Cardinals Rewarded for Hard Fought Season...

As Marietta was being crowned the 2011 DIII National Champions, the NCC Cardinals celebrated a season that we believed ended way too early with the Annual Cardinal Players' Choice Awards.

Congratulations to this year's winners!

Scholar Baller - Matt Abraham
Teammate of the Year - Dan Scott
Most Improved - Nick Daniels
QAB Award (highest % of quality at-bats) - Brennan Hagensee
Gold Glove Award - Dan Scott
Silver Slugger Award - Michael Corrigan
Rookie of the Year - Jon Rashid
Pitcher of the Year - Nate Arenson
Most Valuable Player - Michael Corrigan

The Cardinals were also well represented across the CCIW and the region. Check out the plethora of awards that 2011 Cardinal Men accumulated at http://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2011/5/23/BB_0523115744.aspx.

A special congratulations to Michael Corrigan for his selection to the 2011 Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association All-Central Region Baseball Team. Read more about this honor at http://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2011/5/24/BB_0524110831.aspx

CCIW Championship Within Grasp...

After suffering a 4th straight loss to defending national champions, Illinois Wesleyan in the first game of the CCIW tournament, the Cardinals did what the coaching staff knew they would eventually do...bounce back and get back to solid, hard-nosed Cardinal baseball. The following day, the Cardinals eliminated both CCIW regular season co-champions---North Park early in the day and Illinois Wesleyan in the nightcap.

An emotional roller coaster is the best way of explaining the ride that these young men have been on for the past few weeks, especially the last two days. The lows of errors, backwards Ks, and missed opportunities give more meaning and significance to the clutch hitting, webgems, and big pitches.

Today we saw our games get washed out by the Bloomington blob of precipitation, but tomorrow will present a chance for the Cardinals to earn their way into the National Championship tournament for the second year in a row. GREAT DAY TO BE A CARDINAL!

***A special shout out to the Lady Cardinals' softball team for a great season and an amazing run. The baseball team salutes you on your great season.***

Thank You Seniors...

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of the senior players for their effort and contribution to the Cardinal Baseball squad. It will be sad to see these fine young men move on to a new and exciting phase of their lives, however, the leadership they have brought to the club will stay long after they have hung up the spikes for the Cardinals.

2011 North Central Cardinal Seniors:
#1 Matt Burke
#6 Dan Scott
#18 Michael Corrigan
#22 Brennen Hagensee
#30 Nate Arenson
#32 Matt Abraham
#50 Jeremiah Torres
#59 Jeff Dickey

Thank you senior Cardinal Men!

Check out the newest slideshow of the Cardinals' Senior Day ceremony, which included a first pitch from family members to the senior players. Senior Cardinals were presented with a baseball action photo (thank you Mr. Woltman), and were able to present their mothers with flowers for Mother's Day.

Sometimes You Get the Bull...Sometimes the Bull Gets You

A Saturday sweep of Augustana couldn't have put us any higher last weekend...since then things have been rather unexplainable. There is not much to say. We are not playing our best baseball. We haven't scored a run in 18 innings. We haven't had a hit in the last 9 innings. We only have 4 hits in the last 16 innings. We are making errors that we usually don't. We are getting picked off bases, missing signs, dropping fly-balls, swinging at 2-0 off speed pitches, throwing wild pitches, walking batters....if it is a negative...we have done it and plenty of it.

Here is the kicker: WE ARE STILL ONE OF THE TOP TEAMS IN THE CCIW. The sad fact is is that we play like we are at the bottom of the barrel. It is an unfortunate time to be in a slump as a team, but that is what we are dealing with.

It is something that I have never been a part of. I have been a part of bad teams that played well for a game or series and "fooled" people for a while. But I have never been around the talent that the Cardinals have and played so poorly. Hence, I believe that we are simply "out-thinking" and "fooling" ourselves. We had a bad week...yeah, sure...it sucks. But we have another game to go win and a tournament to do some damage in...SO LET'S GO. DESERVE TO WIN by having an approach at the plate, making the routine plays that you have done hundreds of times in practice, throw strikes, and execute. We have done it before---we WILL do it again.

How to Respond...

Dropping the series finale against Wheaton, having another CCIW opponent celebrate a walk-off homerun at The Zimm, over our homeplate, (They were the home team as their field in under renovation.) and having emotions get the best of us could have been the beginnings of an end for our Cardinal team this season....but no. The Cardinal Men responded by coming out today and finishing a sweep over the Bluejays of Elmhurst, winning by a score of 7-2.

How well did we respond? Well, our 1-5 hitters (Scott, Burke, Abraham, Corrigan, and Turek) went a combined 11-19, a .579 clip. The bottom of the Cardinal order (Hagensee, Daniels, Ross, and Khoury) strung QABs (quality at-bats) together and hit the ball hard the other way while driving in runs. Pitchers Michael McGrath and Tim Riggenbach threw strikes and were extremely effective. After walking the lead-off batter of the game, giving up a 2-run homerun to the next batter and hitting the three hole with a pitch, starting pitcher Michael McGrath settled in and stepped up to deliver a masterful performance. At one point McGrath retired 9 straight Bluejays and finished his 8 strong innings by retiring 19 of the last 23 he faced. The Cardinal defense was on its game as well, especially the middle infielders (Burke and Khoury) and the outfield crew (Hagensee, Ross, and Scott, left to right).

I think it says alot about our team when the men respond like this. Sure,tempers will flare, emotions run high, pressure situations push players to the edge. However, when it is time to respond---time to come together and get the job done and execute, we are proving to ourselves that we are capable of success.

Heading into the last two weekend series against CCIW foes Augustana and defending DIII National Champions, Illinois Wesleyan, the Cardinals are exactly where we want to be...in the driver's seat, tied atop the CCIW at 11-4.

Win Over Wheaton = Huge

The 4-2 win over Wheaton College is a huge stepping stone for our team. A very good team, Wheaton presented us with a very competitive Game 1 of this series. Senior pitcher Nate Arenson stepped up and delivered a complete game win, walking only two. Matt Burke, Brennan Hagensee, and Alex Khoury also seemed to come to the park to play especially hard today. Burkey was a force at the plate and on the base paths. Hags showed off his defensive skills by gunning down a runner, who would have been a lead-off double. A.K. is playing like a seasoned veteran even though he has only started a handful of games at the SS position at the college level. We know, however, that we have two big games against Wheaton this Saturday. Anything less then a series win will be unacceptable.



A shout out has to go out to the Cardinal Men for taking advantage of the "freebies" that the other squads we are playing are offering us. Too often teams do not take advantage of the opportunities they earn by placing pressure on the defense and the opponent's pitching. Over the last four games (1 vs. Millikin, 2 vs. Elmhurst, and 1 vs. Wheaton) the Cardinals have scored 38 total runs; 8, 15, 11, and 4 respectively. Of those 38 runs 19 of them have been scored by Cardinal baserunners that have reached base via a walk, error, or hit by pitch. 18 of 39...50%! Our record over the last four games is 2-2 instead of 4-0 if we do not take advantage of the extra outs we are earning. To use a term from a commentator of the hated White Sox..."Don't stop now boys!"

National College Athlete Honor Society...

Congratulations go out to Blake Schmucker, a junior infielder from Olney, IL for being inducted into the National College Athlete Honor Society. In order to be considered for induction, student-athletes must maintain a minimum of a 3.4 cumulative grade-point average following their seventh term in school and received a varsity letter in their particular sport. Great Job Schmucker!

Elmhurst series Moved to Sun/Mon...

Today's DH at Elmhurst has been canceled due to weather. We will play the DH at Elmhurst's Butterfield Park on Sunday starting at 12 noon. The series finale will be played at the Zimm on Monday at 3pm. Obviously, we are disappointed to be canceled. We were geared up and ready to play today. Also, the weather has ruined what was sure to be a cool environment with plans for the Alumni BBQ and game as well as the kick-off of the baseball team's sale of apparel to raise money for disaster relief in Japan, all of which were to be held on Sunday. Hopefully, the weather cooperates for the remainder of the year.