Getting Prepped

Just as all the high school football players and coaches can't wait to finally tee it up against someone else, those of us who follow the games are just as thrilled it's finally time to watch everything unfold. Granted, our three-a-days are only going to result in a major brain drain, overcaffeinated body or the start of carpal tunnel syndrome, but it's great to finally see everything and everyone you've written about finally go into action.

Well, at least now if Tyler Ladendorf makes it to the big leagues (hopefully), I won't be torn about watching him play for the hated "piranhas" up in Minnesota. The former Maine West star "became" a pro Friday when he was traded by the Twins to Oakland for former Gold Glove shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who spent last season on the South Side helping the Sox win the AL Central and antagonizing official scorers, reporters, Ozzie Guillen and Jermaine Dye with needless steals of third base.

Over the years some of the most bizarre things I've covered have occurred in American Legion tournaments. They just seem to be a magnet for weird and wacky things to occur. Games ending at nearly 3 in the morning, juiced up scores the later you get into the tournaments and verbal spats between opposing fans.
But some of the things that happened Friday at the state tourney in Arlington Heights were absolutely off-the-charts strange. To think the day actually started with a ho-hum 4-2 win by Palatine and Clint Terry to eliminate Elk Grove.

When you see a pitcher heading toward an opposing player on the field in the midst of an intense game, you wonder what's going to happen next. And it happened in Wednesday's Cook County American Legion tournament when Elk Grove's Derek Wojcik started walking toward Arlington's Peter Bonahoom after picking him off second base to end the seventh inning.
Was Wojcik going to taunt him? Was something else said during the inning while Bonahoom was at second base in a 1-1 game?
Wojcik went over and then extended his hand to shake hands with Bonahoom to make sure he was OK. A few batters earlier, Wojcik had nicked Bonahoom in the helmet with a pitch. It was a move as good as the one Wojcik used to pick off two runners and nearly get two others in Elk Grove's 4-1 victory.

Linda Ladendorf thought she would have to give her son Tyler a little pick-me-up when he called to tell her he wasn't playing for the Rookie League Elizabethton Twins in Friday night's game. Turned out Ladendorf, a former Maine West star, was letting her know he would be picking up and moving on up to the Twins' Class A affiliate in Beloit.
Ladendorf, a shortstop who was a second-round pick in last year's draft, was tearing it up at Elizabethton at .410 with 4 homers and 17 RBI in 17 games. He was cleated in the calf while turning a double play on Wednesday and didn't need stitches, but he was limited to pinch-hitting duty Thursday. Beloit is at home on Sunday and Monday against West Michigan and then returns home for six games with Cedar Rapids and Lansing (July 22-27).

The IHSA takes a lot of shots for just about everything. But the decision to keep the boys basketball state tournaments in Peoria - without putting them through the usual bidding process - makes perfect sense. Since 1996, the community has made the tourneys truly special events with the way it has embraced every part of them from hospitality for every team to the fans (who are still coming after the expansion to four classes).

In a story by Kirk Wessler in today's Peoria Journal Star, the IHSA Board of Directors at its Monday meeting approved a five-year extension of the contract to keep the boys basketball state tournaments in Peoria, according to a source close to the negotiations. A news conference will be held Wednesday in Peoria to announce the extension.
This time the IHSA did not request bids on the event as it did in 1995 when Peoria snatched the tourney from Champaign and when the last two contracts were renewed. The question would be if anyone really wanted to bid on the four-class tourneys (1A and 2A on one weekend and 3A and 4A on another) considering the dropoff in attendance.
Peoria has hosted the tournament since 1996. The current contract is due to expire after the 2010 tournaments.

Former Prospect baseball star Matt Davis, a senior at Eastern Kentucky University, was named a Louisville Slugger third-team all-American by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. Davis moved from the infield to center field this year and hit .418 wtih 7 homers, 20 doubles, 3 triples, 43 RBI, 71 runs scored and 25 steals.
Davis is also hoping to get the call in about a week and a half when the major league draft is held.

The unpredictability is actually predictable. In the crazy world of single-elimination tournament baseball, crazy things always happen. All it takes is one good pitcher or one hot team and you get a 16th-seeded Prospect knocking out a top-seeded Highland Park. A Taft from the city taking out Notre Dame. Dundee-Crown rebounding from a rough year to play for a regional title. It's also part of the reason the Maine Township teams of 1958-59 are the only repeat baseball champs in history.

The forecast calls for high 80s and maybe even low 90s Monday. There figures to be some nice cool breezes to go with it at Conant.
It's a must-see pitching matchup when Rolling Meadows heads to Conant in a key Mid-Suburban League baseball crossover at 4:30 p.m. Monday. Future Kentucky teammates Jon Carlson of Meadows and Walt Wijas of Conant will face off in what could be a dynamic duel. In an ironic twist, especially in this day and age of kids playing on all sorts of travel teams together, they don't know each other.