courtesy Easton's Collegebaseballtoday.com
The Flames of Illinois-Chicago have burned through the Horizon the last two years. But we all know this is one of those “whoever gets hot at the tournament” propositions here. Too bad too. This conference has some wicked regular season title chases.
2009 in a Paragraph:
UI-C won its second straight Horizon title last season, but once again couldn’t seal the deal in the conference tournament, succumbing to Wright State. But don’t give too much props to the Raiders as they were a team that seemed to underachieve most of the season before getting hot at the right time.
2010 in a Paragraph:
We’ll give the Raiders the slight edge in the favorites department, but when it comes down to it, WSU, UI-C and UWM could be pretty closely matched and will make for one hell of a title chase in the Horizon. The biggest question is will THIS be the year that the HL guys spring some big upsets over the BCS conferences (like I predicted for last year, only to be disappointed). Keep close tabs on Valpo, who is pitching heavy but extremely hitting light. The Crusaders will play a big role in deciding things here.
Favorite: Wright State
Contenders: Illinois-Chicago, Wisc.-Milwaukee
Darkhorse: Valparaiso
Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: UI-C at/vs. WSU, Apr. 16-17 and 24th.
Best Non-Conference Series: Creighton at Illinois-Chicago, March 19-21
Hot Coach: Mike Dee, Illinois-Chicago
Hot Seat Coach: Steve Farley, Butler
The “You Gotta See” Player: OF Casey McGrew, Wright State
ILLINOIS-CHICAGO (29-23, 17-6)
2009 RPI: 134
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3
All Conference Candidates:
C Nate Orf (.429)
LHP Michael Heesch (5-0, 4.02, .266OBA)
LHP Chris Kovacevich (7-4, 3.69)
SS Andy Leonard (.294)
3B Jason Ganek (.333)
The Good News:
Curtis Granderson U. has gone 17-6 in each the last two Horizon seasons, winning a pair of regular season titles along the way. Part-timers Orf (who showed flashes of brilliance), OF John Rosinki (.360) and OF Chris Rutta (.333-6-30) will be relied upon more this season. Kovacevich and Heesch are winners on the hill and should get some support from relievers RHP Matt Salemi (1-0, 4.56) and LHP Eric Wyman (0-2, 5.61). The defense was 2nd-best in the Horizon last season (at .968) but should be even better this year with Leonard and Ganek on the left side and the return of Rafael Garcia (injury-shortened ‘09, but hit .277 in 52 starts as a frosh in ‘08), who will move from SS to 1B, bringing a great glove to the right side.
The Bad News:
UI-C had its troubles, going just 5-7 in games with contenders Wisc-Milwaukee and Wright State, ultimately costing the Flames the Horizon tourney title last May. And this year they’ll have to take them on without four of the top six pitchers from ‘09, including Horizon Pitcher of the Year Adam Worthington and closer Derrick Miramontes. More speed too please. UIC only swiped 52 bases last year, the 2nd lowest total in the league.
Schedule Note:
Tough schedule. Tough Dee.
Coach Mike Dee is a tough-as-nails kind of coach and he expects his team to be that way too. All you have to do is look at their early-season schedule. Last year the Flames opened the season at Texas - the eventual national runner-up. This year, weekends 2-thru-5 will see his Flames travel to Alabama, Western Kentucky, Baylor and Creighton. That’s a pretty tall order and could keep UIC from reaching the 30-win plateau once again.