According to the Neuqua Valley athletic department, the following athletes intend to play college baseball next season:
Mike McKinley, Indiana
Kyle Mener, Wabash College
Craig Provow, Colorado Christian College
Chris Widup, Wabash College
Alumni: May 2009 Archives
Naperville Central advanced to the final eight of last summer's state tournament, which drew about 170 teams. The Redhawks should again be a factor in that event and beyond, considering that their batting order for Wednesday's 14-5 regional semifinal victory over Hinsdale Central began with five juniors.
That group doesn't even include junior second baseman Matt Soria, junior catcher Ryan Walsh or sophomore pitcher Dan Ludwig (5-1, 2.20 ERA).
Seniors Anthony Lopez and Pat Kaminska won't be a part of that future and would like to extend their Central careers by a few more games. Lopez will play at Illinois Wesleyan next season, while Kaminska has decided to enroll at John A. Logan, a junior college in Carterville.
Eventually Kaminska -- who on Wednesday was hitting 82 mph on one radar gun -- would like to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Kyle, a pitching prospect in the Florida Marlins organization.
"If I have to go to college for a year," Kaminska said, "that's the way I'd want to do (it). Go to college, raise some status and eventually (play) some pro ball."
Bill Seiple finally won his state title in his 25th season as head coach at Naperville Central. The 2006 team was built upon pitchers who would move on to bigger and better things, players like Colin Bates (North Carolina) and Kyle Kaminska (Florida Marlins system).
That staff allowed zero runs or one run in six of eight postseason games, never giving up more than three. Those pitchers didn't receive a ton of support. Here are the final scores from those playoff games: 6-3; 2-1; 1-0; 2-1; 7-2; 1-0; 9-0; 2-0.
The current Central team doesn't have the same makeup but it does have a strong offensive core. Sure, Hinsdale Central's errors helped lead to a 14-5 regional semifinal victory on Wednesday in Naperville. But in something of an identity shift, these Redhawks might not need lights-out pitching to advance. They didn't need to panic after trailing 4-1 early.
"We swing the bat a little bit," Seiple said. "We got some guys that can pull the trigger, and even against some very, very good pitching, which we've seen all spring. Our guys give us a chance."
North Carolina (42-16) is looking for a fourth consecutive trip to the College World Series. The Tar Heels are loaded with potential big-league talent -- according to ESPN's Peter Gammons, Dustin Ackley could be the No. 2 overall pick in the June 9 draft.
But at some point they might also need Naperville Central graduate Colin Bates to take care of some critical outs in order to book a return ticket to Omaha, Neb.
As a redshirt sophomore reliever, Bates is a valuable piece of North Carolina's bullpen. Bates is 3-2 with a 3.02 ERA and six saves for the Tar Heels, who are seeded No. 4 nationally and will host a regional in Chapel Hill.
"Any NCAA tournament, you got to be careful not to overdo stuff," North Carolina head coach Mike Fox said Monday. "Changing things at this point would be silly. It's all about our kids being relaxed and confident, just like any other team that comes in here. We need to relish being at home. We need to be excited to (be) hosting a regional at this new stadium.
"I think we will be. We also have to set our mind that (we) need to play our best baseball to get out of this regional."
Heading into Thursday, Mississippi State junior first baseman Connor Powers was hitting .294 with 17 home runs and 58 RBI. The Bulldogs (24-27, 8-18 SEC) only have a three-game series against LSU left, but despite the disappointing season, Powers is still expected to be drafted somewhere between the fourth and 10th rounds. The Benet graduate will then have to make a decision.
"I'm just going to come to that bridge whenever I have to," Powers recently told The Clarion-Ledger. "I'm not really sure what's going to happen."
Brittany Bock has been called up to the U.S. women's national soccer team. In preparation for the next World Cup, the team's first match is May 20 against Japan.
