Milroy picks Illinois

Of all the Big 10 Conference schools that showed interest in Marmion baseball player Matt Milroy, Illinois appealed to the senior the most.

Because of that, Milroy signed his national letter of intent Wednesday to play for the Fighting Illini next year. He first visited Champaign at the end of June and when he and his dad went back in early July, he gave his verbal commitment.

"It's my dream to play for my home state," said Milroy, a Batavia native. "It's a cool college. I like the coaching staff and the guys were great."

Milroy said Ohio, Vanderbilt, Michigan, Purdue and several other colleges around the midwest were interested. He also said he enjoyed the recruiting process.

"Not a lot of people get this opportunity," said Milroy, who is leaning toward studying business. "It was definitely a lot of fun."

Last year in his third year on varsity, Milroy hit 467 with 44 RBI, had a .900 slugging percentage, finished with 43 hits and 7 home runs, including three in one postseason game. He also broke the school records for average, home runs and RBI.

"Matt is an athletic two-way player who throws in the 88-91 mph range off the mound and runs a 6.8-second 60-yard dash," said Illinois Assistant Coach Ken Westray in a press release. "He's a solid outfielder with a good hitting approach and as a pitcher, he has an above-average arm with command of a plus slider."

Milroy, Batavia's Brian Krolikowski (Miami-Ohio) and St. Charles North's Zach Hirsch (Nebraska) lead the pack in area baseball players signed on with Division-I programs.