McDonnell enjoying magical spring with Illinois baseball

Rob McDonnell persevered through his share of pain so he could experience the joy of a prominent role in a magical baseball season for the University of Illinois.

McDonnell's college career started with a recovery from Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left elbow. The 2009 Daily Herald All-Area pick from Barrington also experienced some forearm trouble and made just 17 pitching appearances in his first three seasons.

This season has been a much different story for the 6-foot-2, 210-pound McDonnell. He has a record of 7-2 with a 2.19 ERA in 16 games as the Big Ten Conference regular-season champion Illini take a 47-8 record and No. 6 national seed into NCAA tournament play.

"This has been a dream season for everybody," McDonnell said of the Illini, who are hosting a regional in Champaign and open with Ohio University at 7 p.m. Friday. "To win 27 straight is unbelievable. It's one of the best memories I have ever had in baseball and I'll always remember this for the rest of my life.

"This year has been great. My arm feels the best it's ever had and the team is doing well. It's all good news right now and we're really excited."

The excitement has built all spring in Champaign as record crowds came to see the Illini soar to as high as No. 2 in a pair of national rankings. Extra bleachers were brought in for this weekend's games - with Notre Dame playing Wright State at noon - and the Illinois-Ohio matchup was nearly sold out as of early Thursday afternoon.

McDonnell has started 12 games this year en route to being third on the team in wins and strikeouts (70) and fourth in ERA and innings (74). He started last Saturday as Illinois suffered its second loss in the Big Ten tourney, 5-3 to Michigan - but all 5 runs he allowed in 5 innings were unearned as a result of 3 errors.

So, McDonnell is ready to pitch in wherever he is needed this weekend to try and get Illinois into a Super Regional and ultimately the College World Series.

"I've always talked with my pitching coach, Drew Dickinson, and he likes me in a starting role rather than a relief role," McDonnell said. "If a pitcher gets in trouble early, I filled the role of long relief for a couple of weeks, and it's not that hard of a transition from starter to reliever.

"I'll do whatever coach Dickinson needs. It's good to have a deep pitching staff and the ability for people to change roles."

McDonnell's attitude stems from the way he has been treated by Dickinson and head coach Dan Hartleb. They have backed McDonnell at every difficult turn since he underwent Tommy John surgery in Urbana the summer before his freshman year.

"The coaches have always been so supportive and they knew what I was going through," McDonnell said. "They always do a good job with everyone and think about what's best for the player's interests rather than their own interests.

"I've had many talks with coach Hartleb about sticking with it, doing the rehab and keeping a positive frame of mind and never giving up. Luckily I didn't."

That would be no surprise to those who know McDonnell. He said the summer before his junior year, when he pitched 50 innings for the Lombard Orioles in the Chicago Suburban Baseball League, helped him regain his confidence as he worked on his location and delivery.

McDonnell also pitched well last summer for Madison in the Northwoods League. This fall and winter he threw bullpens with former Barrington star catcher Ryan Lidge and former Barrington head coach Jim Hawrysko.

McDonnell and Lidge will be together again this weekend. Lidge, the sophomore starting catcher for Notre Dame, is hitting .278 with 35 RBI and has thrown out 16 of the 25 runners who have attempted to steal on him.

"That will be fun and I texted him, 'See you in Champaign,'" said McDonnell, who was a senior at Barrington when Lidge was a freshman. "We played against each other in the Northwoods League but I've never actually pitched against him. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity."

McDonnell is also hoping he'll get a chance to continue pitching after this season ends. He received his bachelor's degree and is working on his master's in sports management, but he said he has talked to scouts from a few major league teams.

"I want to keep playing as long as possible because I love the game," McDonnell said. "Hopefully I'll get drafted. That would be a dream come true because it's always something I wanted to have happen."

And it would be a perfect way to cap what has been a dream season for McDonnell and Illinois.

Also helping the Illini: The Illinois starting lineup includes sophomore designated hitter Pat McInerney from Benet (.304, 5 HR, 33 RBI), sophomore shortstop Adam Walton from Stevenson (.293, 3 HR, 29 RBI) and junior catcher Jason Goldstein of Highland Park (.303, 8 HR, 46 RBI). Sophomore infielder Zack Kolakowski (Fremd) has appeared in 19 games, freshman catcher-outfielder Mark Skonieczny (Huntley) has played in 13 and Lake Zurich sophomore Anthony Drago played 3 games.

On the mound, Neuqua Valley junior Nick Blackburn is 3-0 with 3 saves and a 2.38 ERA in 19 appearances and Wheaton North junior Andrew Mamlic is 2-0 in 17 relief appearances. Addison Trail senior Anthony Milazzo pitched in 2 games.

A Braves new world: Bradley had a nice run of successful big-time players in the 1980s led by Hall of Famer and Twins legend Kirby Puckett and U.S. Olympian and 1987 National League Rookie of the Year runnerup Mike Dunne with the Pirates. Jim Lindeman, the current Rolling Meadows head coach and Maine West grad, was a postseason hero for the Cardinals as a rookie in 1987 and Larkin grad Roger Smithberg pitched in 15 games for the A's in 1993-94.

But they couldn't help the Braves end an NCAA tournament drought that dated to 1968. The long wait finally ended this year, even though it was a little more agonizing since they were the last team announced in the field of 64, and they open with Big Ten champion Michigan at 1 p.m. Friday in the Louisville Regional.

Bradley finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament to Missouri State and had one of the country's strongest schedules with a No. 19 RPI. Sophomore Matt Dennis (Meadows) is also one of the nation's top closers at 3-0 with 12 saves, a 1.59 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 45 1-3 innings.

Junior infielder Paul Solka (Maine West) is fourth on the Braves in hitting at .286 with 4 homers and 29 RBI. Freshman pitcher Jordan Fedro (Prospect) is 2-1 with a 4.26 ERA in 6 games.

Other local NCAA tourney contributors: Senior outfielder Greg Kay (St. Viator/Harper College) hit .305 with a homer and 12 RBI in 35 games for MVC champion Missouri State ... Junior lefty Sean Stutzman (Fremd) is 7-1 with a 4.59 ERA, 1 saves and 44 strikeouts in 51 innings for Dallas Baptist ... Indiana junior infielder Brian Wilhite (St. Viator) hit .253 in 37 games and made 12 starts. Senior outfielder Ricky Alfonso (Barrington) also appeared in 26 games for the Hoosiers.

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