Way Back Wednesday: EIU Coach Anderson Had Memorable Battle With Palatine Legion in 1997
Ex-MLB Pitcher Led Panthers to first NCAA Baseball Tourney in 15 Years
The news of Eastern Illinois winning the Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament to earn a spot in the NCAA tourney piqued my interest on what kind of local representation the team has this season.
Two-way standout Ryan Ignoffo of Cary-Grove is part of a big local crew that led the Panthers to a school-record 38 wins and their third NCAA tournament trip at the Division I level. Ignoffo helped put baseball in Charleston back into the spotlight for the first time in awhile since the other tourney berths were in 1999 and 2008.
So, I did a double-take after seeing Jason Anderson is the head coach of the program that will face perennial power Vanderbilt, the No. 6 seed in the 64-team field, on Friday in the Nashville Regional. Was this the kid who pitched for Danville against Palatine in the 1997 American Legion state tournament and eventually made it to the show? A quick trip through his bio confirmed it was the same guy.
Anderson’s 3-2 win over Palatine in that state tourney opener in Mattoon ranks high on the list of memorable prep/amateur baseball games I witnessed. Anderson, who was drafted that June in the sixth round by the Royals and had signed with Illinois, didn’t necessarily look the part as he was listed at 6 feet and 160 pounds. But as soon as the ball came out of his right hand you didn’t need a radar gun to know he could throw the bleep out of the ball.
It was such a different time in so many respects. American Legion baseball was such a big deal in the northwest suburbs with some of the fiercest rivalries you will ever see. Major league draft picks and Division I players putting their abilities on display for big gatherings of scouts was commonplace. The Cook County tournament, which Palatine won to go to state, drew large crowds to Rec Park in Arlington Heights.
Because of the interest, the trip down I-57 to Mattoon was the second of three consecutive years where I hit the road to cover the state tourney for the Daily Herald and it wasn’t on my dime. A year earlier it was west on I-88 to Moline and in 1998 it down I-55 to Highland outside of St. Louis.
Today you can find video of just about anyone who touches 80 mph somewhere on social media or some website. Back then you had to see a kid like Anderson throw 90 mph for yourself. Anderson was coming off a 14-1 spring with an 0.69 ERA for Danville High School. He stretched a ligament in his throwing shoulder in a fall in the regional final but came back in late June - imagine that happening today with a D-I draft pick - and was 7-1 with a 1.65 ERA going into the state tourney.
Seeing was believing with Anderson. In the first 7 innings of a 9-inning game, Anderson was cruising along at just 73 pitches and the only Palatine hit was an infield single by Hoffman Estates’ grad Chris Manze. But righty Dave Kiehn, a tough competitor in football, basketball and baseball at Palatine, was battling along with Anderson and the deficit was only 2-0.
Then, with one out in the bottom of the eighth, Dave Knickerbocker got hit by a pitch and Chris Chandler, a strong lefty hitter from Hoffman, crushed a 1-2 fastball from Anderson high up into a tree behind the right-field fence to tie the game. You didn’t need any exit velo metrics to know Chandler hit the bleep out of that one.
“I threw it right where I wanted, an ankle-high fastball. He picked it up and threw it out of here,” Anderson said.
“He was the fastest pitcher I’ve seen all year,” Chandler said.
Palatine threatened to take the lead and it took a great defensive play by Anderson to keep the game tied. Shortstop Jason Hiser, the son of ex-Cub Gene Hiser, made a leaping grab of a liner as Kiehn retired the first two hitters of the ninth. But a double and Anderson’s third hit of the game on Kiehn’s 129th and final pitch - again, much different time - broke the tie and Anderson finished it off by striking out the side to end with 10 Ks.
“He was a real solid pitcher,” Kiehn said. “He throws hard but most hard throwers don’t have good off-speed stuff.”
Anderson didn’t sign with the Royals and took his stuff a few miles up the road to Illinois for the next three years. He was the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and a first-team All-American as a junior in 2000 and signed with the Yankees after he was drafted in the 10th round. He made the Yankees out of spring training in 2003 and would get a win in 22 relief appearances before he was traded across town to the Mets in mid-July for hard-throwing closer Armando Benitez.
Anderson would pitch 1 game for Cleveland in 2004 and go back to the Yankees in 2005 and pick up another victory in the final 3 games of his big-league career. He was released by the Cubs at the end of 2007 spring training but pitched in affiliated ball until 2010 and had a minor league record of 53-46 with 49 saves. He finished his pro career in the independent Atlantic League in 2011.
After a year as an assistant at Danville Community College and two as an assistant at U of I, Anderson came to Eastern Illinois and was the pitching coach for three years before taking over a struggling program in 2016. It took awhile to get going but he finally had his first full winning season in 2021 at 25-23 and last year improved to 33-20.
Now the Panthers get a shot at the champions of the powerful Southeastern Conference. It will be fun to see what Jason Anderson can do from the dugout 26 years later.
Panthers On Tournament Prowl
Senior Ryan Ignoffo (Cary-Grove) was named Ohio Valley Conference tournament MVP after earning first team all-league honors. Ignoffo had a slash line of .336/.435/.603 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) with 12 doubles, 15 homers and 59 RBI. He also was 1-1 with 4 saves in 18 pitching appearances and is one of five finalists for the John Olerud National Two-Way Player of the Year award.
Sophomore righty Tyler Conklin (Kaneland) was an all-tourney pick who went 9-5 with a 5.50 ERA in 14 starts and won the OVC title game with 3 innings of 1-hit scoreless relief. Infielder Chris Worcester (Lake Park) hit .246 with 2 homers and 18 RBI and Nick Laxner (Huntley) is 5-1, 3.21 in 10 starts.
First baseman Cade Zalewski (Wheeling) was off to a torrid start at .302 with 6 homers and 16 RBI in 43 at bats when he suffered a season-ending torn hamstring in late March. Joey Hagen (Johnsburg) hit .275 in 51 AB and pitcher Jonathan Hanscom (Mundelein), a transfer from Lewis, is 2-1 with 2 saves in 18 games.
A look at some other locals in the tourney:
One of the top starters for 15th overall seed South Carolina is junior Jack Mahoney (St. Viator). Mahoney went 6-3 with a 4.01 ERA in 15 starts and 74 strikeouts in 74 innings. In Mahoney’s last two regular-season starts he beat Arkansas 3-1 and Tennessee 6-1 and in 13 innings he allowed only 1 run on 8 hits with 15 strikeouts and 3 walks.
Jackson Gray (Wheaton North) had a huge year for 12th overall seed Kentucky. The transfer outfielder from Western Kentucky had a slash line of .363/.514/580 with 15 doubles, 6 triples, 5 homers and 32 RBI. Catcher Chase Stanke (Marmion) hit .200 with a homer in 60 AB.
Hampshire grad Matt Jachec helped Indiana State become a regional host (Photo credit Indiana State Athletics website) Matt Jachec (Hampshire) has been one of the top starting pitchers for No. 14 overall seed and Missouri Valley Conference champion Indiana State. Jachec went 7-3 with a 3.90 ERA in 14 starts and has 93 strikeouts in 92⅓ innings. Junior outfielder Adam Pottinger (Deerfield) has a slash line of .300/.452/.518 with 9 HR and 33 RBI.
Junior outfielder Nick Gregory (Dundee-Crown) played a big role in Ball State winning the Mid-American Conference and making the Kentucky regional. Gregory hit .267 with 11 doubles and 19 RBI. Outfielder Andrew Wilhite (Stillman Valley) had 4 HR and 30 RBI.
Shortstop Jack Housinger (Stevenson) helped Xavier win the Big East tournament title and has started all 60 games with a slash line of .220/.399/.453 with 12 HR and 37 RBI. The graduate student has committed only 7 errors as the Musketeers also had to the Vanderbilt regional. Freshman catcher Hayden Christensen (Richmond-Burton) hit .436 with 2 HR and 6 RBI in 14 games.
Neuqua Valley’s Ricky Castro finished off Tulane’s stunning run to the NCAA tournament (Photo credit Tulane University Athletics website) Ricky Castro (Neuqua Valley) capped Tulane’s improbable run to an American Athletic Conference title and NCAA bid with a 19-40 record. The graduate student pitched a scoreless ninth as the seventh-seeded Green Wave upset top-seed East Carolina 8-6 in AAC championship game. Castro (4-6, 5.14) started at Parkland and pitched for three years at Purdue. Tulane travels an hour west to face No. 5 overall seed LSU in the Baton Rouge Regional.
Four suburban products are part of the Arizona pitching staff. Sophomore lefty Eric Orloff (Glenbrook North) is 2-0, 4.57 in 24 games with 26 strikeouts in 21.2 innings. Freshman Casey Hintz (St. Viator) has appeared in 23 games, freshman lefty Jackson Kent (Lake Park) in 17 and freshman Tony Pluta (St. Viator) in six.
Sam Hojnar (Naperville Central) helped Iowa finish second in the Big Ten tourney and earn a berth at the Indiana State regional. Hojnar slashed .266/.351/.490 with 10 HR, 11 doubles and 56 RBI and was 11-for-11 in stolen bases.
Junior lefty Jacob Bimbi (Crystal Lake South) is 2-0, 5.27 with 22 strikeouts in 13⅔ innings for Tennessee.
Will Jauss, the director of pitching technology for Boston College, is a familiar name to many Chicago-area sports fans. Jauss’ grandfather Bill was a legendary sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune and part of the classic The Sportswriters on TV. Will Jauss’ dad Dave is currently an advisor for the Washington Nationals and was also a big-league coach. Boston College is headed to the Alabama regional.
Wheeling’s Bullock Helps Rollins Return to D-II Finals
In D-II, outfielder Kyle Bullock (Wheeling/McHenry Community College) is part of Rollins College’s return trip to the NCAA national tournament for a second consecutive year. Bullock, a two-time all-MSL pick, hit .288 with 2 HR and 12 RBI in 31 games. Rollins is seeded fourth in the eight-team tourney and opens with Cal State-San Bernardino on Saturday in Cary, N.C.