Sept. 22, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. - The sounds of heavy machinery and bricklayers are still the dominant elements filling the air around Duffy Bass Field, but they're now accompanied by the ping of baseball bats and coaches yelling orders. Yes, fall ball is here. Illinois State baseball kicked off its rebuilding project with the first team practices last week, while construction on the Redbirds' new stadium continued its steady progress.
The $3.2 million stadium construction project is the most visible of the changes for the Redbirds heading into the fall, but one of only a handful of adjustments creating a positive buzz around the team. Illinois State received a huge boost this summer with the addition of Mark Kingston as associate head coach.
Kingston, who spent time as an assistant at Tulane and Miami (where he helped the Hurricanes win a national championship), is widely regarded as one of the top assistant coaches in the country. He returns to Illinois State where he helped coach one of the best offenses in school history in 1999, and is looking for repeated results in the coming years.
Expectations
The goal for the Redbirds this season remains the same - make it to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, something Illinois State hasn't done since 2001. To do that, the Redbirds must improve defensively and find players who can fill the void left by Kevin Dubler (drafted by the Chicago White Sox) and Kyle Cherney (graduated). The Redbirds might already have the answer in junior college transfers, Ben Ihde and Evan Kohli, among other new additions to the team.
"Our expectation for every year is to get to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament," Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee said. "We haven't done that since I've been here. The one thing that I've noticed the first three weeks of the fall, with individual work and one week of team practice, how easily the new players are fitting in with some of the more veteran players. We have a lot of experience and we have a lot of talent with the new players.
"There's a renewed energy in the program right now. I think coach Kingston brings a lot to the table in that regard. Another thing that's a big factor is when guys walk out here every day, see the progress on the baseball stadium and realize the commitment the athletic department is making to baseball here at Illinois State. There's more invested for our guys that way. We feel like, with the building of this stadium and the things that are going on with the entire university, baseball is ready to move up in the Missouri Valley Conference."
What Needs to Improve
Senior infielder Collin Salzenstein's return to the lineup, after missing all of last year with a shoulder injury, should help improve the defense in the infield. Salzenstein is expected to start at shortstop and allow 2008 Lousiville Slugger Freshman All-American Kevin Tokarski to move to second base, his natural position.
"An area that really let us down last year is our infield defense - we had way too many errors on the infield," Brownlee said. "Getting Collin back and moving Tokarski to second base is very good. I've seen some big improvements from some of our guys that are coming back. Our defense is one thing I think we really need to improve on."
In addition to plugging the hole left by Dubler in the batting order, Illinois State must replace the steady signal caller behind the plate. The Redbirds signed two high school catchers, Matt Mirabal and Landinn Eckhardt, and are converting Gabe DeMarco to catcher with Justin Rahn. Another question for the Redbirds up the middle is centerfield, where no player has emerged as a favorite as of yet.
"We lost a lot behind the plate with Dubler (getting drafted after his junior season) and you always worry about that, but the four guys we've been working this fall have done well," Brownlee said. "The two new guys, Mirabal and Eckhardt, they're everything that we thought they were going to be defensively. As for how they hit, time will tell. They've done a great job so far. With the veterans, I think we're pretty strong there. We've got to find a center fielder, we don't have anybody surfacing right now and that will be a concern to us going into the spring, but I think our corners will be very fine."
Pitching
Brownlee has been particularly giddy about the pitching staff in the opening week, and should be with a corps of experienced players returning. Last year's innings pitched leader Ryan Copeland returns after a stellar showing in the Central Illinois Collegiate Baseball League during the summer and earned run average leader Kyle Nelson is back after a very strong freshman campaign.
"Our pitching has got a lot of experience," Brownlee said. "We've labeled them the last two years as inexperienced and now I'm really going to enjoy coaching the pitchers this spring because we've got some experience and some really good arms.
"If we had to play a five-game series right now, I'd feel pretty good about our pitching staff and I think it will be one of our strengths in the spring."
In addition to Copeland and Nelson pushing for spots in the starting rotation, junior right-handed pitcher Jake Wielebnicki has impressed in the early going, along with freshman Ryan Camp and junior college transfer Bryan Earley. The Redbirds have 16 pitchers vying for 12 spots on the traveling squad.
Offense
The Redbirds will not be short on team speed with the return of Tokarski, who shattered the ISU single-season record with 32 steals last season. Illinois State has a handful of players who can set the table at the top of the order and get on base at the bottom of the order, but the big question remains: who will drive them home?
"One of the things we were very concerned with coming into the fall was who was going to hit in the middle of the order," Brownlee said. "We've got some one and two hitters, and I think we've got a lot of six, seven, eight and nine hitters, but at the three-, four-, and five-hole we lost some pretty good guys in Dubler and Cherney."
"Just looking at Ben Ihde and Evan Kohli, I think we're going to be able to fill that hole and be a very good offensive team. We've got some good team speed and coach Kingston likes to coach the same way that I do - be aggressive, run the bases and be fundamentally sound. I think we'll complement one another pretty well and we're going to surprise some people. We'll be a lot better than people think we're going to be."
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#31 Ryan Camp, RHP | Mapleton, Ill. - Illinois Top-50 prospect according to Prep Baseball Report. Went 7-2 with a 1.98 ERA in 53 innings for Limestone Community High School last season. Struck out 76 batters and walked 22. Threw five complete games, including a no-hitter in the season-opener. |
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#22 Jason David, RHP/OF | Naperville, Ill. - Team captain during senior season while leading Nequa Valley to state tournament. Hit .453 with 11 home runs and 52 RBI. Also went 5-1 with a 2.58 ERA in 10 games on the mound. |
