Illinois Diamond Owlz

Sunday April 25, 2010
Illinois State Games Tournament
Hoffman Estates, IL
The Illinois Diamond Owlz won the Illinois State Games this week-end beating the #3 seed Algonquin Storm 7-0 in the semi-finals and #4 seed South Elgin 3-2 in the championship game. Owlz pitcher Cole Nelson pitched a complete game shut- out against the Algonquin Storm in the semi-finals giving up only 3 hits in 7 innings. Nelson racked up 11 strikeouts against only one walk in a display of pinpoint control. The win advanced the Owlz into the championship game against a waiting South Elgin team. 

Weather for the championship game felt more like the start of football season with the cold, windy and rainy game conditions. A strong wind was blowing in from the outfield, and the  Owlz knew it would a low scoring affair determined by pitching. Being in this situation many times before,  the Owlz turned the game over to veteran Tyler Halas, who took the mound for the championship game. Like Nelson, Halas dominated in a complete game performance, allowing only two runs on four hits. Halas put up 13 strikeouts on the board with only one base on balls in his 7 inning, championship win!

It was an awesome display from Nelson and Halas on the mound today.  Their over-powering fastballs mixed in with just enough off-speed pitches kept the opposing batters off balance and frustrated all day, while the normally lethal, big-bat lineup for the Owlz provided just enough firepower to preserve the victories.

With a 14-4 win over the Geneva Vikings Blue team Wednesday night the Illinois Diamond Owlz improved their season record to 10-1-1. With an Owlz team built on pitching and hitting the Owlz have never looked better allowing only 4 runs in the last 20 innings played and scoring 55 runs in the last five games. Jacob Lindstedt got the start and win Wednesday night pitching two scoreless innings before turning the game over to Will Corn and Reid Connolly to close the door.

The Owlz Offense has been fueled by a number of players. Lead-off hitter Tyler Halas (2-2) hit long home runs in two of his at bats, and Will Corn (2-3) continued to stay hot leading the team with his .654 average. In the last five games Halas as has gone 8-11 with 4 home runs and 2 doubles while Corn has gone 9-14 with 2 homeruns and 2 doubles.

From the start of spring training we knew this team could hit, and the results have been positive. The Owlz have managed to plate eight or more batters in multiple innings of the last five games, and everyone is swinging the bat extremely well as we head into our second tournament of the season!

The Owlz are back in action Friday night as we start tournament play in the Illinois State Games hosted by Game Day USA. Game one has the Owlz pitted against the Algonquin Hawks and games' two and three against the Grayslake Coyotes and Wheatland Ducks White, respectively. The Diamond Owlz are excited to get this tournament underway, as they fell just short against the champion Illinois Bruins in the Queen City Invitational earlier this month and look to win their first tournament of the 2010 season.

Go Owlz!

The Owlz offense was led by Tyler Halas, who went a perfect 4-4, falling just a home run shy of the cycle. Halas started out the season going 8-11 in the March Mayhem Tournament at East Cobb, GA, in late March and picked up where he left off to open the regular season. Will Corn also had a solid performance at the plate, going 2-3 with all balls hit extremely hard. In spite of a strong wind blowing in from right field, the "Corndog" displayed his strength with a two-run bomb over the right fielder's head. The ball was five feet short of clearing the fence and would have easily been a home run under normal weather conditions. 

The Owlz bats started to warm up in game two as they sent 10 players to the plate in the second inning. Will Corn led off with his second double of the day and promptly scored on a line shot to left center by Matt Ellis. Jake Esp then doubled to deep left center followed by consecutive hits from Bryan Bandyk and Tony Solis to finish the six run assault.

The Owlz displayed the depth of their pitching in the second game parading three more big guns to the mound. Cole Nelson got the start and, like his long-time friend, Jake Esp, came out a little amped up in his first game as a Diamond Owl. He walked four batters before settling down to strike out the side. He allowed no hits in his two innings of work. The third and fourth innings saw the return on Matt Ellis, who, after a three year hiatus, re-joined the team for the 2010 campaign. He last played in the organization during the Illinois Lightning era. Matt gave up a run in his first inning before finding the groove and striking out the side on nine pitches in a second inning of work. It was an awesome display of his control and complement of three pitches. With a hard-tailing fast ball and impressive breaking pitch, Matt showed he is one Owl to be watched and reckoned with this season.

After a five run fourth inning, which included hits from Nelson, Connolly and Bandyk, Tyler Halas took to the mound for the fifth and final inning. Halas showed his dependable, closing capability, again, by striking out the first batter and engineering a nifty, inning ending 1-6-3 double play on a quick come-backer. 

The  Owlz are back in action this Tuesday playing host to the Wasco Wildcats, and Wednesday the Bartlett Bandits visit the Elburn Complex in a final tune-up to the Queen City Invitational in Cincinnati this weekend.