May 19, 2010

Club baseball team to compete in World Series

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A club baseball team from Southern Illinois University Carbondale is going to the World Series.

The Southern Illinois University Club Baseball Team recently clinched the District V title, earning a bid to the 2010 National Club Baseball Association Division II World Series May 21-25 in Johnstown, Pa.

The SIUC team won three games May 7-9 to claim the district championship at League Stadium in Huntingburg, Ind. -- the stadium made famous in the movie “A League of Their Own.” The team’s first game in the double-elimination tournament was the toughest and perhaps most impressive, said team captain Edwin Palacios.

The men from Carbondale were losing 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning. There were two outs. They were facing the University of Kentucky’s sport club, the two-time national champions.

“We came back and scored two to tie it and then won it in the ninth,” Palacios recalls proudly.

Kyle Stemmons pitched all nine innings.

The SIUC club team went on to beat Northern Illinois University 4-1 and 7-1 to win the district title. District V covers five states in the Midwest.

The club’s overall season record is 15-3. Palacios said most of the team’s 23 members played baseball in high school while some played at the community college or even university level and the talented troop has come together quite successfully.

“The club has worked hard to accomplish their goals they set at the beginning of the year. They have had a tough year getting games in again with Mother Nature against them, but they persevered through it all. I am proud of them and wish them the best of luck in Johnstown, Pa,” said Shane M. Bennett, assistant director of intramural sports and sport clubs for Recreational Sports and Services at SIUC.

Members of the 2010 Southern Illinois University Club Baseball Team, listed by hometown along with their major at SIUC, are:

Illinois

Algonquin

• Michael Lobes, forestry.

Batavia

• Steve Berczynski, journalism.

Bismarck

• Lucas Haynes, accounting.

Bolingbrook

• Brian Judge, architectural studies.

Bridgeview

• Josh Roderick, marketing.

Buffalo Grove

• Adam Arvanitakis, business.

Carbondale

• Eric White, mechanical engineering.

Carol Stream

• Erik Napientak, electrical engineering.

Geneva

• James Bowe, journalism.

Gilman

• Luke Fink, journalism.

Glenview

• Richard Serritella, journalism.

Herrin

• Travis Cripps, biological sciences.

Hoffman Estates

• Chris Krasny, information systems technologies.

Itasca

• Brian Serrano, computer engineering.

Justice

• Kyle Stemmons, pre-major.

Moweaqua

• Ryan Bressner, exercise science.

Oak Forest

• Edwin Palacios, exercise science.

Paris

• Ryan Furnish, mechanical engineering.

Prairie du Rocher

• Andrew Phegley, electrical engineering.

Shelbyville

• Elliott Uphoff, plant and soil sciences.

Sheridan

• Shayne Peterson, pre-major.

Wheaton

• Kyle Silbert, sports administration.

Wisconsin

Walworth

• Michael Miethke, management.