College Update: Cam McDonald up for Dike Eddleman Award at Illinois

Hall product Cam McDonald is a nominee for the prestigious Dike Eddleman Male Athlete of the Year for the University of Illinois.

This award is presented to the University of Illinois male athlete who most excels in his sport at both the conference and national levels in memory of the legendary Eddleman, the most decorated athlete in school history.

McDonald, a grad student, recorded his 200th career hit early in the season and is hitting .286 with five home runs, a triple, nine doubles and 26 RBIs. He is ranked as the No. 145 outfielder in the nation by D1Baseball.

Last year, McDonald broke the Illinois on-base streak record by reaching base in his 58th consecutive games and reached base safely in all but one game.

Teammate Ty Rybarczyk of Hall’s 2018 state championship team made one appearance for the Illini this spring before being shut down with Tommy John surgery to his elbow.

Other area players for the Illini (18-19, 7-8) are outfielder Colton Quagliano (Wethersfield) and pitcher Julius Sanchez (L-P).

Also in Champaign sophomore pitcher Trez Rybarczyk (Hall) is 3-1 with a 4.91 ERA for the Parkland College Cobras (33-9). He has struck out 49 batters in 44 innings.

• Brant Vanaman, a BCR Player of the Year from Hall, is batting .313 with three homers, 11 doubles and 29 RBIs for the University of Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars. He is a red-shirt sophomore outfielder, who transferred to UIS from Parkland having started at Kent State University.

• Chance Resetich (Hall) is batting .327 for Southeast Missouri State, second highest in the lineup. The junior utility player, who transferred from Black Hawk College, has played in all 42 games with 39 starts for the Redhawks (23-19) with five home runs, 10 doubles, 38 runs and 37 RBIs.

• Four former Hall hurlers are under the tutelage of their former pitching coach, Matt McDonald, now at Black Hawk College - including sophomores Payton Plym (3-0, 3.70) and Jack Savitch (5-3, 2.40) and freshman Alec Bulak (0-1, 4.80), who have made 27 appearances (12 starts) between with a combined 8-4 record. Freshman Ethan Plym is also on the team, but has not pitched.

• Sophomore pitcher Luke Kelty (Hall) has made three appearances for Monmouth College. He sports a 2.25 ERA with two strikeouts over four innings.

• Drew Wooley (Princeton) is a sophomore catcher for the Skyhawks (8-23) at Sauk Valley College.

• Kane Clendenon (St. Bede) was recognized on Senior Night this week with the Purdue Northwest Pride baseball team.

• Demetrius Schupp (St. Bede), a senior catcher at Eureka College, has appeared in 15 games for the Red Devils (9-22), batting .250.

• Dylan Grammar (St. Bede), a junior transfer from IVCC, has made four pitching appearances with two starts for Augustana College.

• Luke Olson (Putnam County), a junior transfer from Danville Community College, has made 11 starts with one complete game for Div. 1 Ohio University. He is 3-3 with a 6.91 ERA. He pitched a two-hit, 6-0 shutout at Toledo on April 7.

SOFTBALL

• IVCC freshmen Katie Bates of Princeton was ranked 40th in NJCAA Division II in strikeouts per seven innings at 8.42. She stands 9-4 and has struck out 92 batters in 90 innings. She is also batting .376 with 19 RBIs.

Two of Bates’ classmates from Princeton have also made the trip to the Hilltop. Taylor Wetsel carries the second highest average in the IVCC starting lineup at .396 (36-98) with 13 RBIs. Libby Boyles is batting at an even .400 clip (18-45) with 14 RBIs.

St. Bede is represented at IVCC by sophomores Marissa Boehm (.362) and Claire Morrow (.250).

• Two standouts from Bureau County are swinging for Sauk Valley.

McKenzie Hecht (Princeton) is batting .426 with four homers and 19 RBIs as the Skyhawks short stop. Tyra Sayler of Bureau Valley is batting .398 with two homers and 15 RBIs, playing third base and pitching some.

Freshmen Kalee Carlson of Bureau Valley is also on the Sauk roster.

• Abbie May (St. Bede) stands 6-6 with a 3.97 ERA in 15 appearances (12 starts) for Purdue Northwest. She has struck out 42 batters over 67 innings.

• Freshmen Payge Pyszka (St. Bede) has made 15 appearances (8 starts) for Clarke (Iowa) University. She is 2-5 with a 6.80 ERA.

• Kaitlin Kobilsek, a freshmen infielder from St. Bede, has played in 12 games for Bryant and Stratton College of Wauwatosa, Wisc., batting .250.

• Ryann Stoudt, the 2022 BCR Player of the Year, is a freshmen infielder at Quincy University.

TRACK AND FIELD

• Bret Dannis (St. Bede/Arlington), a graduate student for Illinois, won his debut in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.0 in the inaugural Gary Wieneke Memorial on April 22 in Champaign. Dannis won the 110mH (14.44) and placed second in the long jump 7.20m (23-7 1/2) the day before.

The Illini are in Jacksonville, Fla. this weekend for the University of North Florida Invitational.