Well hello everyone, and welcome to the dead zone in Hawkeye sports. Iowa baseball wrapped up its home slate, finishing 19-4, which happens to be the best home record since the Hawks went 19-2 in 1989.
With the Big Ten Tournament right around the corner, Jake Adams is eating baseballs — he hit his 20th and 21st of the season in last night’s 9-8 walkoff win over Omaha — and it’s quite lovely to experience. Here’s to hoping his mashing will carry over to the postseason and Iowa plays its way to the championship game again this time around.
Last year it was Joel Booker and Tyler Peyton leading the effort with help from Robert Neustrom, among others. As Max wrote the other day in that post linked above, Adams, Neustrom, et. al. will spearhead the charge this time around, hopefully finishing the job and giving the Hawks their first Big Ten Tournament crown since the beginning of time. No, Iowa has never won that tourney, unfortunately.
Speaking of Booker and Peyton — how about an update on their young professional careers? Booker, a 22nd-round pick of the Chicago White Sox, is slashing .316/.395/.383 for the Kannapolis Intimidators of the South Atlantic League (full-season A ball). Other than getting his slugging percentage higher than his OBP, Booker will have to improve on his nearly 3:1 walk to strikeout rate to move up the ranks.
Peyton, whom the Register caught up with a week and a half ago, was taken in the 29th round by the Chicago Cubs, is still at the Cubs spring training facility in Arizona, rehabbing after a slew of injuries took a big toll on the right-handed pitcher. He’s on the 60-day DL.
Hey look, rowing! The Hawkeye Crew is headed to the NCAA Championships via an at-large selection Tuesday. The team’s ranked No. 12 in the nation, and is one of 22 teams selected to compete at the championships on Lake Mercer in West Windsor, New Jersey. That’s scheduled May 26-28.
Congrats, and if the BHGP budget allows, I’ll volunteer to make the trip and watch some crew on the Eastern Seaboard. A real company man, I know.
Watch the Hawkeye excitement from Tuesday's announcement: https://t.co/RNd7VCrlfb
— Iowa Rowing (@iowarowing) May 16, 2017
With the Cubs getting a much-needed night off Monday, I found myself occupying some of my time watching a condensed version of the 2010 Insight Bowl victory over Mizzou.
It could have very well been the lack of time between plays, but the pace at which that Ken O’Keefe-coached offense played really left me hoping he’s able to bring something this team’s been missing over the past few seasons, 2015 notwithstanding. The run set up the passing game very effectively, and I was having visions of Akrum Wadley matching or surpassing Marcus Coker’s 219-yard day in Iowa’s 2018 bowl contest.
Anywho, here’s a 13-minute highlight video of that game if you’re looking to kill time. There are plenty of shorter versions out there, however you might have to listen to music that hasn’t aged well dubbed over grainy footage. Unfortunately I couldn’t find one featuring the best song ever.
While we’re on the subject, Ricky Stanzi left America and signed with the Calgary Stampeders — best of luck to Mr. Everything in the Great White North.
Hawkeye recruit Joe Wieskamp is a charitable guy — he won $1,000 for being named Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year, and donated all of those funds to the Muscatine YMCA. That’s really awesome to see from a high school kid.
Joe Wieskamp received $1,000 for winning Iowa @Gatorade POY. Donated all of it to Muscatine's YMCA. #ClassAct || @AndyWerling pic.twitter.com/oFCy9YMeCH
— Greg Armstrong (@GregWQAD) May 16, 2017