I’ve been following this possibility for a couple weeks, and yesterday it happened. Gene Stephenson, the long-time coach that started the baseball program at Wichita State University and brought the program to prominence on a national scale, was fired yesterday by athletic director Eric Sexton. It was apparent at the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament here a few weeks ago that […]
The Balk Off Win
As the ending of baseball games go, this was unique. Trailing 9-5 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, local favorite Illinois Wesleyan University mounted an improbable rally against North Central College that led to one of the more bizarre endings to a baseball game I’ve ever witnessed. Enter Matt “the Cat” Adams. The long-time “assistant director of […]
Tears of a Clown
I sat on this one for a week or two, but it’s an interesting story to accompany the photos. On his annual visit to Illinois Wesleyan, Augustana basketball coach Grey Giovanine was his usual volatile self, whining for every call. But he sunk to a new low this year. A little verbal jockeying towards IWU’s Victor Davis early in the […]
Witnessing History
For years, I just assumed Martensdale St. Mary’s (IA) was a small Catholic school with stellar baseball, bolstered by a non-boundaried policy that allowed players to drive from miles away to join a successful program. I was wrong. In the midst of following a winning streak building off a 43-0 state championship run in 2010, I learned that it’s Martensdale-St. […]