All Entries in the "Baseball" Category

Andrew Clark Doing Well, Thanks

Andrew Clark, former University of Louisville first baseman, has signed with the Texas Rangers.

He’s currently assigned to  the Spokane Indians in the Northwest League where, after 23 games, he is hitting .316 with one home run and 12 runs batted in. His .427 on-base percentage ranks third in the league.

Clark misses Louisville a great deal, as he told Minor League Baseball.com.

“I never really grew up as a college fan of any sort. I love the town — I love the city of Louisville.”

He said leaving town was a tough move for him, especially considering he had to leave his loved ones behind. He doesn’t even have a car to get around in Spokane.

“I miss Louisville, I miss my fiancé, and I miss all my friends,” Clark said. “I’m fulfilling my dream, and I have to be a little selfish to do that.”

Not really, Andrew. Time to move on. Louisville is behind you,  but pulling hard for you to succeed.

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Kime Chooses Louisville Over Pittsburgh Pirates

Don’t look now but Dan McDonnell is reloading.

Dace Kime, a right-handed pitcher selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eighth round of the recent Major League Baseball draft, has decided he prefers playing baseball at the University of Louisville over the rigors of minor league play. Source.

Kime, from Defiance, Ohio, compiled a 7-1 won-lost record with a 1.31 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 69.2 innings. His team finished 29-2 and advanced to the state semifinals in 2010. He was selected 237th overall.

“I know there are no guarantees, but now I get the chance to go to school to get an education and still play baseball,” he told the Defiance (Ohio) Crescent-News. “My focus now is going to be on doing the best I can in the classroom and on the baseball field. I’m very excited about going to Louisville.”

U of L baseball fans are exuberant. Here’s a video from MLB draft day:

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Louisville’s Ryan Wright Makes Team USA

Good for Ryan Wright.

Ryan Wright

The University of Louisville second baseman has been named to the 2010 USA Baseball National Team. This comes as no surprise to people who closely followed the baseball Cards.

The U of L junior-to-be is consistently good at the plate, avoiding the slumps that seemed to inflict the team during this season’s stretch drive. Wright led Louisville with 80 runs batted in and ranked second in hitting with a hefty .366 batting average. He was equally impressive defensively, committing only three errors.

Team USA then will host a five-game series against Korea on July 14-18.

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Dog Days Arrive For Louisville Fans

Forever until September.

July only now arriving, still only one-third of the way through a record hot summer. Dog days. Boring. Not much happening in University of Louisville athletics.

Wrong.

• Over at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, seats are still being installed at a record slow pace, at least four or five chair backs at day. Advertising panels are being added to the video scoreboard. Workers are putting finishing touches on the luxury suites, with interior decorators breathing down their necks.

• Football players doing individual workouts. Charlie Strong awaiting test scores.  Attracting four-to-five-star transfers at a record clip.

• At the new KFC Yum! Center, the video scoreboard is up, as well as ancillary units. Massive heating and air conditioning system nearing completion. Exterior glass being sealed. Marble flooring going down in the spacious lobby. Plush red seats being added, getting snatched up by corporations and fans as fast as they can be installed.

• On campus, players working out, following through on individual instruction. Rick Pitino hiring new assistants, awaiting test scores and securing transfers. Meeting himself coming and going to the airport attending summer shoe camps.
  

• At Jim Patterson Stadium, baseball coach Dan McDonnell is conducting youth camps, padding his salary. But he’s also keeping a wary eye on the Aug. 15th signing deadline, hoping most of the seven underclassmen and two high school recruits picked during the Major League draft are enrolled next semester.

• Women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz is salivating over the prospects of a top five recruiting class, hoping  the chemistry is as good as the player rankings. Trying to forget all the injuries, knowing it could never be as bad as last season.
  

• Tom Jurich is still breathing a sigh of relief that the Big East was untouched during the latest round of conference expansion. But he’s not waiting for the phone to ring either. Not Tom Jurich.

No sitting around for some during the dog days.

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Jim Patterson, the major benefactor for the University of Louisville baseball stadium, obviously had some concerns about his team’s offensive prowess during the NCAA Louisville Regional. Not a happy camper in the press box watching Louisville lose 3-2 to Vanderbilt. His wife, Dot, was not happy either.

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Louisville Baseball Ends On A Dribbler

The shirt worn by Jan Catlin to the championship game of the Louisville Regional says it all for fans who endured too many extra innings, rain delays, pitchers’ duels, hitting slumps and other disruptions during the post season.

Vanderbilt Squeezes Way Into Super Regional

Just a slow dribbler out in front of the plate, Neil Holland staring hopelessly at the ball, a moment frozen in time, no effort to pick it up, the ball rolling past him, Vanderbilt runner crossing the plate.

Another bunt in a long line of successful attempts, Louisville loses 3-2. Vanderbilt advances to the Super Regional.

• The magic began to fade during the Big East Tournament for this Louisville team, with so many disputed calls, the impotent bats, the inconsistent relief pitching. The capper was Dan McDonnell being ejected during the St. John’s game, getting suspended for three games as the NCAA Tournament begins.

• Thomas Royse getting out of bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning, striking out the final two batters, but running out of juice again almost on schedule in the sixth inning.

• A tenth inning rally cut short when Josh Richmond is called out for interfering with the catcher as Stewart Ijames attempts to steal second with no outs. Lights out.

• The season ends for the University of Louisville baseball team with the players consoling each other under the lights in the left field. Very quiet, except for the tears.

• Eat. Sleep. Baseball. Fun, but a grind as well.

The only good thing about the loss is we get our other lives back.

Among the disappointed University of Louisville fans was Danielle Clark-McDonald, the sister of first baseman Andrew Clark, who attended many of the U of L games during the season, motoring all the way from New Palestine, north of Indianapolis.

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Thomas Royse Returning, Too?

He’s got a few questions surrounding him. One hopes he has the answers. The name of Thomas Royse is being mentioned. He’s usually good for at least five, maybe six, innings. Be ready to yank him quickly because when Royse tires, he is done. Don’t let Neil Holland out of sight.

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