The Times Athlete of the Week: Fieldcrest’s Jordan Heider pitches his way to this week’s honor

Fieldcrest baseball’s Jordan Heider won the reader vote for The Times Athlete of the Week, sponsored by Northern Insurance Group LTD, Jim Boes Services and Christian Reynolds American Family Insurance.

The Knights picked up their first win of the young season Friday, a 5-0 blanking of Roanoke-Benson powered by Jordan Heider’s complete-game, three-hit shutout of the Rockets.

Heider received 553 of a whopping 1,016 votes cast, tops on a ballot that also included runner-up ZuZu Gonzalez (Streator girls soccer), Conner Price (Ottawa baseball) and Teagan Johnson (Seneca girls track and field).

Next week’s ballot will be online Sunday and accessible via Facebook (The Times Sports) and Twitter (@jtpedelty), with voting through midday Wednesday.

Here is a Q&A with this week’s winner:

Do you have any nicknames?

Heider: “J Hei”

Fieldcrest is famously a large school district, geographically speaking, made up of many towns. Which one do you call home?

Heider: Wenona

Complete games are pretty rare this early in the season, much less complete-game shutouts. What was working for you against Roanoke-Benson that allowed you to go the distance?

Heider: I felt like I had good control over my pitches, and I was able to trust my defense to make plays behind me.

When and where did you first start playing the game?

Heider: I started playing the game in Wenona’s coach pitch league when I was 5 years old.

Who were a few of the best coaches you’ve had through the years?

Heider: Coach Mark Brown and Coach Ron Kreiser

Where do you play your summer ball, and what’s the farthest you’ve traveled for a summer tournament?

Heider: Top Tier Central; and the farthest I have traveled is to LakePoint Sports in Emerson, Georgia.

What goals do you have for yourself and for the team this season?

Heider: My goal for the team on the season is to win regionals, and a personal goal I have is to make another all-conference team.

What’s your go-to place to order pizza, and what do you get on it?

Heider: My favorite place to order a pizza from is in Peoria, called Old Chicago, and I like to get sausage and pepperoni.

Is there a fact about you that might surprise people who only know you through sports?

Heider: In school, I’m a very shy kid.

It’s the seventh inning of a tie game, the bases are loaded, and there are two outs. Would you rather be on the pitcher’s mound or stepping into the batter’s box, and why?

Heider: It’s very close, but I would rather be hitting, because I want to be the one that has the opportunity of giving my team the lead.

Do you have any college plans yet? If so, do they involve sports?

Heider: I just hope I can play baseball at the next level.