October 15, 2007
Thank you for visiting the Baseball Coaches’ Corner. I’m writing this on the final day of our two-week fall session as Coach Budeselich and I prepare to meet with the players and discuss their off-season plans and goals.
On Saturday, we completed our fall intrasquad schedule in the morning, then ran a baseball clinic for about 30 kids from the Englewood neighborhood organized by former Maroon outfielder Colin Decker (AB ’02).
Colin and his wife, Eun, have founded Play for Life International, an organization that uses sports to work with young people who haven’t had the advantages that others may have. The clinic was a great experience for our guys and they did an outstanding job working with the kids.
The fall workouts and intrasquad games have served to provide optimism for our returning players as they envision the contributions that we expect from a few team members coming back from injuries as well as several freshmen.
We lost catcher/first baseman Scott Hofer (Jr. – San Marino, CA) and pitcher Joe Pankow (So.- Naperville, IL) for the season last year due to injuries sustained during the first few games in Arizona.
Hofer hit .448 as a freshman and was voted “Rookie Male Athlete of the Year” by the Order of the “C”. Pankow pitched a complete game, 6-2 victory in his first start as a freshman before sustaining a season-ending injury in his second start. Both are progressing well in their rehabilitation and look like they will be ready for the 2008 season.
In addition, pitcher Alex Garbier (So.- Watertown, MA) was limited to four appearances last year due an injury sustained in Arizona. Garbier had a successful summer on the mound, so we expect that he will be 100% for the upcoming year.
A talented group of nine freshmen are on our 2008 roster. Those who should make immediate contributions include pitcher Dan McConologue (Lockport, IL), pitcher Marshall Oium (Temecula, CA), outfielder Zach Osman (Long Beach, IN), infielder Nick Fazzari (Wheaton, IL), and outfielder Kevin Holzbog (Denison, TX).
Last year’s top winner on the mound and Most Valuable Player, Dan Cozzi, graduated in June 2007 and immediately left for Codogno, Italy where he pitched in the Italian Professional Baseball League. Dan had a highly successful season there before heading back to attend law school at Washington University in St. Louis. He became the second Maroon to play professionally in Italy. Brent Consiglio played shortstop for Poviglio in 2004.
Along with Dan Cozzi, Dominik Meyer (Sr.-River Forest, IL) lead a pitching staff in 2007 that limited opponents to a .256 batting average. This is an impressive accomplishment in the era of the aluminum bat.
Unfortunately, Meyer tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow during an August appearance with his summer team. After undergoing “Tommy John Surgery”, Meyer is most likely lost for all of the 2008 season. His junior year in 2007 was outstanding as he established the all-time University record for season earned run average (1.84), throwing two shutouts and limiting opponents to a .229 batting average.
Despite the major loss, our pitching staff will still be deep and talented in 2008 with Pankow, Garbier, McConologue, Oium, Alex Gallan (Jr.-Downers Grove, IL), Nate Ginsberg (Sr.-Dobbs Ferry, NY), Payton Leonhardt (Jr.-Wheaton, IL), Will Lamb (So.-Hinsdale, IL), John Kozlar (Fr.-Chicago, IL), and short-reliever Rob Serpico (So.-Schaumburg, IL).
The brief fall session gave us a good indication of where and how a number of our players should fit into our plans for 2008, but much still has to be determined before we play. I’ll look forward to reporting on our thoughts regarding this in future Coaches’ Corner editions.
The challenging 2008 schedule begins with a weekend trip to Terra Haute, Indiana on March 8th and 9th for two games each with Illinois Wesleyan University and host Rose-Hulman Institute.
After completing winter quarter classes and final exams, we’ll head to Orlando, Florida during Spring Break Week for 8 games between March 24th and 30th.
In addition to games with virtually all of our traditional regional rivals back home, the 2008 schedule is highlighted by the following:
- A home doubleheader on April 5th against the University of Dallas with a pre-game ceremony unveiling a plague honoring the namesake for our home field; J. Kyle Anderson.
- The annual Alumni Game on April12th with a home doubleheader against Kalamazoo College on the following day.
- A weekend trip to Cleveland, Ohio on April 26th and 27th to play two games each with Washington University and Case Western Reserve University.
Practice for the upcoming season begins on January 15th in Henry Crown Field House. We’re already looking forward to it.
Best wishes from Chicago Baseball! We hope that you can come out and see us during the 2008 season.
Coach Baldea |
