University of Illinois Baseball | The Baseball Zealot

Da Roof is on Fire! Shawn gets drafted by the Tigers

I’ll admit it, I was all smiles when pick #1018 rolled past on the ol’ Draft Tracker this afternoon. That was when the Detroit Tigers chose Illini shortstop Shawn Roof in the 33rd round. And if you notice, his younger brother got picked a few rounds later by the Red Sox. No, not Eric, who … Continue reading “Da Roof is on Fire! Shawn gets drafted by the Tigers”

two roofs

I’ll admit it, I was all smiles when pick #1018 rolled past on the ol’ Draft Tracker this afternoon. That was when the Detroit Tigers chose Illini shortstop Shawn Roof in the 33rd round.

And if you notice, his younger brother got picked a few rounds later by the Red Sox. No, not Eric, who plays for Michigan State (give him time), but his even younger brother Jonathon who got drafted right out of high school.

Anyway, I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it… Shawn Roof is the most exciting player I’ve seen play at any level. His love of the game is quite apparent. His hustle on field is something I would love to see more of in pro ball so it thrills me that he got drafted.

By the way, if any of have not heard our interview with Shawn Roof on Baseball Zealot Radio, take a listen. It was one of our very first interviews we did and it remains my favorite.

As if being drafted wasn’t enough, Roof also was awarded the Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award. He became a finalist a few weeks ago. His on-the-field efforts were amazing. Not only did he break records for single season and single game for stolen bases as well as single season and career hit-by-pitch, he ended his college career with a .303 batting average.

His off-the-field endeavors merit attention as well.

He also was a leader in the athletic department’s Hometown Heroes, in which Fighting Illini student-athletes participate in various community service activities including visiting schools and hospitals. In addition, Roof made regular appearances at Illinois Kids Club events, including bowling nights and pizza parties.

Mmmm… pizza!

Knowing Shawn like I do. He was probably a hit with the kids.

Anyway, good luck in the future, Shawn!

Lars Davis goes early in Amateur Draft

davis goes in the third round

This shouldn’t be a big surprise. University of Illinois catcher Lars Davis went in the 3rd round (102nd overall) of the First-Year Player draft yesterday. The lucky team is the Colorado Rockies.

I’ve probably said it before but I’ve never seen a college player exude professionalism the way Davis does. When he is playing, he simply establishes a presence on the field. If you’ve seen him play, you know what I mean. I hated for the Illini to lose him but if anyone is ready for pro ball, Lars Davis is.

Lars found out about his pick after practice up in Duluth, Minnesota where he with the Duluth Huskies. Fightingillini.com interviewed Davis and got his reaction to being drafted.

Similarities

Take a look a the similarities between former Illini Chris Robinson and Davis. Both were good hitting catchers in the Illinois baseball program. Both are Canadian-born. They were both chosen in the 3rd round. Robinson is now playing for the Tennessee Smokies, the Chicago Cubs’ AA team.

What next?

According to the rules, the Rockies have one year to to sign Davis to a pro contract. I’m sure it won’t take that long given Davis seems very excited about his prospects. Good luck to Lars!

Illinois alum Basak gets a call from the Big Apple

Former University of Illinois infielder Chris Basak, at age 28, got the call to the bigs. He is now on the New York Yankees’ active roster.

He did well in Spring Training and he can play all infield positions. That was pretty much what the Yankees needed.

“Obviously you’re hoping he can do the job,” Torre said. “In the spring, he just seemed to be very comfortable — not overwhelmed. Whether he hit very well or because he’s been around so long, he handled it very well. New York is unlike any other place when you have to do something like that.”

In 1999-2000, Basak hit for tasty averages (.393 and .329) while playing shortstop for the Illini.

Sum-sum-summertime

It’s summertime and the Illinois baseball season is over. However, fourteen of the Illini players are honing their skills in college summer leagues. There is a web page at fightingillini.com that lists the players and who they will be playing for. A bonus: the page includes links to the teams and leagues so you can … Continue reading “Sum-sum-summertime”

It’s summertime and the Illinois baseball season is over. However, fourteen of the Illini players are honing their skills in college summer leagues.

There is a web page at fightingillini.com that lists the players and who they will be playing for. A bonus: the page includes links to the teams and leagues so you can check in and see how they are doing.

As usual, the Northwoods League is big with the Illini. They claim seven of the Illinois players, including Big Ten Player of the Year Lars Davis who is playing waaayy north with the Duluth Huskies.

In the Coastal Plain League, the Fayettevile Swampdogs, another popular venue, draws three alas without Shawn Roof this year.

Finally, closer to home, the Chicago Suburban Baseball League, have four Illini. That one is close enough to maybe catch a game or two this summer.

If college summer baseball is your thing, you might want to check out Summer Ball, a web site dedicated to College Summer Leagues.

Good luck to the Illini this summer!

Lars Davis honored by All-American Second Team selection

Davis at the Big Ten tournament

University of Illinois catcher Lars Davis will have to make some more room on his mantle. He’s got another award coming.

Davis was named to the Louisville Slugger All-American Second Team. For those wondering, Buster Posey from Florida St was the catcher on the First Team.

Though he his a junior and Illini fans would hate to lose him, it is only reasonable to assume that the Big Ten Player of the Year will be testing the draft waters on June 7-8.

From an article on Canada.com:

“I’d love to start a pro ball career, but worst-case scenario, I have no objections about going back to Illinois for another year,” said Davis, who threw out a conference-high 24 base-runners on 84 steal attempts and sported a .972 fielding percentage.

Sounds like Davis is ready to catch some pro ball to me.

Good Luck Lars!

Former Illini Blomquist gets his first pro start

Blomquist pitching for the Illini in 2006 Former University of Illinois hurler Brian Blomquist got his chance to pitch on the professional level last Saturday night. Blomquist, who had just signed with the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League didn’t have wait long to show what he’s made of. He got the call to … Continue reading “Former Illini Blomquist gets his first pro start”

Blomquist pitching for the Illini in 2006

Former University of Illinois hurler Brian Blomquist got his chance to pitch on the professional level last Saturday night. Blomquist, who had just signed with the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League didn’t have wait long to show what he’s made of. He got the call to start against Evansville

All things considered, Blomquist didn’t do badly though he did get the loss. He allowed three runs on 5 1/3 innings with 4 strikeouts.

Box Score

Blomquist pitched for the Illini between 2002-2006. In 2005, he had a 10-3 record with a 3.53 ERA.

Good luck to Brian this season!

Hmm…put this in where are they now category: One of Blomquist’s teammates is none other than Danny Almonte.

My final thoughts on the Big Ten Tournament

Shawn Roof and me

Let me first say I had a fantastic time. This was my second Big Ten Tournament and the first time I’ve traveled to see the Illini baseball team play.

Every Illinois fan wishes they could have won the tournament but all things considered, I thought they played well. They were able to defeat a tough Iowa team in the first round and stay around for that much longer (hey, longer than #1 seed Michigan).

It was good to finally meet Brian DeCaussin in person. He and I have been in contact all year via email and phone. I’ve already said enough good things about his web site Big Ten Hardball so I won’t belabor the point. Just check it out.

It was definitely a highlight to meet so many parents of the Illini players. I was honored when some of them knew of The Baseball Zealot and enjoy the postings and pictures. Lars Davis’ mom says that between Big Ten Hardball and The Baseball Zealot, it’s the only way she gets news about her son because, “Lars doesn’t tell me anything.”

Well, he doesn’t tell me anything either but I try to get some good pictures of him in action when I can.

All in all, it was good to be around good baseball. The one thing I like about college baseball is the intimacy of the ballparks. I don’t see a game from the nosebleed section. Rather, I can see it from up close and I can hear it. Sometimes I can even smell it. Note: The Ohio State Buckeyes wore their unwashed jerseys on Sunday, perhaps for luck. I’m sure I could have smelled it then.

Anyway, I’m sold. When the Illini make the tournament in 2008, I’ll be there.

By the way, thanks to Shawn for taking the time to pose in the picture with me. It was 20 minutes after their loss and they were all headed out on the bus. I’m sure he had other things to do and other things (like the loss) on his mind but he took the time. It meant a lot.

Penn State rally in 8th ends Illini’s season

The Penn State Nittany Lions had just come off a 10th inning victory off Michigan. One half hour later they played Illinois for another elimination game. That’s the thing about losing your first game in the Big Ten Tournament… every game you play, you’re playing for your tournament life.

Scott Shaw allowed only 3 hits in 7 IP

Scott Shaw was the starting pitcher for Illinois. When Shaw is on his game, he’s a pretty dang good pitcher. And quite honestly, he looked really good Friday. He was fooling hitters and more importantly, keeping them off the basepaths (3 hits and 1 BB in 7 IP).

High fives all around as Lars Davis scores in the 6th inning

Penn State drew first blood in the second scoring a run on a Mike Deese single. It was goose eggs for both teams till the fifth when the Illini put together hits by Brandon Wikoff, Lars Davis, Daniel Webb, and Ryan Hastings. That pushed a pair across, giving the good guys the lead.

In the 8th, all hell broke loose. Shaw who until this time was still going strong, led the inning off with a walk. A throwing error put runners on first and second with no outs. Coach Hartleb then made the call to Jake Toohey.

RF Nick Stockwell under the telling scoreboard

Four hits and one more error later, Penn State had scored 5 runs and put the score at 6-2, the final score.

Penn State’s Matt Ogrodnik who pitched a nearly perfect 3 2/3 innings (just one hit) got the win. Scott Shaw (2 ER in 7 IP and 5 K) who in my opinion pitched quite well, got the loss.

Said Coach Hartleb after the game:

“This is a tough way to end the season, but we have a lot to build on. The older guys on this team have put us in a very favorable position for the coming years, and I really like the young players we have on this team. Our top three starting pitchers have a chance to be very, very good next year.”

For the record, this is the farthest the Illini have gone in the Big Ten Tournament since 2001.

Some photos I took before and during the game are here. Not so much after.

Davis, Webb, Roark, Roof get recognition from Big Ten

Four University of Illinois players were named to All-Big Ten teams on Tuesday,

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!

More sights and observations from the Big Ten Tournament

Thanks to Brian DeCaussin from Big Ten Hardball for taking this photo of me in front of the field at Ray Fisher stadium at the University of Michigan. The stadium is great and the staff here have been very friendly and helpful. Special thanks goes to the lady in the Big Ten Conference T-shirt booth who looked out for me and yelled for me when they finally got the XXL shirts in.

As you can see, the wind on Thursday was sometimes fierce. At times, it would play havoc with fly balls (I saw at least two “easy” fly balls misplayed because the wind took a hold of it). And a couple hits that I thought were goners were pushed back in flyouts.

While watching the Iowa-Penn State game, a couple Minnesota coaches came and sat near us. Brian DeCaussin, who knows everything about Big Ten baseball, told me they were a couple of the assistant coaches.

Remember guys, no spitting in the stands.

I did a double take when I saw a Wisconsin shirt at Ray Fisher stadium. Not that Wisconsin didn’t make the tournament, the Badgers don’t even have a baseball team. I think he was with the Illini crowd though. His son had an Illini cap.

It’s 11:00am and I just stepped outside the cafe (thank you, Artisan Bistro… my wireless crapped out at my hotel and you came through) and I felt a few drops.

Up till now, it’s been fantastic weather if you don’t mind the heat. The breeze does help though unless you’re an outfielder or power hitter (see above). Bit of Big Ten tournament trivia from my program. Minnesota was declared champion in 1993 with a 2-0 record when the last games were rained out. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen here.

Go Illini!