped accomplished for his team.

Your favorite??

We can thank starter John Anderson (right) for the lack of dramatics.  He simply kept Spartan batters at bay for seven plus innings.  As a matter of fact, MSU was kept scoreless for the first seven innings.  When Jeff Holm scored on a Jared Hook double in eighth, Coach Hartleb brought in Chris Pack to relieve.  It reminded me of the first few weeks of the season when those two paired up often.  Pack was perfect in an inning and two-thirds getting his third save.

Meanwhile, the Illini had already gotten the lead they needed.  In the second, Adam Davis doubled home Justin Parr for a run.  Two innings later, Josh Parr doubled home Casey McMurray and Davis Hendrickson.  For some insurance, Matt Dittman showed the Tournament crowd a little bit of what we saw last weekend.  He hit a home run BLAST to the right field which bounced back almost to the infield.

Looking ahead

Illinois gets to rest until Saturday night while Michigan State and Minnesota battle it out.  The loser of that game goes home but the winner goes on to play Illinois for the evening game.

If Illinois wins, they win the Tournament Championship.  If they don’t,  the same teams play on Sunday for the Championship.

What does this mean, really?

A lot of things actually but Illinois is sitting in the driving seat.

1) Illinois hasn’t lost yet and to get eliminated from the tourney, a team needs to lose two games.  Either Minnesota or Michigan State will have to win three straight games (one against the other and two against Illinois) to win it all.  Illinois just needs to win tomorrow night’s game.

2)  Rest.  Going into tomorrow night’s game against Illinois, the winner of the MSU-Minn game will have just played a full game and will be expected to go out and play another with about an hour’s rest.  (Some could make a valid argument that a win would bring them momentum and sitting around takes that out of you.)

3)  If Minnesota takes Michigan State in tomorrow’s loser’s bracket game, pitching will be an issue.  I’ve seen this happen in other Tournaments.  Keep in mind that tomorrow’s game against MSU will be the Golden Gophers’ fifth game in four days.  Starting pitchers are going on little rest and you can expect to see the bullpen early.

However this turns out, I’m looking for Justin Parr to get All-Tournament honors.  In just two games, he’s gone 5 for 9 with 2 rbis and 2 runs scored.  But please, BTN announcers, no more Parr/par jokes.  We’ve heard them.

Go Illini!

Josh Parr:  All-Big Ten Second Team

Yesterday, seven Illinois baseball players were honored with All-Big Ten awards.  While the Big Ten championship team was shut out of the All-Big Ten First team, Adam Davis, Pete Cappetta and Josh Parr were placed on the Second Team and Casey McMurray and Wes Braun were selected for the Third Team. 

Thomas Lindauer was selected as All-Big Ten Freshman at shortstop.  Additionally, Josh Parr was also honored with a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. 

Congrats to everyone!  You’re all first team as far as I’m concerned.

Here is the full list:

ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
C – Kevin Plawecki, PUR
1B – Jeff Holm, MSU
2B – Ryan Jones, MSU
SS – AJ Pettersen, MINN
3B – Torsten Boss, MSU
OF – BRANDON ECKERLE, MSU
OF – SEAN DEEGAN, PSU
OF – Barrett Serrato, PUR
DH – Alex Dickerson, IND
SP – Joey DeNato, IND
SP – Tony Bucciferro, MSU
SP – Kurt Wunderlich, MSU
RP – Scott Matyas, MINN

ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
C – Adam Davis, ILL
1B – Josh Dezse, OSU
2B – Pete Cappetta, ILL
SS – Josh Parr, ILL
3B – Chris Lashmet, NU
OF – Patrick Biondi, MICH
OF – Michael O’Neill, MICH
OF – Tyler Spillner, PUR
DH – Paul Snieder, NU
SP – Jarred Hippen, IOWA
SP – Drew Rucinski, OSU
SP – Steven Hill, PSU
RP – Nick Wittgren, PUR

ALL-BIG TEN THIRD TEAM*
C – Tyson Blaser, IOWA
1B – Nick O’Shea, MINN
2B – Micah Johnson, IND
SS – Trevor Stevens, NU
3B – Cameron Perkins, PUR
OF – Willie Argo, ILL
OF – Casey McMurray, ILL
OF – Trevor Willis, IOWA
OF – Stephen Talbott, PUR
DH – Jared Hook, MSU
SP – Brandon Sinnery, MICH
SP – TJ Oakes, MINN
SP – John Walter, PSU
RP – Wes Braun, ILL
RP – Tony Wieber, MSU

ALL-BIG TEN FRESHMAN TEAM
C – Joel Fisher, MSU
1B – JOSH DEZSE, OSU
2B – KYLE RUCHIM, NU
SS – Thomas Lindauer, ILL
3B – DUSTIN DeMUTH, IND
OF – Taylor Zeutenhorst, IOWA
OF – MICHAEL O’NEILL, MICH
OF – Tim Wetzel, OSU
DH – Jack Livingston, NU
SP – JOEY DeNATO, IND
SP – David Garner, MSU
SP – GREG GREVE, OSU
RP – Ryan Halstead, IND

Unanimous honorees in ALL CAPS
* – Additional honorees due to tie

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Josh Parr, ILL
Brian Lambert, IND
Tyson Blaser, IOWA
Anthony Toth, MICH
Brandon Eckerle, MSU
Kyle Geason, MINN
Matt Gailey, NU
Theron Minium, OSU
Bobby Jacobs, PSU
David Blount, PUR

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jeff Holm, MSU

PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Kurt Wunderlich, MSU

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Josh Dezse, OSU

COACH OF THE YEAR
Jake Boss Jr., MSU

Adam Davis, who contributed a solo homerun Saturday, is ready for the tournament.

The shot that launched a Big Ten Championship

The photo of Matt Dittman directly above pretty much says it all.  When we look back at this past weekend, there’s no doubt it will remain one of the most remembered moments of Illinois Baseball history.  As Dittman hit the walk-off homerun to clinch a half-share of the Big Ten Championship on Sunday, that concluded the second game in the series that the Illini won on a walk off homerun.  The other they won in the eighth inning.  The fans got their money’s worth this weekend, that’s for sure.

The resulting fracas after Ditt’s homer on Saturday

Dittman wasn’t alone in his heroics this weekend, though.  That’s usually the case with the Illinois baseball team .  Justin Parr drove in five runs on Friday and Davis Hendrickson brought in the winning runs in the eighth that day.

McMurray’s homer on Sunday (Kimes, are you wearing you uni backwards?)

And Casey McMurray, the everyday left fielder who came into this weekend with nary a homer to his name this season, not only hit a walk-off homerun to win it on Thursday but contributed with another Saturday.  Timing is everything in baseball, they say.

Ironically, the Illini hit five homers this weekend but none in their 13-12 win on Friday.

Wes Braun (above) came in and pitched a perfect two innings for the win on Saturday.  A word about Wes, he had only given up ONE earned run this whole regular season as the team’s closer.  He sports a nifty 0.49 ERA.

Anyway, words cannot express, as they say.  I can vaguely remember the 2005 Big Ten Championship season.  That was when I was beginning to go to games and get interested in the program (certainly not at the level I am now).  I do remember the Big Ten Tournament since it was held at Illinois Field.

That was then and this is now.  The players and coaches are preparing for the tournament.  Fortunately, they have an extra day to prepare because of the bye (I’ve been to three tournaments and know how important that bye is).  Their first game will be on Thursday at 7pm.  Probable starter is Kevin Johnson.

Here are the tournament brackets if you haven’t seen them yet and here are the final standings.

Plenty of more photos are here.

Congratulations Illinois!!

Casey McMurray hits a solo shot in the bottom of ninth to win the game…

… and was warmly greeted at the plate by all his teammates.

Casey McMurray’s timing was impeccable tonight.  With one out in the bottom of the ninth and the score tied, he chose that moment to hit his first homerun of the year.  That blast over the left field wall gave Illinois a 4-3 win over Indiana in the first of a three game series.

Kevin Johnson (above) pitched like a winner tonight allowing only two earned runs in 8 2/3 innings.  Unfortunately, he didn’t get the elusive ‘W’.  After a hit-by-pitch and later, a walk in the 9th, Coach Hartleb brought in freshman Luke Joyce to get the last out, giving Joyce the win.  Knowing Johnson though, he’s just as happy with Illinois winning the game.

It was a low scoring game but the fans did get to see some longball.  Four homers were hit in tonight’s game, three by the Illini.  Matt Dittman hit a long shot that landed over the right centerfield wall in the second inning.  Later, in the sixth, Brandon Hohl hit a solo homerun.

Matt Dittman rounds third on his homer during the second inning…

…and Brandon Hohl follows suit in the sixth.

Actually, all the homers were solo efforts.  No team scored more than one run in an inning.  The largest lead was Indiana’s two run balance in the 4th.  Yes,it was a very tight game.

More photos from today here.

Random Ramblings

I’d like to wish Ron S a speedy recovery from surgery.  Many of you who attend Illinois games recognize Ron and his trademark cheering at the games.  He has definitely been missed.  Rumor has it that he will try to make it to a game this weekend.  That’s great news!

Next up:

Same time,  same team tomorrow.  We play Indiana Friday night at 6:05pm at Illinois Field.

Go Illinois!!

.

Looking at the box score, it appears like it was all Illinois as they defeated Ohio State 11-5 for the series.  It was the third 2-1 weekend in a row for the Illini and puts them at 10-8 in the Big Ten.  That puts them in a three way tie for third place with Ohio State and Purdue.  Right now, Michigan State (13-5)and Minnesota (11-7) are the teams to beat.

Corey Kimes (right) pitched a great game on Sunday.  Not to take anything away from anyone else but he was the only starter this weekend to get off relatively unscathed.  Kimes pitched a full seven frames and allowed only five hits and three runs.  Chris Pack got some more work in and finished the game off and while gave up two runs, none were earned.

As for the offense, where do you start?  Six of the nine starters had multi-hit games and two (Justin Parr and Davis Hendrickson) hit safely 3 times.  Willie Argo drove home four runs.  Casey McMurray scored twice without even getting a hit.

According to the fightingillini.com recap, this weekend’s totals of 31 runs and 43 hits by the Illini offense were season’s highs.

Random Ramblings

It looks like former Illini hurler Phil Haig will be playing with (and against) some of our guys this summer.  He’ll be joining the Rochester Honkers of the Northwest League.

Looking forward, keep in mind that the last series of the season will be a bit different schedule-wise.  The Indiana home series will start on a Thursday (May 19th) and will continue till Saturday.

Next up

Right now, there are no midweek games on the schedule.  That means we’re looking at Purdue this coming weekend at West Lafayette.  Friday’s game time is 3:05pm.

Davis Hendrickson takes a cut in Illinois’ 12-7 loss on Saturday

Illinois took a while to get their offense going on Saturday… too long it seems, as they lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes 12-7.

It almost looked liked Buckeye hurler Brett McKinney, who came into the game with just one win, was unhittable, literally.  McKinney had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning when Justin Parr laced a single into center field.  Parr was immediately erased on a double play but Casey McMurray followed that up with a double.  Any thought of a Buckeye shutout was gone when Matt Dittman doubled home McMurray.

Meanwhile, starter John Anderson (above, left) had troubles with the Ohio State lineup.  He got through the first inning in short order but the Buckeyes scored three runs apiece in the second and third innings giving them a quick 6-0 lead.  When they scored another in the fifth, Coach Hartleb brought in Lee Zerrusen (above, right).  Lee’s line doesn’t look good for the game (5 ER in 3 2/3 IP) but he actually stopped the bleeding and kept Ohio State scoreless until the eighth when they rallied for five more runs.  Bill Barrett came in for the last inning and a third and kept the Bucks from crossing the plate.

Down 12-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Illinois wasn’t about to give up.  Two doubles by McMurray and Pat Sheehan plus a single by Pete Cappetta made things interesting.  Add in a few walks plus a hit by pitch and wild pitch and the Illini managed to score five runs in the ninth to make the final score 12-7.

More of my photos from today are here.

Random Ramblings

Ok, we didn’t win the game but I think the ninth inning, five run explosion will do wonders for our momentum and outlook for Sunday’s game.

I hope everyone braved the rainstorm ok.  As a person who walks to the park, I actually left in the eighth inning (and missed the five run rally, darn).  I got hit by the drenching downpour while walking through Mt Hope Cemetery.  Fortunately, my office is on the other side of the cemetery and wouldn’t you know it, I had a spare shirt there.

Before I left though, I got a chance to talk to Craig Lutes (right) who was hanging out with former teammate Mike Giller.  Lutes is doing well and is an assistant coach at Normal High School.  Normal High is in town playing Centennial and Craig thought he’d watch a few of his old ‘mates.

Brandon Hohl was out of the lineup today due to being hit on the hand in yesterday’s game.  Near as I can tell, he’ll be out Sunday too.  Hohl’s bat will certainly be missed but we’re lucky to have capable replacements.  Thomas Lindauer (above) spelled Hohl at third base today and did some fancy glovework in the field.

Next up

Sunday is the last game against Ohio State.  Gametime is 1:05pm.

I really hope you came to the park last night.  If you missed Illinois’ exciting 13-9 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes, you missed, in my guess, one of the best games of past few years.  It ranks up their with our win against the same Ohio State team two years ago and even the famed Michigan State game of 2007 (if you ever want to read up on that just do a search on this site using the keyword “Woo hoo”).

When Ohio State scored four run in the top of the first inning, it looked like it might be one those games.  But when the Illini came back in the bottom of the first and scored three of their own, it looked more like it would be one of THOSE games.  And you know what I mean.

Adam Davis beats the throw to home and scores in the second inning.

It wasn’t until the top of the fourth inning when a team held the other scoreless.  By then, Ohio State had the lead, 9-7.  Each time Ohio State managed to put runs on the board, Illinois followed suit, keeping close enough.  The irony of it was that from Kevin Johnson’s perspective, he was getting rocked hard but the offense was really coming through for him.

Four Innings

Johnson was done after 2 2/3 innings and Will Strack (above) took over for him.  There are many heroes for this game but Will is a big one.  After the Buckeyes scored 9 runs in three innings, we didn’t know what was in store.  Will Strack came in for four innings and shut down the Buckeyes on two hits.  Those nine runs would be all that the Buckeyes would score for the game.  Chris Pack and Wes Braun finished off the game with a combined 2 1/3 innings of scoreless and hitless ball.

Four Runs

Pete Cappetta drives home two runs in the sixth inning.

Before the game, I shook Pete Cappetta’s hand and told him “You’re going to win this game”.  All he said was “Yes we will, sir”.  It’s almost like he took it as a direct order.  It was his two-run basehit that put Illinois up for good in the key sixth inning.  The Fighting Illini scored four runs that inning off of new Buckeyes pitcher Jared Strayer who relieved starter Drew Rucinski.  Strayer began the inning by hitting Adam Davis then giving up a double to Brandon Hohl.  Casey McMurray and Willie Argo both singled.  Argo’s single tied game.  Josh Parr walk which set up Cappetta’s two-run single.

Every starter in the lineup had at least one hit and at least one rbi or run scored.  Justin Parr, Brandon Hohl and Casey McMurray all had three hits apiece. Parr and McMurray drove in three and Adam Davis scored three.

The Illini faithful stand for the last out.

There were 2019 people in attendance last night.  It’s by far the largest crowd this year but I don’t think it surpasses the crowd we had two years ago.

There are lots more of my photos here.

Oh one more photo… I particularly enjoy this one.

Here, Davis Hendrickson is running out an infield hit.  What makes it for me is the fan in the background calling him safe.  He’s right, of course.

Next up:

Weather-permitting, Illinois takes on the Buckeyes again today at 3:05 at Illinois Field.