Normal CornBelters Baseball Acquire Liam Ohlmann From the Lake County Fielders

The Normal CornBelters right-handed pitcher Liam Olhmann from the Lake County Fielders for a player to be named later as reported on Tuesday by the Frontier League.  Olhmann is projected in the closer role for the CornBelters as the hard-throwing righty had six saves, 78 strikeouts and allowed only 43 hits in 57 2/3rds innings last season. 

Olhmann was traded from Florence to Lake County in February and spent 2008 and 2009 in the Milwaukee Brewers' farm system. 

Corey Maines from Illinois State Baseball Named MVC Pitcher of the Week

Corey Maines

Right handed pitcher Corey Maines from Illinois State University earns the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week.  Corey recorded a career high 11 strikeouts in a 6-2 win over Oakland on March 25th and upped his record to a perfect 4-0 on the season.  Maines retired the final 16 batters he faced, striking out 9 and giving up only two hits on the day.  Corey leads Illinois State with 37 1/3rd innings pitched, 41 strikeouts and batting average against (.189).

Brent Walters Earns Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week

Brent Walters

Senior Catcher Brent Walters from the University of St. Francis has earned the CCAC Player of the Week honors last week.  Walters collected 13 hits and 11 rbi's as St. Francis went 6-1 on the week.  In 21 at bats Brent had two doubles, and a three run dinger and had two or more hits in five of the seven games.

St. Francis is now 10-0 in conference play and 21-5 overall on the season.

North Park's Athans and McGrady College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Baseball Players of the Week

This week's College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin baseball players of the week Andy Athans and Merrick McGrady are both from North Park University.

Andy Athans, a senior outfielder from Lincoln-Way Central, hit .737 with seven doubles, a home run, four rbi's and a stolen base last week.  Andy is hitting .444 on the season and lives in New Lenox Illinois.

Merrick McGrady is a freshman pitcher from Stevenson High School and pitched seven innings, gave up two hits and struck out ten in his college debut.  Merrick also picked up a save on the week and struck out another three.  Merrick lives in Buffalo Grove Illinois.

Murphysboro and Dylan Craig Blank Pinckneyville 10-0

Murphysboro senior left handed pitcher Dylan Craig struck out 11 Pinckneyville batters in a five inning 10-0 win on Thursday.  Craig, who has signed with Illinois State University, now has 25 strikeouts in 10 innings this season. 

Other game highlights include a two run homer from Edan Brooks and two run doubles by Zane Heller and Jake Stewart. The lone hit for Pinckneyville came from Hunter Queen in the third inning.

Illinois High School Baseball Rankings

Baseball rankings for Illinois High School teams as of March 25th 2011 from the Chicago Sun Times.

1.  Providence Catholic
2.  Downers Grove South
3.  Nazareth Academy
4.  St. Rita
5.  St. Laurence
6.  New Trier
7.  Plainfield North
8.  Lemont
9.  Mount Carmel
10. Lyons
11. Lake Zurich
12. Cary-Grove
13. Oak Park
14. Westminster Christian
15. Sandburg
16. Stevenson
17. Neuqua Valley
18. Steamwood
19. St. Charles North
20. St. Charles East

Illinois NCAA Division I Baseball Results from Friday

Division I baseball recaps for Illinois teams from yesterday...

University of Illinois 7
Indiana State 6
Illinois scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to take a victory away from Indiana State yesterday.  Matt Dittman (Libertyville) singled in Josh Parr (Illinois Valley Central) to tie up the game 6-6 and with Adam Davis (Driscoll Catholic) reaching first on a strikeout/passed ball ISU pitching fell apart and walked in the winning run for Illinois.  Dittman went 2-5 with a double and 3 rbi's.


Northwestern 6
Campbell 5
Jack Quigley (Birmingham MI) earned the win with 5 2/3rd's innings of scoreless relief.  Chris Kontos (Niles West) went 2-4 with a double and a rbi.


Bradley 9
Purdue 4
The Braves scored four runs in the bottom of the 7th to secure the win over Purdue.  A two run double from Brad Kimball (Neuqua Valley) and a two run single from Jerrod Eigsti (Eureka) put Bradley up four going into the eighth.  Joe Bircher (Omaha Neb.) earned his third win of the season throwing seven innings allowing three earned runs.


Western Illinois 4
Iowa 2
Dan Russel (Illinois Central College, Henry Illinois) pitched 8 1/3rd innings, gave up two earned runs, six strikeouts and zero walks to earn his third win this season.  Bryan Jordan (Blackhawk College) and John Koszulinski (Lincoln-Way East) were both 2-4 with an rbi at the plate and Matt Igara (Heartland College, Jacobs High School) went 3-3 with an rbi for Western Illinois.


UIC 3 Cleveland State 2
UIC 13 Cleveland State 1
University of Illinois Chicago Head Coach Mike Dee wins his 400th and UIC starts off 2-0 in Horizon League play.  In game one Charlie Weinburg (Eagan Minn.) and Eric Wyman (West Chicago) threw 3 1/3rd innings of scoreless relief and Matt Salemi (Richmond- Burton) pitched 5 2/3rd's giving up two earned to get his second win. 

In game two UIC bats came alive as Jon Ryan went 3-4 with two doubles and an rbi, Andy Leonard (Stagg) was 2-2 with a double and two rbi's and Steve McGuiggan (Apple Valley MN) went 3-5 with 2 rbi's.  Matt Heaslip (Rockford Guilford) got his second win of the season, pitched 6 innings, had 7 strikeouts and gave up one earned run.


Bowling Green 7
Northern Illinois 2
NIU falls to 5-12 (0-1 in the MAC) as Bowling Green scores 3 in the fourth and two in the fifth.  Troy White (Whitney Young) tripled and had 2 rbi's.


Illinois State 6
Oakland 2
Corey Maines (Houston TX) earned his fourth victory (4-0) pitching seven innings, 11 strikeouts with no walks, allowing only two hits and no earned runs.  Tyler McNeely (Normal Illinois) went 2-4 with 2 rbi's at the plate for the Birds.


Dallas Baptist 6
Southern Illinois Carbondale 5
Dallas Baptist scored 3 in the ninth to steal a victory from SIU.  Cody Forsythe (Calvert City KY) pitched seven innings giving up two runs for a no decision, Donny Duschinsky (Elk Grove High School) went 2-3 with 3 rbi's at the plate.


Savannah State 9
Chicago State 8
Savannah State scored six times in the last three innings as Chicago State drops to 2-10 on the season.  Michael Carpen (Albert IN) was 3-3 with an rbi and Albert Carpen (Albert IN) went 2-4 with 2 rbi's at the plate.

Southern Illinois Baseball Coach Ken Henderson Suspended for Bumping Umpire

Southern Illinois University baseball coach Ken Henderson was suspended for three games by the Missouri Valley Conference for bumping an umpire in an 8-2 loss to the University of Illinois.

Henderson was thrown out of the game after arguing a call at second base.  After he was tossed Henderson continued to argue and pushing a second umpire who tried to get in the middle of Henderson and the umpire who made the call.

The three game suspension is mandatory by NCAA rules.

Steve Kuligowski and Justin Zeller CCIW Baseball Players of the Week

North Park's Steve Kuligowski and Wheaton's Justin Zeller were named College of Illinois and Wisconsin Baseball Players of the Week on March 22nd.

Junior Pitcher Steve Kuligowski threw a nine inning complete game 4-1 win over St. Lawrence College on March 19th.  Kuligowski struck out a North Park record 17 batters giving up one run on six hits.  Earlier in the same week Steve recorded another win throwing six innings giving up 8 hits, 3 earned runs and striking out 9.  Steve is a transfer from Parkland College and lives in Grayslake Illinois.

Justin Zeller, a junior outfielder from Indianapolis Indiana, hit .625 last week with two homers, five rbi's and scored three times.  Against Judson last week Zeller went 4-4 with four rbi's and scored twice.

Gateway Grizzlies Baseball Open Tryout April 9th 2011 in Sauget Illinois

The Gateway Grizzles will hold an open tryout for players 20 years or older but not older than 27 as of January 1 2011.  The tryout will be held on April 9th 2011 starting at 8:00 am and registration at 7:00 am.  The tryout will be at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Illinois.  Cost is $50.

For more information you can contact the Grizzlies at 618-337-3000.

University of St.Francis Baseball Moves to 5-0 in Conference

The University of St.Francis baseball team remains undefeated in South Division of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference after sweeping a doubleheader against Trinity International yesterday.

In game one St.Francis scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth on a bases loaded two rbi single from Mark Ahern (Homewood Illinois) and two sacrifice flys.  Mitch LaBuda (Downers Grove Illinois) worked three innings in relief to earn the win in game one.

St.Francis needed extra innings in game two as Brent Walters (Lisle Illinois) double drove in David Kuhne (Metamora Illinois) from first for the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.  Bobby Markatos (Palos Hills Illinois) blanked Trinity on four innings for his first win of the season.

St.Francis is now 15-4 overall and 5-0 in conference.

Financing for Lake County Fielders Stadium Approved

On March 22nd the City of Zion approved final financing for the new stadium on Route 173 and Green Bay road in Zion. 

Construction will start next week an will be moving forward with a permanent stadium for the 2011 season.  Contractors will be building around the current stadium adding a grand entrance way, multiple party decks and expanded on-site parking.  The new stadium will be ready for opening day this June.

Two Northern Illinois Baseball Players Earn MAC Players of The Week Honors

Northern Illinois University baseball players Zach Oates and Alex Jones earned the Mid American Conference West Division Players of the Week honors reported today.

Senior right handed pitcher Zach Oates (Wheaton North High School) captured Pitcher of the Week honors by throwing a complete game shutout against Illinois last week.  Oates gave up three singles, struck out five and was the first Huskie pitcher to throw a shut out since 2006.  In four starts Zach has thrown 27 2/3rd's innings and a 2.93 earned run average on the season.

Junior shortstop Alex Jones (Kansas City Kansas) earned Player of the week honors by going 12-26 (.462 batting average) with a .615 slugging percentage last week.  Jones also added six rbi's, two doubles, a triple, a stolen base and scored four times.  Alex is leading NIU with a .364 batting average, 24 hits and 12 rbi's.

Eastern Illinois Baseball's Mike Hoekstra Earns OVC Player of the Week

Junior right handed pitcher Mike Hoekstra from Eastern Illinois University was named the Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Player of the Week on March 21st.

Hoekstra threw a complete game in Eastern's 3-1 victory over Memphis on Friday.  Mike did not walk a batter, gave up seven hits, allowed one earned run and struck out five.  Mike also retired 19 of the final 22 outs.

Mike is from T.F. South High school and lives in Lansing Illinois.

Bradley Baseball's Jacob Booden off to a Stellar Start

Junior right handed pitcher Jacob Booden moved his record up to 3-0 for the Bradley Braves last week allowing two earned runs and three hits in six innings in a 7-5 win over Akron on Friday.  In Boodens five starts he is 3-0 in 26 1/3rd innings, allowing only two earned runs on 17 hits (.191 batting average against) and only one extra base hit - a double.

Booden is from Libertyville high school and lives in Vernon Hills Illinois.

Nick Brown and Thomas Lindauer Named Big Ten Baseball Players of the Week

Nick Brown

Iowa junior right handed pitcher Nick Brown (Wheaton Illinois) earns the Big Ten Baseball Pitcher of the Week honors leading Iowa to an 11-2 victory over Notre Dame last week.  Nick pitched seven scoreless innings, did not give up a walk and allowed only four hits.  Nick is from Wheaton Warrenville High School.

Thomas Lindauer

Illinois freshman infielder Thomas Lindauer (Moline Illinois) was named the Big Ten Baseball Co-Freshman of the Week hitting .429 last week.  Lindauer had the game winning hit with a two run single in the 12th inning in the Illini victory over Southern Illinois.  Lindauer went 3-7 with 2 rbi's and 3 runs scored to earn the weekly honors.

George Heller and Nat Rohl Named Chicagland Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Players of the Week

Junior pitcher Greg Heller from Trinity International University has been named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week with a complete game over Dakota Wesleyan last week.  Heller went seven innings gave up only two hits and struck out 3.  Heller (Elgin Illinois) is currently 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA.

Senior infielder Nate Rohl from Judson University earns the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball hitter of the week by hitting .429 with 3 doubles, 3 home runs and 10 rbi's.  Nate lives in Rockford Illinois.

Importance of a Pitcher Throwing a First Pitch Strike in Baseball

I found some statistics on first pitch strikes that I think everyone will find interesting.  How important is it to throw strike one as a pitcher?  Should a batter always take a strike?  Before the arguments start let me post some of the statistics from the majors.

I found these stats in Craig Burley's study in the Hardball Times.  In the study the stats from the 2003 MLB season were used. 

If you have two pitchers that are otherwise perfectly average (as far as statistics show) but one always throws a strike on the first pitch and the other throws a ball on the first pitch. The pitcher who threw the strike has an expected ERA of 3.60 and the pitcher who threw a ball would have an expected ERA of 5.50.  In addition once the pitcher gets to a 0-1 count hitters hit just .239 against the pitcher.  If the first pitch is a ball the hitters average moves up to .280.

In 2009 of the starting pitchers with the 20 lowest ERA's 16 of them had above average first-pitch strike percentages.  In 2010 the three starting pitchers with the highest first-pitch strike percentages were Cliff Lee (70.8%), Carl Pavano (68%) and Roy Halladay. 

New Independent Baseball Team to Play at Alexian Field in Schaumburg

Both the village and park district of Schaumburg agreed on a new tenant for Alexian Field for 2012.  The former owner of Prairie Material, Alan Oremus, will bring a new independent baseball team to Alexian Field in 2012.  Oremus did almost the exact thing in Joliet, bringing in the Joliet Slammers to Silver Cross Field in Joliet to replace the JackHammers. 

The new independent professional baseball team, who will decide what their name is later this year, will play in the American Association which has 14 teams.

The Flyers were expected to vacate Alexian Field by midnight on March 10th.

Montini Baseball Updends Hinsdale Central on One Hit

Hinsdale Central pitchers Chris Bobo and John Spacapan retired the first 13 batters and the first Montini runner to reach base was Ben Dobosenski on a walk in the fifth inning.  It only matters what the final score is and Montini took advantage of that scoring once in the sixth on an error, a wild pitch and flair to right (looks like a line drive in the book!).

Hindale Central wound up with three hits and Montini's Anthony Reeber earned the victory.

Northern Illinois Baseball wins Battle of Illinois Teams

The Northern Illinois (3-10) baseball Huskies won the battle of Illinois teams shutting out the University of Illinois 3-0 today at  Rent One Park in Marion Illinois.

Senior Zach Oates (Wheaton North High School) went all nine innings for the Huskies giving up 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5.  Alex Jones (Kansas City KS) and Alex Beckman (Batavia High School) both tripled for the Huskies and Joe Etcheverry (Bakersfield CA) went 2-3 with two rbi's.

Shortstop Josh Parr (Illinois Valley Central High School) had two of the three hits for the Illini(4-9).

Illinois NCAA Division II Baseball Recaps

Lewis University baseball ups their record to 7-3 with a 15-9 win over Christian Brothers on Sunday.  Lewis trailed 5-4 going into the top of the seventh where the Flyers put up a nine spot to take a 13-5 lead.  After Lewis loaded the bases with a single, a walk and a bunt, Brian Norwood (Lake Park High School) blasted a grand slam.  Senior Tyler Newsome (Marist High School, South Suburban College) went 5-5 with a homer and three rbi's.

The Qunicy University Hawks baseball team fell to 3-8 on the season dropping a twin bill 3-2 and 10-1 against Delta State in Cleveland Mississippi yesterday.  In game one Chris Conner (Lenexa Kansas) went 4 1/3rd innings giving up five hits and two earned runs.  In game two Gavin Meyer (Crystal Lake South) went 2-4.

The University of Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars stand at 2-7 on the season after yesterday's double header was cancelled against Clarke College in Dubuque Iowa.  On Sunday the Prairie Stars jumped out to a 5-0 lead on Wisconsin Parkside but Parkside took the lead for good in the sixth dropping the Stars 9-6.  Marc Mantucca (Naperville Central High School) went 2-4 with 2 rbi's, Marshall Escue (Washington High School) was 2-4 with a double and an rbi, Adam Unes (Brimfield High School) 2-5 with a double and 2 rbi's.

NJCAA Division I Baseball Polls as of March 16 2011 - Illinois Teams

John A. Logan College moves up to #15 on the NJCAA Basball Division I poll on March 16th after a 12-2 start.  Wabash Valley College (16-5) lands at #21 and Olney Central College (17-3) makes their first appearance at #25 on the national poll.

Wolak and Rashid Named College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Baseball Players of the Week

Dave Wolak and Jon Rashid were named CCIW baseball players of the week for the week ending March 13th.

Dave Wolak

Elmhurst College freshman outfielder Dave Wolak hit .583, scored seven runs and had 5 rbi's in four games last week.  Dave also did not strikeout, walked four times and had an on base percentage of .706 in four games.  Dave is from Glenbard North High School and lives in Carol Stream Illinois.

Jon Rashid

North Central's sophomore pitcher Jon Rashid pitched six shutout innings allowing 3 hits, striking out six and not allowing a walk.  Jon is from Niles West High School and is from Skokie Illinois.