Illini reliever Tyler Jay was listed as one of Team USA’s top prospects by MLB.com’s Jim Callis yesterday. Says Callis: “Undrafted in 2012 as an Illinois high school senior who topped out at 90 mph, he now has a fastball that peaks at 97 and sits at 93-95 mph, even…
This probably shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone following Reid Roper’s summer up in Rochester but it has recently been announced that he has been named “Honker of the Year” by his summer league team the Rochester Honkers. Not only did Roper become the Honkers’ all-time leader in hits,…
Not wasting any time, newly hired assistant coach Spencer Allen was already giving interviews on the first day here on the University of Illinois campus. Courtesy of Illini Productions HD, here is Coach Allen’s first interview. There’s nothing too surprising in the content. As expected, Coach Allen does place an…
It seems Illini infielder infielder/pitcher Reid Roper has been making headlines all season helping his summer league team Rochester Honkers win ballgames (here are just a couple from the Northwoods League website and the Post-Bulletin). Now, Roper is in the news because he is breaking another record. According to the…
With the departure of assistant coach Eric Snider, the Illinois Baseball program didn’t waste time in finding a replacement to fill the coaching ranks. They’ve landed Spencer Allen who comes most recently from Creighton University’s coaching staff. Allen also has ties to the Big Ten having coached with Purdue a…
The news that Coach Eric Snider has been hired by the Louisville Cardinals as an assistant coach is very bittersweet indeed. Coach Snider has been with the Illini since 1999 and has been head coach Dan Hartleb’s right-hand man since he took over. He’s a smart baseball man and quite…
2014 seems to be the summer of the no-hitter for Illini pitchers. First it was Andrew Mamlic then Matthew James. Now you can put Illini reliever Tyler Jay on that list. Via Illinois Baseball Twitter, news comes that on Saturday, Jay contributed to a no-hitter for Team USA in the…
Coach Dan Hartleb is going places this summer. Specifically, he’s heading to North Carolina to assist at the National Training Complex for the 2014 USA Baseball 14U National Team Development Program. Hartleb was named to the coaching staff for the program and will help Eric Kibler at the complex in…
The USA Collegiate National Team has begun its season and Illini Tyler Jay is right in the middle of the action. Jay won a spot on the roster after a superb performance during tryouts in June. Now, he and the rest of Team USA are taking on the world in…
Seems former Illini pitcher Tanner Roark who is now pitching for the Washington Nationals, is making the headlines more and more. CBS Chicago covered Roark’s return to Illinois as he took on the Chicago Cubs today. Roark is a Wilmington High School alum so there were some friendly faces in…