Baseball gets in swing of things – Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette

CHAMPAIGN — Dan Hartleb had plenty of new faces looking back at him when he addressed his team Friday for the first time this season.

Gone was an 11-strong senior class that had four fifth-year guys. Three juniors selected in the MLB draft who chose to pursue a professional career added to the departures.

In their place? Fourteen newcomers, including 13 true freshmen — up from three a year ago — and one transfer, infielder Trent Hammond.

But Hartleb’s message to the Illini didn’t change.

“The first meeting what my thoughts were and what I said to the team is that there’s an expectation for us to win,” Hartleb said. “It’s a goal of ours to not only make it to Omaha but to win a national championship. I don’t think you obtain those goals unless it’s something you think about, dream about and talk about.

“It’s not easy. We found that out last year. But we’ll continue to fight as hard as we can, take that path and try to move the program forward.”

If anything, expectation levels around the Illinois baseball program have only grown in the four years Jason Goldstein has been an Illini. It used to be, hope to compete in the Big Ten and at least make an NCAA regional. That’s the bottom line these days.

“I think my class in particular and also the class a year above me kind of made it clear that’s no longer the expectation,” the senior catcher said. “The expectation is to win at the Big Ten level and win at the national level and compete in super regionals. Our coaches are bringing in talented classes that are giving us that opportunity to do that. It’s up to us to continue working hard at putting the pieces together to bring championships to Illinois.”

The Illinois players also realize their own expectations exceed what’s expected of them this spring externally. Losing so many key players from a team that set a program record with 50 wins, strung together a 27-game winning streak — the best the Big Ten’s ever seen — and played in its first super-regional has likely tempered outside expectations.

That doesn’t change anything for the Illini.

“We know we’re still going to be good,” redshirt junior shortstop Adam Walton said. “I think some people are probably doubting us because we did lose so much, and I understand that people would doubt us, but I think we’re going to surprise some people and still be a really good team.

“Illinois baseball is a championship program now. We expect to win. We expect to make the postseason. That’s what Illinois baseball is about now.”

Let’s get back to the action

Freshman utilityman Casey Dodge and Illinois got their season underway Friday in the first official practice of the year. The Big Ten champs are ready to defend their title with a lot of new faces. Three things staff writer Scott Richey heard at Irwin Indoor Facility on Friday:

The right stuff
Kevin Duchene turned a stellar summer of 2015 in the Cape Cod League into an 11-2 record, 1.75 ERA, first-team All-Big Ten honors and a third-round selection in the MLB draft last year. Now it’s Cody Sedlock’s turn. The next Illini ace wowed scouts during his own summer on the Cape and has the unwavering support of batterymate Jason Goldstein.

“We’ve got a guy like Cody at the top of the rotation that, in my opinion, has better stuff than even Tyler Jay and Kevin Duchene,” Goldstein said. “It’s just a matter of him putting it all together, and if he does, he’s going to be a first-round pick.”

Power freshmen
Illinois hit 54 home runs last season — a significant increase from the year before. Their best home run hitters, though, have since moved on, with David Kerian (16) playing in the Washington Nationals’ system and Reid Roper (10) having graduated, gotten married and started his career as a teacher.

The Illini’s freshman class could pick up the slack.

“You’ve got Doran Turchin, Bren Spillane and Luke Shilling, all three freshmen, that have a chance to be special hitters,” Illinois coach Dan Hartleb said. “All three have power — gap power and home run power. Will that come out this season? I don’t know. We’ll see what kind of composure they have at the plate.”

Growing chemistry
The connection last year’s veteran Illinois team shared was special, with the large group of upperclassmen having built it through three or four years together. And it helped the Illini keep things loose during their 27-game winning streak and 50-win season.

Building something similar is the goal this year with so many new players.

“The relationships that we had with the older guys last year, that takes time to build,” Sedlock said. “But I think we’re coming into that. We’re all close as a team. There’s no senior-freshman separation. We’re all one big family.”