Joe Bonadonna (left, with the Illini) and the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Marlins Single-A) are seeing playoff action for the first time in 12 years.  They did in style too.  They won 13 of their last 15 games to win their South Atlantic League division.

Tanner Roark and his Harrisburg Senators (Nationals Double-A) clinched the earlier this month.  They won the Western Division of the Eastern League on September 1.  They had the help of big star Stephen Strasburg who pitched the clinching game.

The Missoula Osprey and Josh Parr (Diamondbacks, Rookie)are in the midst of a playoff series against the Great Falls Voyagers for the Pioneer League North Division title.  Josh is still in rehab from his injury from earlier in the year so it’s doubtful he’ll get in the game but I’m sure he’s in the dugout doing everything he can.

Good luck to all!!!

In other news, Kyle Hudson got his first stolen base the other day.  The first of many to come, I’m sure.  And don’t starting counting now but he has a three game hitting streak going.

The Baltimore media ran a photo with him in it a few days ago.

Slammin’ Pack

Chris Pack, who was instrumental in Illinois’ success in the 2011 season as a reliever, is showing that same effectiveness for the Joliet Slammers.  Thanks in part to Pack (left, pitching for the Illini against Indiana State), the Slammers just clinched the Frontier League’s East Division title with a 54-38 record on Thursday.

Pack did well out of the pen.  In 21 games, he had a 3.55 ERA and allowed just 23 hits in just over 26 innings.

Good luck in the playoffs!!

Senator Roark

This is late news and for that I apologize but this is worth mentioning.  Former Illini starter Tanner Roark who now pitches for the Harrisburg Senators, was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week back on August 1.  Roark (left in Illini days with batterymate Lars Davis) struck out 10 in over 14 innings and won both of his games.

Interesting point about Roark… back in August 1, the article shows his record as 6-7 with a 5.47 ERA.  Looking at his numbers now, he’s 9-8 with a 4.75 mark so things are looking up for Tanner!

Congrats, Tanner!

A note or two about news items

Believe it or not, not every news item I post here I don’t find myself.  Some are forwarded to me by Illini fans.  There is one in particular who doesn’t want to be named but I do want to recognize this person by saying thanks because with these news tidbits being forwarded to me, IBR becomes a more enriched website.

What’s my point?  If you see a news item on the web regarding Illinois baseball, former Illinois baseball players in the minors or anything that people who visit this site might want to read about, please don’t hesitate to let me know.  To that end, I’ve created this handy web form so that you can contact me via email.

For that matter, you can just contact me just say hello. I like that too.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

He made his debut last night and had a little trouble but nothing awful allowing a run in 2/3 inning in a relief appearance against San Antonio. 

Tanner Roark (right) with Lars Davis after the 2007 Big Ten Tournament win

My best memory of Roark was when he pitched the Illini to victory against Iowa in the first game of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament.

Congrats Tanner!

Lars Davis and Tanner Roark after our last game with Iowa in 2007

The last time Illinois baseball team faced off against Iowa was when they trompled over them in the first game of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament on May 21, 2007.  Illinois won it 12-3.  I remember the game well.  Tanner Roark was the starter and pitched seven shutout innings before giving up three in the eighth.  Roark was helped by 5 DPs in five innings (a Big Ten Tournament record, I believe).

But that was almost two years ago and a lot of players have come and gone since then since then.  Still I’m betting any players from Iowa who are still there haven’t forgotten that. 

Game time is 6:30 Central time tonight.  Any who are interested can catch the game on Gametracker at the Fighting Illini site.

Update:  In case anyone was wondering (like I was), the Iowa-Illinois game was been pushed back to 8:15pm which was about 10 minutes ago.  Go Illini!

Some news regarding Illini draftees:

It came out today that Illinois CF Kyle Hudson who went early, the fourth round, has reached a contract agreement with the Baltimore Orioles.  He plans to play for their Class A team in Aberdeen, MD by next week.

Illini hurler Scott Shaw, drafted by the New York Mets in the 13th round, has signed a contract with them complete with a $30,000 signing bonus.

Tanner Roark who started for the Illini until he was forced off the team this year because of academic ineligibilty, was signed by the Texas Rangers.  The Rangers drafted Roark in the 25th round.

Congrats to all three!

Roark (right) will be sitting out 2008

Some bad news for the Illini baseball team. Tanner Roark, who led the team in wins last year, won’t be playing this spring because of “academic reasons”.

Roark was integral in last year’s season for Illinois. He was a second team All Big Ten selection and led (or tied) the team in wins, strikeouts, games started, and innings pitched.

This is obviously a tough blow for the team and I suppose, it isn’t easy for Roark either. The Illinois baseball team is known for paying attention to the academics. Last year, Ryan Hastings and Ryan Snowden were named to ESPN Magazine’s Academic All-District team.

Coach Hartleb did his best to put a positive spin on the situation. In an interview with the Big Ten Network, Hartleb said, “It is an unfortunate situation. But we have a number of talented, experienced pitchers who will be able to step up for us this season.”

(hat tip to Big Ten Hardball)

Lars Davis and Tanner Roark

Catcher Lars Davis was named first-team All Big Ten. That was a no-brainer given that he was also Big Ten Player of the Year. I wrote a little about his accomplishments a couple days ago. It does bear mentioning that catchers are a strength in the Big Ten which makes the choice all the more meaningful.

Starting pitcher Tanner Roark was chosen second-team All Big Ten. A sophomore, Roark really came through for the Illini, especially in the second half. He was 6-1 in conference competition, leading the Big Ten in wins. Overall he was 7-2 with 35 strikeouts (also leading the Big Ten).

It was nice to have Roark start off the weekend knowing we would most likely start off on the right foot.

Daniel Webb

Daniel Webb was awarded third team All Big Ten as Designated Hitter. He batted .333 with a .403 OBP and 34 rbis. He played in all but 2 games for the Illini.

Shawn Roof

Finally, Shawn Roof was chosen as the Illini’s Honoree for the Big Ten Sportsmanship award. The 10 recipients are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

Congrats to everyone!

Coach Hartleb passed by where I was twenty minutes before the game. I asked him, “Are you ready?”

“I’m ready but that doesn’t matter.”

Well, it looked like the players were too.

Eric Roof

The Roof family were all decked out in these cool T-shirts

Eric Roof got the start tonight at third base for MSU. He is the younger brother of Shawn Roof. Of the 812 in attendance tonight, half must have been related to the Roofs. A lot of them were wearing this neat T-shirt made this occasion. I introduced myself to one of the Roof clan and asked permission to take a photo of the shirt. I asked who he was rooting for. Both of them.

Good answer.

Tanner Roark got the start tonight. Roark has had really good luck opening up against Big Ten weekends but when he allowed 6 hits and 4 runs in two innings, I started to wonder whether Hartleb would pull him. Well, there’s a reason Hartleb is the manager and I’m just a two-bit blogger. Roark settled down and didn’t allow a run after that.

Mike Rohde’s homerun made it a whole new ballgame

Meanwhile, the offense had some trouble getting it going until they got their first hit in the 3rd inning. And what a hit it was! With two on, Mike Rohde toasted a ball over the centerfield wall and with one swing got the team within one run. Suddenly, it was a new ballgame.

The Illini scored an unearned run in the fifth and another one in the sixth on a Kyle Hudson triple putting the them ahead.

MSU pitcher Chris Cullen is in pain after taking a line drive off the foot

In the eighth, up by a run with Joe Bonadonna on third, Hudson hit a go-backer that hit MSU pitcher Chris Cullen on the foot. Hudson was safe and Bonadonna scored the insurance run. More importantly, the ball to Cullen’s foot was enough to take him out. Someone next to me said they heard the ball hit the foot and it was rather loud. Cullen was on the ground for several minutes before being helped to the training room. Here’s hoping it’s not serious.

That insurance run was pretty valuable. Turns out the Illini needed to cash it in. Jake Toohey, who struck out the batter to get out of a jam in the top of the eighth, gave up a double and a hit bringing MSU within one run. He then forced a groundout for the save.

Illini win 6-5!!

After the game, Shawn Roof ran past me and I extended my forefinger and yelled “One more!” in reference to the one win they need to clinch a berth in the Big Ten tournament. As expected, Roof wasn’t going to have any of that. “Uh-uh.” He put up three fingers. “Three more.”

As always, more of my photos are at The Baseball Zealot Photo Gallery.

After giving up a quick 3 runs in the first to the Hoosiers, Roark settled down and pitched quite effectively.

Shawn Roof celebrates with Kyle Hudson after he scores during Illinois’ 4 run rally in the 6th

Down 4-2, the Illini put together a four-run rally in the bottom of sixth which put them ahead for good. Jake Toohey came with 2 out in the 8th and pitched zeroes with 2 K’s for the save. The Illini win it 6-5!

DH Daniel Webb put up some good numbers going 3-4 with a run, a double and 2 rbis.

The game wasn’t without its dramatics especially for the Zealot family. My 10 year old son took a Kyle Hudson foul ball on the noggin. My 7 year old daughter was heads up and recovered the ball. Me ‘n Mrs. Zealot took the kiddo to the ambulance where they were nice enough to give him an ice pack.

Don’t worry, folks. I think he’s ok, now.

Double the fun tomorrow with a doubleheader against Indiana at 3pm at Illinois Field.

I took some photos (mostly before the game). You can see them at The Baseball Zealot’s Photo Gallery

Followup:

This quote just came out from Coach Hartleb regarding Tanner Roark’s performance and specifically the first inning when he gave up 3 runs (one earned):

“If you look at Tanner’s first inning, it was a good inning for him, we just didn’t play any defense at all,” Hartleb said. “The thing with Tanner is he didn’t let any of that stuff bother him. After we made the three errors in that inning, he just kept throwing strikes, staying down in the zone and he kept his composure.”

Well said. With the three runs Indiana scored in the first, it was easy to overlook Roark’s effort.

And I can’t forget this. With a steal of thirdbase in the sixth inning, Shawn Roof broke the single season record for stolen bases with 36. The swipe was key, too. He then scored on a sacrifice fly.

Kyle Hudson

Illini Kyle Hudson, who has the dual role of centerfielder for the baseball team in the spring and wide receiver for the football team in the fall (and he does very well at both) was featured in Doug Kroll’s column at CSTV’s web site.

By the way, Illinois fell to Michigan 4-3 today in their first game of the weekend. What a nailbiter. That’s tough to lose so close to a powerhouse like the Wolverines. Tanner Roark pitched respectably but lost his first game since March. Three more to go.

Go Illini!!