(May 28) -- Indian Hills Community College had eight players chosen to the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference All-Region XI baseball teams. The Falcons placed two players on both the first and second teams and had four more named honorable mention all-region.
Named to the first team from Indian Hills were sophomore pitcher Josh Gibbs and freshman first baseman Christian Rivera. Gibbs was among the pitching staff’s leaders in wins, saves, innings pitched, and strikeouts. Rivera split his time between the mound and first base. He hit well over .400 for the season to lead the team and was at or near the top in numerous other hitting and pitching categories.
The second team all-region selections from IHCC were outfielder Bryan Baum and infielder Carlos Zayas, both sophomores. Baum led the Falcons in home runs and RBIs and Zayas was the team leader in stolen bases and provided steady defense at second base.
Indian Hills’ honorable mention choices were sophomore pitchers Denver Walker and Dustin Northcott and sophomore outfielders Roderick Barcelo and Bill Schroeder.
The Falcons finished the season with a record of 29-25 and lost to Iowa Western in the Region XI title game.
(May 12) -- Iowa Western saw a big early lead slip away, then regrouped to down Indian Hills in the championship game of the Region XI postseason tournament on Monday afternoon at Pat Daugherty Field. The 22-15 victory puts the Reivers in this week's district tournament with a chance to advance to the JUCO World Series. The loss ends the Falcons' season with a 29-25 record, one win shy of pulling off a memorable comeback in the region tourney.
Iowa Western looked like they would make quick work of the Falcons early in Monday's game. The Reivers put together a nine-run second inning to grab an early 10-1 lead. And Falcons' head coach Cam Walker had already used three pitchers by the end of the second inning. But Indian Hills fought back with four runs in the 2nd inning, a run in the 3rd and four more in the 4th. And when IHCC tallied a run in the bottom of the 5th, they had come all the way back to take a 11-10 lead. Meanwhile, Milton Velazquez gave the Falcons' depleted pitching staff some relief with three scoreless innings while Indian Hills was mounting their comeback.
But Iowa Western got to Velazquez and then Milton Gonzalez for four-run innings in the 6th and 7th and added four more runs in the 9th against Jamie Matos. And in both the big early inning for the Reivers and the later innings when they reasserted themselves, a shaky IHCC defense was a big factor. Indian Hills committed 11 errors in the game, repeatedly giving IWCC extra outs.
Indian Hills scored four late runs against the Iowa Western bullpen, but it wasn't enough as the Reivers came back after a one-run defeat to Indian Hills the day before to secure the region title. IHCC actually outhit Iowa Western 20-19 with Jonathan Piche, one of the Indian Hills sophomores who saw their Falcons' careers come to a close, having a huge game. Piche had five hits, scored two runs and drove in two. Piche was 11-for-19 at the plate in the five tournament games. Leadoff hitter Carlos Zayas had three hits and scored four times while Travis Whitmore had three hits, three RBIs and three runs scored. Four more Falcons -- Christian Rivera, Bryan Baum, Luke Stamp and Jose Marin -- all had two-hit games.
Indian Hills had forced Monday's game with wins against Marshalltown and Iowa Western on Sunday. The 4-3 victory against the Reivers snapped Iowa Western's 18-game winning streak.
(May 11) -- The Indian Hills baseball team needed some quality pitching performances from both starters and relievers on Sunday if the Falcons were to extend the Region XI tournament to another day. And that's exactly what the Falcons got. Starters Denver Walker and Dustin Northcott and relievers Brian Graves and Jamie Matos were outstanding as the Falcons kept their hopes for a region title alive with victories against Marshalltown CC, by an 8-4 score, and Iowa Western CC. IHCC's 4-3 win over Iowa Western means those two teams will square off again on Monday at noon for the region championship and a spot in the district tournament.
Knowing that one more loss would end their season, the Falcons started quickly in Sunday's first game against Marshalltown, scoring six runs in the 1st inning. Jonathan Piche had three hits for IHCC and Christian Rivera, Roderick Barcelo and Mike Stamp each had two. Barcelo drove in three runs. Walker went the first 6 1/3 innings and allowed only two earned runs. Graves got the save with 2 2/3 innings of relief.
Northcott held the potent Iowa Western lineup in check through the first five innings in Sunday's nightcap. IHCC broke through with two runs in the 5th on a RBI single by Rivera and a wild pitch that allowed the second run to score. After the Reivers got on the scoreboard with a run in the 6th, Indian Hills answered with a tally in the 7th and then scored the eventual game-winning run in the top of the 9th. Iowa Western got to within a run in the bottom of the 9th, but Matos got out of further trouble and saved the win for Northcott, who struck out seven and gave up only one earned run in 6 2/3 innings. Piche, Rivera, Barcelo and Nelcicio York all had two hits for IHCC.
Indian Hills was pushed into the losers' bracket after getting shellacked by Iowa Western on Saturday, 16-2. The Falcons were held to only five hits as the Reivers scored in double figures for the fourth time in five games against the Falcons.
A 5-4 win over Muscatine had started the Falcons' tournament play on Friday afternoon. Indian Hills built a 5-0 lead after five innings. Bryan Baum had a home run and Rivera and Alex Collura each knocked in runs for IHCC. Rivera cruised through the first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth when the Cardinals scored three runs and left the bases loaded. Muscatine scored another run in the 7th to get to within a run at 5-4. Tyler Fries came on in relief for the Falcons and shut out Muscatine in the 8th. When MCC put two runners on against Fries in the 9th, Travis Parker came out of the bullpen and got the last two outs for the save.
Baum had a 4-for-4 game at the plate for IHCC while Travis Whitmore had a pair of hits.
(May 5) -- For the second year in a row, Indian Hills CC and Muscatine CC will hook up in the first round of the Region XI postseason baseball tournament. IHCC and Muscatine will meet at 2:00 Friday afternoon at Pat Daugherty Field on the IHCC campus in Centerville. The first game of the double-elimination regional tourney will pit Marshalltown CC against Southwestern CC at 11am on Friday. Iowa Western, which went 15-1 in league play and ran away with the conference regular-season title, gets a first-round bye and will take on the Marshalltown-Southwestern winner at 5:00 Friday afternoon. The tourney will continue on Saturday and Sunday and there could be at least one game, and possibly two, on Monday as well.
Indian Hills and Muscatine tied for second place in the conference standings with records of 9-7. Indian Hills won the tiebreaker to gain the No. 2 seed. The two teams split a four-game series in Centerville this past weekend, with Muscatine winning both games on Saturday and Indian Hills sweeping the Sunday doubleheader.
The Falcons and Cardinals met in the opening round of the Region XI tournament last year and Muscatine sent the Falcons to the losers’ bracket with an 11-3 win, slamming five home runs against IHCC pitching. Indian Hills was eventually knocked out of the tourney by Iowa Western after winning back-to-back games against Southwestern and Marshalltown.
The Region XI baseball tournament is being played in Centerville for the first time since 2004. Indian Hills won the tourney that year and went on to play in the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado.
(May 5) -- Faced with the prospect of falling from second to third in the conference standings, the Indian Hills baseball team battled back to sweep Muscatine CC on Sunday to put a good finish to Parents Weekend. Muscatine had moved into second place ahead of IHCC in the league standings after posting 10-5 and 6-5 victories on Saturday. Indian Hills matched those two wins with two of their own, winning 4-2 and 11-6. The results leave the two teams tied in the Region XI standings with 9-7 records.
The big inning has really hurt the Falcons' chances lately and that was true again in the first game Saturday. Muscatine scored five runs in the 2nd against IHCC starter Dustin Northcott and they nailed down the win with three in the 7th against reliever Jamie Matos. Only three of the MCC runs were earned thanks to four Indian Hills' errors. Christian Rivera, who had a huge weekend at the plate to continue his late-season hitting barrage, had three hits, including a pair of doubles, for the Falcons. Travis Whitmore and Jose Marin each had two hits. Rivera was the starter and loser on the mound in game two on Saturday. The Falcons took an early 3-2 lead and trailed 6-5 heading into the bottom of the 7th. They put the leadoff batter on base on a single by Whitmore, but couldn't get him home. Both Jonathan Piche and Josean Padilla had two hits for IHCC and Luke Stamp had a two-run double.
Joshua Gibbs gave the Falcons a well-pitched game in the first contest on Sunday, going the distance and allowing only two runs. Rivera, Padilla and Nelcicio York supported Gibbs with two hits apiece and the Falcons had five doubles among their 10 hits. IHCC pounded out 11 more hits in game two. Bryan Baum and Schroeder had homers and Baum drove in four runs. Denver Walker went the first five innings and picked up the win.
Indian Hills has two chances to tune up for this weekend's Region XI tourney. They'll play a doubleheader at Iowa Central on Monday and host Kirkwood for a pair of games on Tuesday.
(April 30) -- A late rally in game one wasn't enough to get a win for the Indian Hills baseball team, but it served to jump-start the IHCC offense and the Falcons went on to gain a split in Tuesday's doubleheader with DMACC at Pat Daugherty Field. The visitors held off the late uprising by Indian Hills to win the opener 8-6 before the Falcons pushed across a run in the bottom of the 8th to win the nightcap 9-8.
DMACC put together a seven-run 3rd inning in the first game and all eight of their runs were charged to starter Denver Walker. Indian Hills got a solo homer from Christian Rivera in the 4th and then scored five times in the last of the 7th with Rivera supplying a two-run single and Bill Schroeder and Jose Marin adding run-scoring singles. Rivera had three hits and Schroeder two.
In game two, IHCC jumped out to a 6-0 lead with four runs in the 1st and two more on a Bryan Baum home run in the 2nd. The Bears eventually took an 8-7 lead in the top of the 7th before the Falcons tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a pinch-hit single by Roderick Barcelo that drove in Schroeder. After Brent Peotter held DMACC scoreless in the top of the 8th, the Falcons pushed across a run in the bottom of the inning for the victory. Travis Whitmore led off by reaching on an error and scored on a single by Justin Haning. Peotter was the winner in relief. Whitmore had two hits and scored three runs and Rivera had three hits for IHCC.
Coach Cam Walker said, "The big inning got us in trouble today. But the guys played hard and battled back in the first game and then got the walk-off hit in the second game."
Indian Hills is now 24-19 for the season and is scheduled to host Maple Woods in a doubleheader on Thursday.
(April 29) -- Sometimes the best thing for any athletic team is to get right back into action after a disappointing performance. The Indian Hills baseball team won't have long to dwell on their four-game series at Iowa Western, where they were swept over the past two days, because they will welcome DMACC to Pat Daugherty Field for a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon.
The Falcons entered the series with Iowa Western tied with the Reivers for the top spot in the conference standings. But Iowa Western clearly stamped themselves as the favorite heading into next month's Region XI tournament with a dominating sweep of Indian Hills, outscoring the Falcons 41-8 and holding them to only 17 hits in the four games. IWCC started with 12-0 and 12-1 wins on Sunday and followed with 6-3 and 11-4 victories on Monday.
Iowa Western parlayed one big inning in each of the four games. They scored seven runs in the 4th in the first game on Sunday and only one of their 12 runs was earned as the Falcons were charged with four errors. IHCC was held to just two hits. Iowa Western trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the 4th in the second game and then exploded for 12 runs against three Indian Hills pitchers. The Falcons again struggled offensively with only three hits. IHCC coach Cam Walker said afterwards, "Our defense today was a total letdown. We couldn't catch a fly ball."
Monday's games were more competitive. Game one was tied 1-1 when Iowa Western put together a four-run 5th inning against IHCC starter Josh Gibbs. Indian Hills rallied with two in the 7th, but came up short, leaving two runners on base to end the game. The Reivers used a five-run 6th in the second game. Christian Rivera had two hits to match the two he had in the opener for Indian Hills. The Falcons had just two hits from the 6-through-9 hitters in their order in the four games.
Indian Hills is now 23-and-18 and 7-and-5 in the conference
(April 24) -- Indian Hills baseball coach Cam Walker was confident that once the springtime weather warmed up, his offense would heat up as well. And that's been the case. On Wednesday, the Falcons scored 31 runs on 33 hits in sweeping a doubleheader at Southeastern CC by scores of 14-4 and 17-14. The second game went eight innings.
Indian Hills' first-game starting pitcher Jaime Matos settled in after allowing four early runs and shut out the BlackHawks over the final five innings. His teammates responded with a five-run 4th inning and put the game away with a six-run 7th. In the big 4th inning, Bryan Baum, who hit three home runs in one game earlier in the week, started the uprising with a double and rode home on Christian Rivera's home run. Bill Schroeder, Josh Beatka and Nelcicio York also drove in runs in the inning. Baum slammed a two-run homer after a leadoff single by Roderick Barcelo the next inning. And in the 7th, the Falcons put together four straight singles and a three-run homer by York to blow the game open. Baum had a four-for-five game and York and Schroeder each had three hits. Matos allowed only three hits in going the distance on the mound.
The second game was a wild one with IHCC overcoming an early 5-2 deficit with an eight-run explosion in the 4th to take a 10-5 lead. But SCC answered with nine straight runs and it was 14-10 heading into the 7th. The Falcons got a grand slam homer by York to tie the game and send it into extra innings, and they won it with a three-run 8th. Schroeder had another three-hit game for IHCC and York, Luke Stamp and Alex Collura all had two hits. Schroeder had a single and a home run in the 4th. Travis Parker picked up the win in relief for the Falcons.
Since starting the season 5-and-8, the Falcons have gone 18-and-6 and have scored in double figures in six of their last 13 games. Indian Hills' offensive awakening has come at a good time as the Falcons have a first-place showdown with Iowa Western this weekend in Council Bluffs. The two teams are tied for first in the Region XI standings with 7-and-1 records.
(April 21) -- By taking the final three games of a four-game series with Southwestern and getting a little help from Marshalltown CC, Indian Hills is now tied for first place in the Region XI standings after two weekends of conference games. IHCC got outstanding pitching performances in a pair of shutout wins over SWCC on Monday, winning 2-0 and 10-0. And when Marshalltown won one of two games from Iowa Western, the Falcons tied Iowa Western for the top spot in the league. Both teams have7-and-1 conference records and will square off in a pair of doubleheaders in Council Bluffs this Saturday and Sunday.
Christian Rivera's two-run homer in the 4th inning of Monday's opening game provided the only scoring in IHCC's 2-0 win. Dustin Northcott threw a gem for the Falcons, giving up seven hits, striking out 12 and walking only one in a route-going performance.
In game two, sophomore Bryan Baum came to life offensively slamming three homers and knocking in five runs in the Falcons' easy victory. Roderick Barcelo and Bill Schroeder each had two hits for IHCC. Schroeder had a double and a triple and four RBIs. The game was shortened to five innings by the ten-run rule. Rivera showed he can be as effective on the mound as at the plate, following up his game-winning home run in the first game by throwing five innings of one-hit baseball in the nightcap.
Indian Hills is 20-13 overall for the season and is slated to host Southeastern CC in a 4:00 doubleheader at Pat Daugherty Field on Tuesday.
(April 20) -- The Indian Hills baseball team shook off the disappointment of their first conference loss by rebounding for a 5-1 victory in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader with Southwestern CC at Pat Daugherty Field. Southwestern stopped the Falcons' six-game win streak with a 6-2 win in the opener. The teams will finish their four-game series with two games on Monday afternoon.
Indian Hills, held to just four hits in the first game, put together a four-run rally in the fourth inning of the nightcap to break a 1-1 tie. The first run scored on a single by Nelcicio York and Luke Stamp, Mike Stamp and Carlos Zayas added RBI doubles later in the inning. Denver Walker pitched the first six innings and picked up the victory for IHCC. He allowed only four hits and struck out six. Jamie Matos pitched the 7th and fanned a pair.
In the first game, Southwestern snapped a 1-1 tie with two runs in the 6th and scored three more in the 7th. IHCC was held to four hits. Milton Gonzalez was the starter and loser for the Falcons, giving up seven hits and three runs in six innings while striking out seven.
(April 16) -- Fresh off a big four-game sweep over Marshalltown, Indian Hills stayed on the road and stayed red hot on Tuesday, taking a pair of games from 13th-ranked NIACC in Mason City. The Falcons held off the Trojans in both games, winning 10-9 and 2-1. The wins put the Falcons' season record at 17-12 and give them a season-high six-game winning streak.
NIACC scored four times in the bottom of the 7th in the opener to cut a 10-5 IHCC lead down to a single run. Luke Stamp stranded the potential tying and go-ahead runs at second and third in the last of the 7th, getting a game-ending grounder to third to preserve the victory for starter Denver Walker, who went the first six innings. IHCC scored eight times in the first three innings, building an early 8-0 lead. NIACC made it interesting with three runs in the 6th and the four-run 7th. Bill Schroeder, Christian Rivera and Carlos Zayas each had two hits for Indian Hills. Rivera and Pedro Hernandez had two RBIs apiece.
Milton Gonzalez and Travis Parker shut down the Trojans' bats in the nightcap and Jared Klosterboer's two-run single in the 4th proved to be the game-winner. Gonzalez pitched 6 2/3 innings and gave way to Parker who got a ground ball to short with the bases loaded to end the game. There was a total of only five hits in the game.
Indian Hills plays at Fort Dodge against Iowa Central on Thursday before hosting Southwestern CC in doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.
(April 15) -- The Indian Hills baseball team swept a four-game series from Marshalltown to begin the Falcons' conference schedule. Indian Hills won game one of a scheduled doubleheader on Sunday, 3-2 in eight innings. The second game was stopped after the top of the 10th inning because of darkness. When the contest was resumed on Monday, IHCC sophomore Bill Schroeder hit a two-run homer in the top of the 12th to give the Falcons an 11-9 win. The two teams then played their regularly scheduled twinbill and Indian Hills won both of those games as well, 7-4 and 18-4. The second game went only five innings.
In the opening game of the series, IHCC got strong pitching from starter Christian Rivera and reliever Denver Walker, who combined to hold MCC to seven hits. Rivera got the win and Walker picked up the save. Indian Hills pushed across the game-winning run in the top of the 8th. Rivera had two hits in addition to his pitching exploits. Schroeder's homer made a winner of Brian Graves in game two, the one concluded on Monday. The Falcons had an early 6-0 lead, but the Tigers battled back and twice tied the game, once in the bottom of the sixth and again in the last of the ninth. Schroeder, Rivera, Jared Klosterboer and Carlos Zayas each had two hits for the Falcons.
Jaime Matos pitched five strong innings in game three and the Falcons overcame an early deficit with a four-run third inning. Bryan Baum cracked a three-run homer and Schroeder had two hits and drove in two runs. Matos got MCC's Scott Ethel to ground into a game-ending double play after Marshalltown had scored a run in the bottom of the seventh.
In the final game of the series, Indian Hills made quick work of the Tigers behind the pitching of Milton Velazquez and a 24-hit barrage. Included were six doubles, a triple and home runs by Schroeder and Roderick Barcelo. Schroeder put the finishing touches on a great series with a four-for-four performance and six RBIs. Barcelo, Klosterboer, Mike Stamp and Tim Cooper all had three-hit games for the winning Falcons. Velazquez fanned seven and allowed only five hits. The Falcons scored 10 runs on 11 hits in a huge second inning with Klosterboer, Stamp and Cooper all getting two hits in that inning.
The four-game sweep puts Indian Hills' season record at 15-12. Their next conference action will be this weekend when they host Southwestern CC in doubleheaders on Saturday (starting at 2pm) and Sunday (1pm). IHCC heads to Mason City for a pair of games with NIACC on Tuesday.
(April 14) -- The Indian Hills Student Senate is planning a Parents' Weekend for the first weekend in May, an event that will be filled with lots of baseball and lots of food. The Falcons will take on Region XI rival Muscatine in back-to-back doubleheaders on Saturday, May 3 and Sunday, May 4. Saturday's twinbill will start at 2:00 and the pair of games the next day will get underway at 1:00 at Pat Daugherty Field on the IHCC Centerville campus.
On Saturday, a baseball-style cookout with free brats, hot dogs and chips will begin at 11:45am. The cookout is sponsored by the Student Senate, the Alumni and Friends Association and the IHCC Marketing and Recruiting Department. The Student Senate will also be giving out prizes during and between games of the doubleheader. Prizes will also be handed out during the Sunday games.
The parents of this year's IHCC baseball team members and the parents of the Student Senate representatives will be introduced between games on Saturday. And staff from the IHCC Campus Store will be at Daugherty Field selling Falcons apparel and novelties on Saturday as well.
(April 10) -- Ten players who contributed to a 37-19 record for the Indian Hills Falcons in 2007 have moved on to continue their baseball careers and education at four-year schools around the country. The former Falcons were an integral part of the Falcons' success last year, and for the majority of them, the past two years.
Here are the Indian Hills players who graduated last year and are now playing at the next level:
A.J. Shindler -- Michigan State
Drew Laidig -- Western Illinois
Jeremy Hauer -- Creighton
Nick Nordgren -- Creighton
Brian Contreras -- Graceland
Clay Rominger -- Arkansas-Little Rock
Ben Percival -- Western Illinois
Daniel Towe -- Alabama-Birmingham
Cody Raisch -- Campbell
Brett Ferguson -- South Carolina-Aiken
(April 10) -- Rick Mathews, a former Indian Hills baseball player and coach, has a new piece of jewelry. But this isn't something you can get at a jewelry store. It's a 1.25 carat ring signifying Mathews was a member of the 2007 National League champion Colorado Rockies.
Mathews, the Rockies' bullpen coach, and the rest of the Rockies players and coaches picked up their NL title rings in a special ceremony before Colorado's April 6 game with Arizona. Mathews is in his 17th season in the Rockies' organization.
The rings were made by a Calgary, Alberta company. They are white gold and have the Rockies' "CR" logo in purple amethyst on top, with 69 diamonds on each ring. One shank has eight stones to represent the Wild Card tiebreaker win over San Diego and seven playoff victories, along with the "Rocktober" catchphrase and a banner. The other shank has the recipient's last name and uniform number (Mathews' number is 53) and the NL logo. Inside each of the coaches' and players' rings is the Rockies' overall 2007 record of 90-73.
The rings commemorate the first trip to the World Series for a Colorado team that began playing in 1993. The year before, Mathews joined the team as the pitching coach at Mesa of the Arizona Rookie League. He wound up coaching in the bullpen for the Rockies for much of their inaugural year of 1993 and was named the club's bullpen coach in October 2002. The previous seven seasons Mathews was the roving pitching coordinator for Colorado.
Mathews worked for the Kansas City Royals and Philadelphia Phillies before joining the Rockies.
The Cincinnati, Iowa native graduated from Centerville High School and played for the IHCC Falcons in the 1966 and '67 seasons. He than attended Drake University and graduated with a B.A. from Drake in 1969. After his graduation, Mathews coached high school baseball in Eddyville (five years) and Marshalltown (two years). He also coached at Iowa Western CC for five years before taking over as head coach at Indian Hills in the fall of 1986. He was the Falcons' coach for six seasons.
Mathews still makes his home in Centerville and his children, Jonathan and Sarah, both reside there as well. Jonathan is an assistant baseball coach and instructor at Indian Hills. He played minor league baseball in the Rockies' organization and was managed by his dad at Bend (OR) in the 1995 season.
(April 10) -- The Atlanta Braves, looking for some help off the bench, claimed former IHCC Falcon Ruben Gotay prior to the start of the 2008 season. Gotay had been placed on waivers by the New York Mets near the end of spring training and was put on the Braves' Opening Day 25-man roster.
The 25-year old Gotay played in 98 games for the Mets last year and had a .295 batting average with four homers and 24 RBI. The infielder hit .318 against right-handers and .288 (15-for-52) as a pinch-hitter. From May 29 to the end of the season, Gotay hit .310, including a .397 batting average in July. Gotay has Major League experience at second base, shortstop and third base.
"He's a good hitter," Braves manager Bobby Cox told braves.com. "We needed someone who we could send up there to get a hit off the bench against a righty. He should help us."
Originally drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 31st round of the 2001 June free agent draft, Gotay was traded to the Mets in July 2006. In 228 Major League games in his career, Gotay had a .258 batting average with 10 home runs and 69 RBI coming into this season. He made his big league debut with the Royals in 2004.
Gotay was drafted by Kansas City following two years at Indian Hills. As a sophomore for the Falcons in 2001, he hit .390 with 15 doubles, five triples and 10 home runs while playing in 52 games for IHCC.
In the Braves' first nine games this season, Gotay played in seven contests. He had two hits in six at-bats with a double and a run-batted-in.
(December 4) -- Former Indian Hills baseball player Ramon Vazquez has signed a one-year contract for the 2008 season with the Texas Rangers. The Rangers' website said the agreement is for $810,000. The club avoided a potential arbitration hearing by inking Vazquez to the one-year deal.
Vazquez filled a key role for the Rangers in the 2007 season, playing in 104 games with 300 at bats. He hit .230 with eight homers and 28 RBIs. And Vazquez' versatility had to be something the Rangers appreciated. He played 71 games at 3rd base, 13 at 2nd base and 19 at shortstop. He goes into next season as the leading candidate to be the club's utility infielder.
Vazquez was one of two former Indian Hills players who played in the big leagues in 2007. The other is Ruben Gotay who played in 98 games with the New York Mets and batted .295. Like Vazquez, Gotay was a valuable utility player, seeing action at 2nd base, shortstop and 3rd base in '07.
(October 3) -- Indian Hills baseball coach Cam Walker has announced the dates for his Winter Hitting League, Youth Camp and Advanced Pitching and Hitting Clinics in the upcoming winter months.
The 2007-08 Winter Hitting League is for players in grades 3 through 12. It's a competitive league with three players on each team. The dates for the Hitting League are December 2 and 9 and January 16, 23 and 30.
The popular camp for youth baseball players will be held the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. The pitchers and catchers will get their instruction on Wednesday, Dec. 26 and the instruction on hitting and offense will be the following day, Dec. 27.
The Advanced Camp for varsity high school players will be held Feb. 16 and 17, 2008. This camp includes advanced teaching methods and drills, plus video taping and review of mechanics for pitching and hitting. The pitching session will be Saturday, Feb. 16 and the hitting session is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 17.
Questions on any of these Indian Hills camps can be directed to coach Walker at 800-670-3641, extension 2212 or assistant coach Jonathan Mathews at 800-670-3641, extension 2240.
(September 13) -- Indian Hills Community College will be the site where the best Iowa community college sophomore baseball players will display their skills in front of college coaches and professional scouts this month. The JUCO All-Star Showcase will be held on Saturday, September 22 on the IHCC Centerville campus.
The Falcons will have 12 sophomores on the four rosters of players representing 10 Iowa community college baseball programs. The majority of the IHCC players will play for a team that will also include players from Iowa Central CC and Ellsworth CC.
The day's activities will begin with a timed run, followed by batting practice and a team infield practice. The games will start at 1:30 p.m. with one of the games played at Pat Daugherty Field, the Falcons' home diamond, and the other contest played on the field adjacent to Daugherty Field. Each of the games will last 10 innings. Each of the pitchers will face five hitters in an inning, no matter how many outs are recorded.
Players from Indian Hills who will be participating in the JUCO Showcase are: (pitchers) Joshua Gibbs, Ashton Glascock, Dustin Northcott, Travis Parker, and Denver Walker; (catcher) Pedro Hernandez; (infielders) Jonathan Piche, Carlos Zayas and Jared Klosterboer; and (outfielders) Roderick Barcelo, Bryan Baum and Bill Schroeder.
On Friday, September 21, starting at 1:00 p.m., Indian Hills will have its own Scout Day with the college coaches and pro scouts getting an opportunity to evaluate all the IHCC players, freshmen and sophomores. That evaluation, which will include fielding, throwing and hitting, will take place in the afternoon on the 21st. That morning, from 9 to noon, invited high school players will get their chance to perform in front of the coaches and scouts.
Indian Hills coach Cam Walker says the Scout Days are a great addition to the fall activities for his squad. "We always have a good turnout of coaches and scouts. We'll have between 40 and 50 of them attend. And it gives our players, and those from the other community colleges, some good exposure. That way the college coaches and pro scouts can decide on the players they want to follow next spring."
The Scout Day activities are open to the public.
Former Falcons Gotay and Vazquez Keep IHCC Major League Streak Alive
(September 13) -- A couple of former Indian Hills baseball players, Ruben Gotay and Ramon Vazquez, did an excellent job in 2007 of keeping intact a streak of ex-IHCC players in the major leagues, a streak that is now at over 30 years and counting. Neither of the former Falcons started the year in the majors, but both joined their respective clubs early in the year and finished the season in the big leagues.
It looked for most of the season like Gotay would be playing in the postseason. His New York Mets club had a comfortable lead in the NL East, but saw that lead slip away in the final days of the regular season. The Mets wound up being edged out by Philadelphia for the division title. Until the Mets acquired Luis Castillo from the Minnesota Twins just before the July 31 trading deadline, Gotay was seeing a lot of action at second base for New York. He filled a valuable utility role over the final two months of the season, getting an occasional start at second or third and even playing a few games at shortstop.
Gotay ended the year with a .295 batting average in 98 games with the big league club after he was recalled from the minor leagues in late April. Until the final two weeks of the season, Gotay's average had not slipped below .300 since the end of June. The 24-year old native of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, batted a sizzling .364 in June and followed that up with an even hotter July when he hit .397.
For the season, Gotay had 56 hits including 12 doubles and four home runs. He scored 25 runs and drove in 24 in 190 at bats.
Gotay made his major league debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2004, playing in 44 games and hitting .270. He was in 86 games with the Royals the following season, but his average slipped to .227. He did have five home runs in the '05 season. Gotay didn't return to the big leagues until this season.
The other former Falcon in the "show," Vazquez, had a game to remember on August 22 in Baltimore. As part of the Texas Rangers' 30-3 shellacking of the Orioles, Vazquez had four hits, including two home runs, drove in a career-high seven runs and scored four times in the Rangers' rout.
Vazquez finished the year batting .230 with eight homers and 28 RBIs. He played in 104 games after being called up in mid-May. In 300 at bats, Vazquez had 69 hits that included 13 doubles, three triples and the eight roundtrippers. He had three-hit games in two of his first three games and hit .343 his first month with the Rangers. And Vazquez played all four infield positions for Texas with the majority of his time spent at 3rd base.
Vazquez is also a native Puerto Rican, born in Aibonito, Puerto Rico. He first appeared in the majors in 2001 when he played in 17 games with the Seattle Mariners. Vazquez spent the next three seasons with the San Diego Padres, the '05 campaign with the Boston Red Sox, and the past two years with Cleveland. So the Rangers are his fifth different organization in the big leagues. The former IHCC standout turned 31 years old in August.
With Gotay and Vazquez playing in the major leagues in 2007, that makes 34 straight seasons in which at least one former Indian Hills player has played in the majors, according to former IHCC coach Rich Mathews, the bullpen coach of the Colorado Rockies. From the time that Duane Kuiper made his major league debut in 1974 through the '07 season, Indian Hills has been represented in the big leagues in every single season. Quite a feat indeed for Indian Hills Community College!
Indian Hills Community College Still Prominent in Professional Baseball
Nine Former Falcons See Action in the Minor Leagues, Two in the Majors
(September 12) -- The Indian Hills Community College baseball program has consistently been one of the most successful schools in the nation in sending players on to the professional ranks. And the 2007 season was more of the same for IHCC. In addition to the two former Falcons, Ruben Gotay and Ramon Vazquez, who have had solid seasons in the major leagues this year (see above story), nine players who once wore the maroon and gold of the Falcons saw action in the minor leagues during the '07 season. And those nine players played for nine different organizations.
Both Ivan Maldonado and Byron Embry played in Triple-A; Orlando Roman and Irving Falu were in Double-A leagues; Nathan Johnson started in Double-A and wound up pitching for a league championship team in Class A; James Peterson played the year in Class A; and Brock Kjeldgaard, Brian Joynt and Kyle Murphy were all on Rookie League teams. Joynt and Murphy were drafted and signed this summer.
Maldonado, a righthanded pitcher born in New York City, put together a solid season with the New York Mets' Triple-A team in New Orleans. Maldonado appeared in 39 games, all of them in relief. He had a 2-1 record with a 3.80 ERA and nine saves. Maldonado allowed only 40 hits in 42 2/3 innings while striking out 45.
Maldonado this year moved up from the Double-A Eastern League where he pitched for Binghamton in 2006. He was selected to that league's Mid-Season All-Star team and wound up the year with 2-3 record and 2.51 ERA. He was selected by the Mets in the 18th round of the 2002 First-Year Player Draft after finishing his Indian Hills career in the spring of 2002.
Hard-throwing righthander Byron Embry pitched this summer for the Tacoma Rainiers of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Embry had an 0-6 record and 5.70 ERA and saved four games for the top farm team of the Seattle Mariners. Embry had 41 K's in 36 1/3 innings.
Another righthanded pitcher, Orlando Roman, started the '07 campaign with Puebla in the Mexican League and finished the season with the Baltimore Orioles' Double-A team, Bowie, in the Eastern League. Roman put together some impressive numbers in the Mexican League, going 5-1 with a 1.46 earned run average. With Bowie, he was 1-1 with a 4.24 ERA. He started three games in the Eastern League and relieved in four others. He averaged a strikeout for each of his 17 innings.
Roman is a native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico. He split his time between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Norfolk in 2006. He had a combined record of 4-3 with a 3.84 ERA.
Irving Falu spent the entire 2007 season with Wichita, a Kansas City Royals farm club, in the Double-A Texas League. Falu, born in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, batted .242 in 131 games with the Wranglers. He hit one homer and drove in 28 runs while stealing 15 bases. The switch-hitting second baseman was among the team leaders in games, at bats, hits and triples. He struck out only 44 times in 476 at bats.
Falu played for High Desert, a Seattle Mariners minor league team, in the California League in 2006. He hit a solid .299 with 31 stolen bases in 126 games.
James Peterson, one of the all-time best high school sluggers in Iowa, played this summer with the Great Lakes Loons of the Class A Midwest League, whose parent club in the Los Angeles Dodgers. Peterson was in 60 games for Great Lakes, batting .271 with 11 doubles, three homers and 28 RBIs. The lefty-hitting outfielder also pitched two innings in one game for the Loons when they ran out of pitchers.
Peterson, a 23-year old from Winterset, Iowa, played one season for Indian Hills after a prolific high school career.
Brock Kjeldgaard, an Edmonton, Alberta, Canada native, was with the Helena Brewers in the Rookie Pioneer League in 2007. Kjeldgaard, who pitched and played first base in two seasons at IHCC, is now strictly a pitcher. Only 21 years old, he appeared in 16 games for Helena in '07, all but one of them in relief. His record was 0-1 and he had a 6.37 ERA in 29 2/3 innings. It was the second year in a row at Helena for Kjeldgaard, who was drafted out of Indian Hills by the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2006, he was 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA in 16 games and 49 1/3 innings.
Two former Falcon All-Region players got their first taste of professional baseball this summer. Kyle Murphy was drafted by the Texas Rangers last June. Murphy hit .156 in 23 games with the Rangers' Arizona Rookie League team. The righthanded-hitting outfielder had started his pro career with Spokane in the Class-A Northwest League where he batted .177 in 16 games. Murphy finished his collegiate career at Kansas University after two years at IHCC.
The other newcomer to minor league baseball with IHCC ties was Brian Joynt. Joynt, an all-stater at Knoxville HS, was selected by the San Diego Padres in the June MLB Draft and started his career with the Padres' Arizona Rookie League team in Phoenix. He batted .207 in 87 at bats with 10 runs driven in. Joynt was drafted by the Padres after his first season at Indian Hills, but selected to remain in school. He ended his college career this spring at Oklahoma City University where he put up some big numbers. He slugged 18 homers and had 55 RBIs and a .438 average as a senior.
Falcons Sign Canadian Pitcher
(July 12) -- Indian Hills Community College baseball coach Cam Walker, a native of Canada, has signed a player from that country to attend IHCC and play for the Falcons. Walker has announced that Brandan Farquhar, a 6-foot 8-inch righthanded pitcher from Mossley, Ontario has signed a letter of intent with the Falcons and will join the IHCC baseball team this fall.
Walker says he’s excited about the potential of the big righthander who will join the Falcons program. “We are extremely pleased to add Brandan to our pitching staff. We feel like he is a young player with a very high ceiling. His physical talents and makeup will hopefully give him a chance to play this game for a long time. I am excited about the chance to work with Brandan and give him the chance to develop into the best pitcher he can be.”
Farquhar will be expected to bolster an Indian Hills pitching staff that lost six players off last year’s squad, including three pitchers who were fulltime starters. That group includes Ben Percival and Jeremy Hauer who were first and second on the staff in wins and were all-Region selections. The Falcons were 37-19 in 2007.
(July 3) -- Indian Hills Community College placed 24 players on the Academic All-Region XI baseball team announced by the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference. The Falcons had 11 players named to the first team and 13 more who were second-team selections.
IHCC players who qualified for the first team with a grade point average of between 3.5 and 4.0 for the spring term were Ashton Glasscock, Jeremy Hauer, Pedro Hernandez, Jared Klosterboer, Nick Nordgren, Travis Parker, Ben Percival, Cody Raisch, Luke Stamp, Mike Stamp and Denver Walker. Eight of the 11 first-team players for IHCC had a perfect 4.0 grade point average for the term.
On the academic second team from Indian Hills were Roberto Alamo, Roderick Barcelo, Helio Burgos, Brian Contreras, Braden Kaminske, Brad Keeling, Dustin Northcott, Jonathan Piche, Bill Schroeder, Aaron Shindler, Luis Torres, Daniel Towe and Carlos Zayas. The second team includes those players who had a grade point average of between 3.0 and 3.49.
(June 13) -- A pair of former Indian Hills baseball players who were taken in this month's Major League Baseball Draft have signed contracts and are ready to begin professional careers. Infielder Brian Joynt signed with the San Diego Padres and outfielder Kyle Murphy inked a contract with the Texas Rangers.
Joynt is coming off a college season where he batted a team-high .438 for Oklahoma City University. Joynt slammed 18 homers and drove in 55 runs for the year. He had a torrid end to his senior campaign, with a .487 batting average and 14 home runs over his team's last 22 games.
Joynt is a Knoxville, Iowa native who was drafted by San Diego in the 29th round of this month's MLB draft. He was also drafted by the Padres in the 50th round of the 2004 draft after his freshman season at Indian Hills, but elected to return to IHCC for his sophomore year.
Murphy was taken in the 19th round of the 2007 draft. The native of Beloit, Wisconsin enjoyed a solid senior season for the University of Kansas Jayhawks. He started 56 of the Jayhawks 58 games, batting .332 with 15 doubles, four triples and four home runs. Murphy led the team in hits with 71, at bats with 214 and in runs scored with 50. He was also 16-of-17 in stolen bases.
Both Joynt and Murphy played for Indian Hills during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
(June 4) -- Indian Hills Community College freshman Bryan Baum has been chosen to play in the first-ever NJCAA Freshman All-Star Series. The three-game series will be played June 14-16 at USA Stadium in Millington, Tennessee.
The series is designed to give first-year baseball players additional exposure to four-year college and professional scouts. A "Scout Night" practice will be held on June 14, giving players a chance to demonstrate their skills in front of many professional and four-year college scouts. The first game of the series will take place on Friday, June 15 with two games to be played the following day.
Players will be split into two teams representing different regions of the NJCAA. Baum will play on the 22-man West All-Star team that will be coached by Ray Birmingham of New Mexico Junior College. The players featured in the series were nominated by their coaches and then selected by the head coaches of the two All-Star teams.
(May 16) -- Indian Hills Community College had 10 players named to the All-Region XI baseball teams announced by the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference this week. The Falcons had three first-team selections, two players chosen for the second team, and five players who were on the honorable mention all-conference list.
IHCC’s first-team choices were pitcher Jeremy Hauer, infielder A.J. Shindler and outfielder Nick Nordgren. Named to the second team were pitcher Ben Percival and catcher/third baseman Drew Laidig. All five of the Falcons’ first- and second-team picks are sophomores.
Indian Hills players chosen as honorable mention all-league are sophomores Daniel Towe, Aldo Mendez and Jorge Quintero and freshmen Milton Gonzalez and Bryan Baum.
The Falcons had a season record of 37-19 and were 10-6 in regular season conference play, good for second in the league.
(May 8) -- Indian Hills will take on Muscatine at 2:00 on Friday afternoon in the Falcons’ first game in this weekend’s Region XI postseason baseball tournament in Marshalltown. The Falcons, with a season record of 35-17, are the number two seed after finishing league play with a 10-6 record. Muscatine is the third seed. The Cardinals were 8-6 in conference play and 26-17 overall.
Indian Hills won three of four games in the season series with Muscatine in April. The Falcons won by scores of 4-1, 6-2 and 11-1 and their lone loss was by an 8-5 score on the Cardinals’ home field.
Friday's first game will match Southwestern and Marshalltown at 11am. Iowa Western, the regular season conference champion, will take on the winner of that game at 5:00 Friday afternoon. Games are also scheduled for 11am, 2pm and 5pm on Saturday. The tournament will continue on Sunday. There could also be a game on Monday if two teams still have not been eliminated in the double-elimination tourney.
The Region XI postseason tournament will be played at the Marshalltown High School baseball field which is adjacent to the high school on Olive Street in Marshalltown.
CENTERVILLE --- Twin brothers from Council Bluffs who each won a state high school wrestling title are headed to Indian Hills Community College to play baseball. IHCC head coach Cam Walker has announced the signing of Mike and Luke Stamp to letters-of-intent. The Stamp brothers this week finished their high school careers when their Lewis Central baseball team lost to West Des Moines Valley in a Class 4A substate game.
Mike Stamp is a catcher and Luke is a middle infielder who also did some pitching this season for head coach Lee Toole. They were both three-year starters on a team that was 98-22 over those three seasons. Lewis Central played in the 2005 state tournament. The Stamp brothers were both second-team all-state picks following the ’05 season.
Mike had a .430 batting average this summer with 55 hits, 46 runs scored, eight doubles, three homers and 52 RBI’s. He was a unanimous first-team all-Hawkeye 10 Conference selection and was also first-team all-district.
Luke hit .381 in the just-concluded season with 51 hits, 56 runs, 14 doubles, eight triples and 28 RBI’s. He was chosen to the all-conference and all-district second team.
Coach Toole is understandably sorry to see the Stamps graduate. “They are both great kids to be around. They are very competitive and have a great understanding of the game of baseball. Mike and Luke came to the ballpark their entire careers with the goal of working hard and getting better. There aren’t enough good things to say about these guys.”
Mike won the Class 3A state wrestling title at 152 pounds as a junior in 2005 and Luke matched it by winning the 3A 152 pound championship this year. Mike was 5th at 160 this year and 4th at 140 as a sophomore. In addition to his first-place finish as a senior, Luke was 3rd at 145 pounds as a junior and 5th at 130 as a sophomore.
(May 18) --- Indian Hills had a total of 11 players on the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference all-Region XI baseball teams that were announced today. The Falcons had five players named to the all-region first team and six more on the second team.
The first-team choices were pitcher Roberto Nieves, outfielders Nick Nordgren and Ray Kruml, catcher Daniel Towe, and third baseman Sean Smith. Named to the second team from IHCC were pitchers Juan Perez, Nick Cammack, Matt Davitt and Jeremy Hauer, shortstop Francisco Tirado, and Drew Laidig, who was named to the team as a utility player.
Kruml, Smith, Cammack and Davitt are sophomores. The other seven all-region players are freshmen and will give coach Cam Walker a good nucleus to build around next season.
The Falcons finished the 2006 campaign with a record of 48-13. They were second in the regular season conference standings and were beaten by Iowa Western in the championship game of the Region XI postseason tournament last Monday after Indian Hills had won four straight games, including one against Iowa Western, to get into the winner-take-all title game.
© 2008, Indian Hills Community College |
Ottumwa & Centerville, IA
800.726.2585 | webmaster@indianhills.edu
Head Coach Cam Walker
641.856.2143, ext. 2212
cwalker@indianhills.edu
Assistant Coach Jonathan Mathews
641.856.2143, ext. 2240
jmathews@indianhills.edu