On Campus: McHenry West grad Borst, Marian Central grad Rodriguez power Minot St. baseball team

Opportunity led Michael Borst and Sal Rodriguez to North Dakota’s Minot State University. Now, as seniors, the McHenry County athletes likely will leave Minot as two of the top baseball players in school history.

“The flip that this program has had is amazing,” said Borst, a senior outfielder from McHenry West. “My senior year in high school, this team won eight [conference] games. Taking a chance on a program like this, we knew we wanted to play right away, along with have an effect on this team.”

This month, Borst and Rodriguez (Marian Central) set career records for the Beavers, who won the 2018 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular-season title with a 29-6 league record.

On March 11, Borst went 4 for 4 to become the school’s career hits leader in the NCAA Division II era (since 2012) with 175. The same day, Rodriguez drove in two runs to take over the school’s D-II career RBIs record with 131.

“We had a teammate who said guys like Michael and myself have shaped this program,” Rodriguez said. “As humbling as that comment was, we have all had a say in it. RBIs are easy to be attached to one player, but you have guys getting on base and guys in front of you moving runners over and setting me up to drive in runs.”

Borst agreed, saying the team’s advancement from 10 total wins in his freshman year to 34 last season is a credit to third-year coach Scott Eul and teammates galore.

“I just want to do my part for this program,” Borst said. “I can’t thank the guys around me enough for putting me in situations where I’m able to hit a pitch.”

Borst and Rodriguez, a senior first baseman-designated hitter, have continued to impact the Beavers (7-7) this season.

Minot is off to a better start this season than a year ago, when the team finished 34-16, the most wins in school history.

On Friday, Borst also set the school's D-II record (since 2012) with six hits in a 14-inning win over Minnesota State, 10-7. Borst went 6 for 6 with two walks, two home runs, four RBIs and four runs scored.

Borst is batting .458 with 25 RBIs, while Rodriguez has a .339 average with 13 RBIs.
After a 1-6 start, the Beavers' offense has scored 10 runs a game over the past nine games. The team has more to prove after losing in the conference tournament and being left out of last year's NCAA tournament field.

“We feel like we could be a Top 25 team,” Borst said. “I’m very, very confident in how we can perform.”

Rodriguez said this season’s team is “unlike any” previous team he’s been on at Minot. The squad features 16 seniors and 17 freshmen or redshirt freshmen on a deep, talented roster.

“Almost our entire lineup can put the ball out of the park,” Rodriguez said. “And our pitching is going to be really great.”

Borst (Moose Jaw) and Rodriguez (Medicine Hat) will play this summer in Canada’s Western Major Baseball League in hopes of turning heads of pro scouts.

But they have plenty to do before then. That includes encouraging and helping their new teammates.

“We have freshmen asking questions all the time,” Borst said. “That makes me feel honored. It feels good knowing that when I leave here, this team will still succeed.”

National honor for Reiser: Illinois junior Jesse Reiser (McHenry West) earned second-team All-America honors this month as a member of the Illini's indoor distance medley relay team.

Reiser and his DMR teammates finished 12th at the NCAA indoor nationals in Birmingham, Alabama, in a time of 9 minutes, 56.86 seconds. The honor marked the first career All-America achievement for Reiser, who helped the Illini set a school record in February with the quartet’s 9:29.19 time at a meet at Notre Dame.

Ruelius' big bat for Illini: Marengo grad Veronica Ruelius, a senior softball outfielder at Illinois, hit two home runs and drove in four runs Wednesday in a doubleheader against Indiana State. Ruelius hit both home runs in a 7-4 Illinois victory in the second game.

Despite starting only eight games, Ruelius has been a major power source for the Illini (18-6). She has three homers, 11 RBIs and a team-high 1.042 slugging percentage.

Ignoffo pitches in for Panthers: Eastern Illinois freshman Ryan Ignoffo (Cary-Grove) has made an impact this season at the plate and on the mound.

Ignoffo, who has started eight games for the Panthers, is batting .344 with a team-high .656 slugging percentage. He has scored nine runs for Eastern. He was 3 for 4 with two RBIs March 12 in a 9-4 victory against Alabama State.

As a pitcher, Ignoffo has not allowed an earned run in three appearances.

Helping Falcons soar: Two local athletes set school records during the indoor track and field season for D-III Concordia University Wisconsin.

Sophomore Megan Curran (Richmond-Burton) placed second in the weight throw at the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference championships with a record toss of 53 feet, 7 inches. Senior Irene Bolis (Marengo) broke the 55-meter hurdles record with a time of 8.7 seconds at a last-chance meet. She placed fourth in the event at the NACC meet, where she also placed fifth in the 55 dash (7.60) in the third-fastest time in school history.

Marengo’s Hannah Secor is a freshman distance runner for the Falcons.

Fellow Marengo grad Katie Adams is in her first season as an assistant coach with the team.

• Barry Bottino writes a weekly column about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at barryoncampus@hotmail.com and follow @BarryOnCampus on Twitter.