I spoke with Mother Nature’s press secretary late Friday night, roughly two hours after I lost the feeling in my toes at a doubleheader in Plainfield. The press secretary – a throaty woman named Jan who spoke with a smoker’s wheeze – advised me to “man-up or purchase wool socks.” True, I do need to man up, but that is beside the point. I told Jan that I had a petition signed by 4,221 fans, players, coaches and media members demanding to know what Mother Nature’s plan for the spring season was. I told her that players have worked nine months to prepare for the season, many of whom were relying on the spring to earn a college scholarship and that not only was this ridiculous weather spoiling our joy, it potentially may cost families thousands of dollars in scholarship money.
We thought last spring was bad … hardly. This season has been the worst in recent memory. We’ve already had two snow storms, consistent rain, flooding in southern Illinois, and toe-freezing temperatures. There have been more games cancelled than flights at O’Hare. With all the snow up north, I don’t think the schools in the northern suburbs will play on their fields until mid April.
This coming week very well may be a wash, too. Rain is being called for Sunday and Monday, followed by low-40 degree temps. Lovely.
Jan said she will inform Mother Nature of our displeasure. In the meantime, she said, there’s a big Turface sale going on right now.
Diamond-Dry Notes: Temperatures are cold, but these players and teams are red-hot:
* St. Rita junior OF-1B Angelo Burrage has already hit five homers this season, including a two-dinger, 6-RBI performance against Richards on Monday.
* Defending Class A champion Columbia, which is the prohibitive favorite to win the Class AA title this year, is already 9-0 (as of Friday). Baylor-bound Trent Blank is 2-0 with 13 Ks in nine innings. Junior Joel Greatting is also 2-0 on the mound and 13-for-27 at the plate to go along with 11 RBI.
* No. 1 Brother Rice is off to a 6-0 start behind torrid hitting from essentially the entire lineup. PBR No. 1-ranked sophomore Kevin Koziol has been leading the charge. The SS-RHP has already tallied four homers, 17 RBI and three doubles. On the mound, he’s 1-0 with one run in seven innings pitched. Tom Hickey, the Crusaders’ 6-foot-6 left-handed hitting 1B, also has four bombs, and CF Doug Schumacher has two. Any college looking for a power left-handed bat needs to take a look at Hickey, who’s also a top-level student.
* Galesburg senior LHP Kyle Hunter is off to a dominating 3-0 start. On Saturday against Streator, the Kansas State-bound Hunter, who’s one of the top pitchers in the state, struck out 13, allowed no hits and two walks in five innings to lead Galesburg to a 10-0 victory.
* Benet may have graduated a lot of talent, but the No. 24 Redwings look like they will be tough to beat again. They are 2-0, with both victories coming against preseason -ranked opponents: No. 28 Downers Grove North and No. 32 Batavia. In two games Benet has yet to allow a run. In a 13-0 victory over Downers North, Illinois-bound Bryan Roberts struck out 10 without allowing a hit in four innings, and the team combined to tally 15 Ks and no-hit the Trojans.
* Normal West is off and running this season with an 8-0 record. On Saturday the Wildcats scored two runs in the top of the seventh to upend perennial power Sacred-Heart Griffin. Earlier, Normal West pounded Limestone 11-1 behind NC State-bound Harold Riggins two homers and five RBI. Riggins isn’t the only one producing for the Wildcats. Senior Luke Wing (3-0), Erich Bushong, Colton Moore and Blake Brown are all off to hot starts. Moore (2-0), a junior, tossed a no-hitter against East Peoria.
* Plainfield North senior RHP Michael Gislain is 2-0 with two complete-game shutouts under his belt.