As for my summer, I’m spending a good portion of it moving my sizable number of Illinois Baseball photos to a new photo gallery.  I’m still in the process of migrating them.  I’m moving all my photos in going back to 2005 and it might be a while before it’s ready for prime time but I’m excited about it. 

Aside from looking a lot more snazzier, the photo gallery interface has more features which will make it more interactive for you, the viewer.  Commenting, “liking” a photo, plus if I’m ambitious, a way to tag photos with players names to make it easier to search.

I’m looking forward to when it goes live and hope you enjoy it too.  For now, you can still view my photos at the current gallery.

I hope you are enjoying the summer and beating the heat.

The Rafters won 11-2 keyed by Hohl’s performance.  Here is the box score.

Case in point, I saw Adam Davis’ tweet today that he is leaving for Aberdeen to play for the Ironbirds, the Orioles’ Class A short season affiliate.

Corey Kimes got a jump up, too.  If you look at the Elizabethton Twins roster, you’ll find him there.  Elizabethton (TN) is the rookie league affiliate of the Twins organization.

You’ll find Josh Parr on the Missoula Osprey roster.  Missoula (MT) is the rookie affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Last word about Chris Pack was that he was signed as a free agent by the Marlins and was to report to the GCL Marlins.  His name hasn’t appeared on the roster yet though.

This is probably as good of time as any to point out the fightingillini.com’s “Illini in the Pros” webpage.  The link is right there on the Illini baseball home page but it can be easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it.  As it succinctly states, the page lists all former Illini baseball players who are playing professionally and where.  The handy part is that it includes a link to their MiLB.com bio page.

The players from the Class of 2011 are not listed yet and probably for good reason.  Not all of them are settled with their teams quite yet.  Even so, it’s impressive that so many alums are playing in professional baseball.

In other news:

Congrats to Thomas Lindauer who drove in three runs with a double last night.  Lindauer’s Waterloo Bucks defeated the Madison Mallards 9-0.  Must have been payback for Argo’s and Parr’s performance on Wednesday.

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 for 6 with 3 runs scored and two doubles.  Here’s a look at the tasty boxscore.

That effort was good enough to warrant Northwoods League Players of the Night.

The two homeruns for Argo were his first two of the summer.  He’s hitting .385 for the year.  Parr’s five hits brought his batting average up to .306.

It’s worth mentioning that Illini teammate Thomas Lindauer who plays for the opposing Waterloo team, went 2 for 5 in the same game.  Lindauer is playing 2B for the Bucks.  Bucks CF Davis Hendrickson had an ohfer night last night but don’t feel too bad for him… he’s hitting .375 for Waterloo this season.

The Mallards are now tied for first place with the Eau Claire Express with a 13-7 record.  Waterloo is two games behind them.

Congrats to Willie and Justin and good luck to them all!

Nineteen Illinois players will be representing ten teams in seven different leagues.  Not surprisingly, the Northwoods League is a big player as they traditionally have been.  Ten Illini will be playing for a NWL team including the Madison Mallards who have four.

Geographically, the leagues span the country.  While most like the NWL and Chicago Suburban Baseball League are in the Midwest, Kelly Norris-Jones will find himself playing in the West Coast League, Drasen Johnson will play in the Rocky Mountain League while Will Strack  (and Corey Kimes if he doesn’t get signed) will head back East to meet up with the Fayetteville Swampdogs in the Coastal Plain League (North Carolina).

Looks like Tyler Hamer is already off to a good start for the Lake Erie Monarchs.  He pitched three scoreless innings in relief and got the win on Wednesday.

Good Luck Illini!!

What’s my point?  Don’t underestimate what effect a good year in the summer leagues can have on a young player with potential.  Two good examples:  Craig Lutes and Mike Giller.

Two springs ago, both Giller and Lutes were solid players but had disappointing offensive stats.   They went off to their respective summer leagues and something clicked.  Giller was a monster with the bat.  He led his team in hitting and rbis and made the Northwoods League All-Star team.  Lutes’ team in the EI League made the playoffs. 

They both brought something back from their summer league experience and applied it the next year.  Lutes raised his batting average almost 100 points from the previous year.  Giller was third on the team in rbis and thank goodness too.  We needed him when Matt Dittman went down for the year. 

I’m hoping to see some good things not just from Adam Davis but Brian de la Torriente, Corey Kimes, Josh Parr and all the Illini players who put in a good year this summer. 

Welcome back, guys!

All three had excellent summers for their respective teams.  For the Rochester Honkers, Matt Dittman hit .332 with 44 rbis.  Parr, who was with the Madison Mallards, hit .307 and scored 41 runs and stole 21 bases.  Also with the Mallards, Davis hit .328 with 44 runs scored and 44 rbis.

Here is the complete list of Northwoods All-Stars for 2010

Dittman isn’t done yet.  The Honkers have gone on to the playoffs and will start tonight against the St Cloud River Bats.

Congrats to the three of them!

Kimes struck out ten batters and only walked one and allowed four hits.

For the season, he is 3-1 in eight games with a 2.84 ERA.  He’s struck out 27 in 31 2/3 innings 

Illini outfielder Davis Hendrickson made a pinch hit appearance in the eighth inning of the Sliders win.

Here’s the box score from the Prospect League’s web site.

I’m posting some of her photos and comments which she graciously passed on to me.  Thanks, Sue!

Welcome to Robin Roberts Stadium at Lanphier Park in Springfield.

Typical ball park food on the menu.  Cheese pizza is $3 with sausage or pepperoni available for an extra 50 cents.  By the way, the field is shared by the high school next door and they still sell beer, at least at the Sliders’ games.

Seating down the 3rd base line.  The chairback seating is pretty comfortable–haven’t tried the bleachers.

Speedy is the Sliders Mascot.  He races kids, leads Take Me Out to the Ballgame, etc.

Davis Hendrickson (#1) is heading to his position in RF. Note the manual scoreboard.  It came in handy due to some gibberish on the electronic scoreboard.

At least Davis Hendrickson’s name came out okay since the scores for each inning didn’t.  Glad they had the manual scoreboard as backup.

Corey Kimes (#14) at left end of dugout watching the game.  He pitched the day before–it would have been nice to see both of them play.

The electronic scoreboard worked near the end of the game.  

Sliders won 5 – 2!

Sliders handshakes at the end of the game. 

Last but not least:  Corey Kimes (#14) and Davis Hendrickson (#1)

Thanks again to Sue!  It’s great getting reports like this!

The Northwoods League All-Star classic is coming up in one week.  It’s no surprise that there are a few Illini populating the rosters.  Adam Davis and Josh Parr who both play for the Madison Mallards, are representing the South Division.  Matt Dittman will face his usual ‘mates on the North team as a member of the Rochester Honkers.  Davis is hitting a nifty .359 so far this summer while Parr is fourth in the league with 48 hits and sixth with 14 stolen bases.

And Dittman?  Seems like he’s healthy now which is good news for us Illini fans.  Ditt has 26 rbis for the Honkers and is fourth in the NWL with 10 doubles.  He had a quite a game a couple weeks ago when he was named NWL Player of the Night with two dingers.

And some news from the pros:

Former 3B Dominic Altobelli hit his first professional homerun on July 6 for the Tri-City Dust Devils.  He did it in style too.  It was a two-out grand slam in the eighth inning.  His dad, Mike says he’s splitting time between thirdbase and right field. 

Speaking of scoring big, check out what former Illini Dusty Bensko has been up to.  Congrats to him and his new bride!  By the way, Illini baseball fans will recognize some of the names of the wedding party.