On the heels of the announcement that they were chosen to place fourth in the Big Ten by Perfect Game, the Illinois Baseball team held Media Day on Friday afternoon.
Local sports pundits heard from Coach Hartleb, Garrett Acton and others at the Irwin Practice Facility.
Acton who chose to forego the MLB Draft after his junior year, is “happy to be back”. He must be… he said it twice. Garrett addressed new pitching coach Mark Allen who seems to be fitting in well with the pitching staff.
Coach Hartleb had high praise for Allen too. He called him a “deep thinker” and says he has a great sense of humor.
Coach Hartleb was wisely prudent with too many predictions for the 2020 season. He’s keeping strategies to himself while sharing some with the coaches. Realistically, Coach H wants to see how new players “react in situations” before assigning roles.
Honestly, while Coach Hartleb was talking, I was talking with this guy. He’s Branden Comia who played a fair amount last year. He’s excited for the freshman class and at the same time, he thinks 2019 freshmen class (of which he is a member) can really contribute with one year under their belt.
This guy is excited to be here! Garrett McGowan is a transfer from Dodge City Community College. The 6’3″ junior says he is psyched to be playing D1 baseball.
Scott Beatty captured the words of Coach Hartleb and Garrett Acton on audio. You can hear it on his podcast here.
The theme was consistent at the Irwin Facility no matter who I talked to. They weren’t listening to preseason polls. They are just excited that baseball season is almost here. Indeed it is. Illinois’ first game is February 14th.
Looking forward to seeing the Baseball Team having another Successful Season.