2004 Weekly Awards

The Mike Schmidt Most Valuable Player Award for 2004 goes to the obvious choice, A.J. Van Slyke of the Bluff City Bombers. The outfielder from LaDue, Missouri, led the league in 7 offensive categories, many of which far surpassed the nearest competitor.

Van Slyke led the league in average at .402, 44 percentage points more than the second place player; led in slugging at .667, 167 percentage points higher that second place; led in on-base percentage at .514, 53 percentage points higher than #2; led in total bases with 116, a whopping 39 more than the #2 player; led in hits with 70, 11 more than #2; led in homers with 9, 4 more than #2; and led in runs with 51, 6 more than #2. He was 2nd in RBI with 40, 3 behind the leader; 2nd in doubles with 15, 2 behind the leader; and 2nd in stolen bases, 7 behind the leader. Van Slyke also was the only Bomber to play in every game of the season.

The MVP Award finishes a fine season where A.J. also won 2 Player of the Week Awards and both the Player of the First Half and Player of the Second Half Awards. A.J. will be a junior this fall at Kansas.

The Pitcher of the Year Award was not an easy choice as there was no pitchers who led in more than one of the major pitching statistics. There were many pitchers this year that had very good summer seasons. To narrow down the field we used the following criteria: 1) primarily a starting pitcher; minimum of 50 innings; minimum of 5 wins; maximum of 1 loss; ERA under 3.00; opposing batting average under .230 and minimum of 40 strikeouts.

Based on that criteria, four pitchers had slightly better performances than the rest of the field and share the award for 2004. Alphabetically, these four pitchers are Nathan Culp of the Bluff City Bombers, Josh Johnson of the Danville Dans, Ned Schauff of the Twin City Stars and Eric Theisen of the Twin City Stars.

Culp, who won the Pitcher of the Tournament Award, was the only pitcher to win 7 games, and he did it with 0 losses. He made 10 starts for the Bombers, including the Tournament Championship game, and 2 relief appearances. His ERA for the season was 2.79, highest of the award winners, but would have been 1.93 had he not started a game for the Bombers with only 1 day's rest after one of his relief appearances. Batters batted only .207 off of Culp for the season in his 61-1/3 innings of work. He struck out 48 batters and walked only 16. Culp, a left-hander, is from Edwardsville, Illinois, and will be a sophomore this fall at the University of Missouri.

Josh Johnson of Danville earned a share of the award with a 5-1 record as a 10 game starter for the Dans, finishing with an ERA of 2.17. He led the league in strikeouts with 61 and led his 4 co-award winners in opponents batting average at a measly .197. The right hander from Caledonia, Mississippi, walked only 17 batters against those 61 strikeouts in 54 innings. Johnson had earlier won 2 Pitcher of the Week awards and shared the Pitcher of the First Half award this season. Josh will be a sophomore this fall at Mississippi State.

Left-handed Ned Schauff of the Twin City Stars earned his share of the award going 5-0 in 9 starts for the Stars with an ERA of 2.25. Batter hit only .219 off of Schauff, who also fanned 50 batters in 60 innings pitched, walking only 14. Schauff pitched 2 complete games this summer, one of those a shutout. Schauf, who won two Pitcher of the Week Awards this summer, is from Cassville, Wisconsin, and will be a senior this fall at Illinois State.

And finally, Eric Theisen of the Twin City Stars earned a share of the award with a 6-1 final record and an ERA of only 1.99 in 63-1/3 innings. The right-hander made 9 starts for the Stars and 2 relief appearances. He pitched 3 complete games including a shutout. Batters hit .228 off Ned, who also struck out 43 while walking 20. Eric had previously earned only 1 Pitcher of the Week Award so was very consistent from start to finish to earn a share of the season award. Theisen is from Adrian, Michigan, and will be a sophomore this fall at Illinois State.

For the first time, the CICL has a Fireman of the Year Award. The 2004 winner is Pat Evers of the Bluff City Bombers. In 26 relief appearances, Evers had 14 saves and a 3-4 W-L record. His two final saves were in both games of the Tournament final series against the Twin City Stars. The next closest pitcher had only 6 saves for the season. Evers, a right-hander, had a 2.92 ERA in 37 innings with 32 strikeouts; batters hit only .217 against his offerings. His Fireman award goes with his co-Pitcher of the Second Half Award earned earlier. Evers is from St. Louis, Missouri, and will be a senior this fall at SIU - Edwardsville.

The Most Valuable Player of the 2004 Tournament is Scott Peden of the Bluff City Bombers. Peden had game winning RBI in 2 of the Bombers 4 victories, including 2 in the Championship game in the Bombers' 3-1 final game victory. For the tournament, Peden batted .417 (10-24), led all players with 10 hits, 3 doubles, 7 RBI and 13 total bases. Peden finished the overall season at 3rd in average at .347 (52-150), 2nd in slugging at .500, 3rd in hits with 52, led the league in RBI with 43 and led in doubles with 17. Scott is an infielder from San Antonio, Texas, and will be a senior this fall at St. Louis University.

The Most Valuable Pitcher of the 2004 Tournament is Nathan Culp of the Bluff City Bombers. Culp made 2 starts in the tournament and was the winning pitcher in the Championship Game. The Bombers also won his other start in Danville to stay alive in the tournament after dropping their opener to the Bombers in the first round. Culp pitched 14 innings, allowed only 2 runs, 1 earned on 10 hits (9 singles and 1 double). His tournament ERA was 0.64. The win in the tournament final enabled the left-hander to finish the year with a perfect 7-0 record, 2.79 ERA in 61-1/3 innings pitched; opposing batters hit only .207. Nathan is from Edwardsville, Illinois, and will be a sophomore this fall at the University of Missouri.

The CICL Player of the Month award (second half of season) goes to the same player who won the 1st half award - A.J. Van Slyke of the Bluff City Bombers. Van Slyke led the league for the month in 7 offensive categories: slugging at .683, on-base percentage at .524, runs with 26, hits with 33, RBI with 20, total bases with 56 and homers with 5. He was 2nd in batting average at .402 (33-82), 1 point behind the leader Jordan Abruzzo at .403 (25-62); 2nd in walks with 21 and 2nd with stolen bases with 8. Van Slyke's strong second half enabled him to finish the regular season leading the league in 7 offensive categories: batting at .412, slugging at .686, on-base percentage at .524, runs with 46, hits with 63, RBI with 37 and homers with 5. Except for RBI, nobody in the league was even close to Van Slyke's numbers. Van Slyke is an outfielder from LaDue, Missouri, and will be a junior this fall at Kansas.

The CICL Pitcher of the Month award goes to Twin City Stars' Eric Thiesen who was 3-0 in 4 starts, had 3 complete games in those 4 starts, pitched 27 innings and allowed only 2 runs, just 1 of them earned. his 0.33 ERA led the league as did his opponent's batting average of only .138. Thiesen finished the regular season at 6-1 with a 1.95 ERA in helping the Stars win the regular season title. Thiesen is a right-hander from Adrian, Michigan, and will be a sophomore this fall at Illinois State.

Three other pitchers had outstanding months to finish a close second to Thiesen for the monthly award, all from the Bluff City Bombers. Kyle Jones was 3-1 with an ERA of 1.19 in 10 appearances for the month, no starts. Nathan Culp was 4-0 with an ERA of 3.90 in 5 starts and 1 relief appearance; and Pat Evers, the Bombers' closer, had 9 saves and a record of 1-2 and ERA of 2.53 in 15 appearances, all in relief. Culp finished with a perfect 6-0 record for the regular season; Jones finished 4-2 with an ERA of 2.1; and Evers finished with 12 saves and an ERA of 3.38 in 23 appearances.

The Player of the Week award for the final week of the regular season is shared among three players: Kevin Reynolds of the Quincy Gems and Mick Curran and Jack Nelson of the Twin City Stars.

For the week, Reynolds tied for the lead in average at .500 (11-22), was 3rd in slugging at .682, 4th in on-base at .542, 1st in runs with 7, 1st in hits with 11, 1st in doubles with 4, tied for 1st in total bases with 15 and tied for 1st in stolen bases with 3. The outfielder's strong week raised his regular season average to .354 (2nd in the league), his on-base percentage to .443 (3rd) and his slugging percentage to .455 (7th). Reynolds is from St. Peters, Missouri, and will be a junior this fall at Quincy University.

Infielder Jack Nelson of the Twin City Stars earned his share of the weekly honor by leading the league in slugging at .882, tying for the lead in RBI with 8, tying for 2nd in doubles with 3, tying for the lead in total bases with 15, and batting .412 (7-17). Nelson is from Wheaton, Illinois, and will be a junior at Cincinnati this fall.

Mick Curran of Twin City also earned a share of the award by tying for the lead in batting at .500 (7-14), leading the league in on-base percentage at .632, placing 2nd in slugging at .857 and tying for the lead in RBI with 8. Curran, an infielder from Orland Park, will be a senior at Illinois Wesleyan.

The Pitcher of the Week award is also shared this week, with Erik Dessau of the Bluff City Bombers and Steve Hammond of the Danville Dans earning honors.

Dessau was 1-0 in 1 start this week, starting and pitching 7 shutout innings against Galesburg on July 31 in the Bombers' 4-0 win over the Pioneers. The right-hander allowed only 3 hits, 1 walk and struck out 3. Dessau finished the regular season with the best ERA at 1.89 and a 5-2 record in a league-leading 62 innings pitched. Erik is from St. Louis, Missouri, who will be a senior this fall at Missouri.

In sharing the award with Dessau, Danville's Steve Hammond, also 1-0, started and pitched 6.2 innings of shutout baseball against Galesburg on August 2. A left-hander, Jeff allowed only 4 hits, walked 4 and struck out 7 to improve his record to 3-2 and lower his ERA to 3.16. Hammond is from Alhambra, California, who just finished his career a Sacramento CC.

The CICL Player of the Week for week #7, July 22-28, is Paul Rice of the Galesburg Pioneers. For the week, Rice led the league in average at .550 (11-20), led in on-base percentage at .591, led in slugging percentage at .600 and tied for the lead in hits, and he did it in only 5 games. Rice's excellent week at the plate improved his season average to .360 (45-125) placing him second in the batting race. He is also currently 3rd in on-base percentage at .456, 3rd in slugging percentage at .464, tied for 3rd in hits with 45, and tied for the lead in triples with 3. Rice is an infielder from Beardstown, Illinois, and will be a sophomore this fall at Bradley University.

The Pitcher of the Week award is shared among 3 pitchers, all of whom pitched complete game winning shutouts this week. Springfield's Craig Brookes pitched a 9-inning 6-hit shutout over the Danville Dans on July 23 at Danville, winning the game 3-0. Brookes now has a 3-2 record for the summer with a 3.80 ERA. Brookes, a right-hander, is from Naperville, Illinois, and will be a sophomore this fall at Michigan State.

Sharing the award with Brookes is Eric Theisen of the Twin City Stars, who pitched a 7-inning 2-hit complete game shutout over Galesburg at Galesburg on July 24, winning 2-0. The victory improved Theisen's record to 5-1 and lowered his ERA to 2.05, 3rd in the league. A right-hander, Theisen is from Adrian, Michigan, and will be a sophomore this fall at Illinois State.

And finally, also sharing the award is Drew Himes of the Twin City Stars, who pitched a 7-inning 2-hit shutout over Bluff City at Alton on July 26, winning 4-0. The victory improved Himes' record to 3-0 on the year and lowered his ERA to 0.87, which would be leading the league if he had enough innings to qualify (equivalent of 1 inning pitched per game played by his team). Himes has made only 2 starts, having pitched most of his innings in relief. Also a right-hander, Himes is from Princeton, Illinois, and will be a junior this fall at Illinois Wesleyan.

Special mention must be made for 3 other pitchers who made starts this week and pitched at least 7 innings allowing no runs, but got no decision or didn't pitch a complete game. Twin City's Ned Schauff and Galesburg's Austin Seward hooked up in a pitchers duel on July 25 in which neither pitcher allowed a run in 9 innings but left the game and weren't involved in the decision. Schauff is second in the league with an ERA of 1.72 and has a 4-0 record.

And Danville's Josh Johnson pitched 7-1/3 innings of shutout 1-hit baseball against Springfield on July 24 in a game Danville won 7-1. Johnson is 4-1 and leads the league in ERA at 1.67, opposing batting average at .182, and in strikeouts with 53.

The CICL Player of the Week award is co-owned this week by Chris Smith of the Galesburg Pioneers and Jordan Abruzzo of the Danville Dans.

Smith, who plays third base for the Pioneers, batted .474 for the week (9-19) to lead the league; had a slugging percentage of .684, on-base percentage of .522, scored 5 runs, had 5 RBI and 4 doubles to help the Pioneers go 4-2 for the week. Smith is a hometown product of Galesburg who just finished his sophomore year at John Wood Community College.

Abruzzo batted .455 (10-22), had a slugging percentage of .682, on-base percentage of .455, and tied for the league lead in RBI with 6. Abruzzo, a catcher, will be a sophomore at San Diego this fall and is from Lakeside, California.

The Pitcher of the Week award goes to Travis Miller of the Quincy Gems. Miller pitched a complete game 1-hit shutout against Bluff City on July 18. Miller, a right-hander, walked 4 and fanned 10 to earn his second victory of the season. Miller will be a junior this fall at James Madison, and is from Harrisburg, PA.

The Player of the Week for July 8-14 is A.J. Van Slyke. The Bluff City outfielder batted a phenomenal .706 (12-17) for the week to lead the league; led the league in hits (12); led in on-base percentage at .792; led in runs with 9; and led in walks with 7. He reached base with a hit or a walk his first 11 plate appearances during the week and led the Bombers to a 5-0 record to move them into second place in the league standings. His surge raised his league-leading average to .477 at the end of play on July 14. Van Slyke, the son of former Major Leaguer Andy Van Slyke, will be a junior this fall at the University of Kansas.

Pitcher of the Week honors go to Quincy's Brad Stone who tossed a 7-inning no-hitter over league-leading Twin City in the Stars' backyard on July 8. Stone walked 3, fanned 9 and faced only 2 batters over the minimum. Stone leads the league with an ERA of 1.02 in 35.1 innings pitched. The right-hander is from St. Louis and will be a sophomore this fall at Quincy University.

The Player of the Month (up to the All Star break) award goes to A.J. Van Slyke of the Bluff City Bombers. For the month, Van Slyke led the league in batting at .423 (30-71), led in total bases with 49, led in slugging at .690, led in on-base percentage at .523, led in doubles with 8, tied for the lead in hits with 30, tied for the lead in homers with 3, and tied for second in RBI with 17. The outfielder was also 8-11 in stolen bases, good for 3rd place in steals. Van Slyke is from LaDue, Missouri, and will be a junior this fall at Kansas.

The Pitcher of the Month award is shared between Erik Dessau of the Bluff City Bombers and Josh Johnson of the Danville Dans. Dessau was 3-0 in 4 starts, pitching 28.0 innings, striking out 25 batters and allowing only 4 earned runs. His ERA was 1.29, second in the league. Batters hit .217 against Dessau. The right-hander from St. Louis will be a senior this fall at Missouri.

Josh Johnson was also 3-0 for the month in 5 starts, pitching 26.0 innings, striking out 31 to lead the league, and allowing only 4 earned runs on 16 hits. His ERA was fourth in the league and his opponent batting average of .176 led all pitchers by more than 35 percentage points. Johnson, a right-hander, is from Caledonia, Mississippi, and will be only a sophomore this fall at Mississippi State.

Weekly awards for rain-shortened week #4 of the 2004 season go to the Twin City Stars? Mike Victor for the Player of the Week award and to Twin City?s Ned Schauff and Quincy?s Chris Otten for a shared Pitcher of the Week award.

Victor helped the Stars go 3-0 and remain in first place by leading the league in hitting at .556 (5-9), leading in on-base percentage at .636 and leading in slugging at .738. Victor, an outfielder, is from Mokena, Illinois, and will be a junior this fall at St. Joseph?s College.

Ned Schauff of the Stars earned his share of the Pitcher award by tossing a complete game victory over Quincy, allowing 0 earned runs on 3 hits in 7 innings, striking out 9 and walking nobody. The victory raised Schauff?s season record to 3-0 and lowered his ERA to 2.25. Schauff is from Cassville, Wisconsin, and will be a senior at Illinois State.

Chris Otten started and pitched 8 innings in a victory over Bluff City, allowing 0 earned runs on 6 hits, striking out 3 and walking nobody. The victory also raised Otten?s record to 3-0 for the season and lowered his ERA to 2.00. Otten is from St. Libory, Illinois, and will be a junior at Quincy University.

The Player of the Week award for week #3 of the 2004 season for games played June 24-30 is Twin City Stars' infielder Brian Dinkelman. Dinkelman hit safely in all 5 Stars games during the week to extend his league-leading hitting streak to 15 games. For the week, Dinkelman batted .600 (12-20) to lead the league and also led the league in on-base pct. at .625 and tied for the lead with 8 RBI. He was second in slugging at .850, second in hits with 12 and third in total bases with 17. Dinkelman's streak has helped raise his season average to a league-leading .443 (27-61). The left-handed hitting second baseman will be a starter in the 2004 CICL All Star game in Alton on July 6. Dinkelman is from Irvington, Illinois, and will be a junior this fall at McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois.

The Pitcher of the Week award goes to right-hander Erik Dessau of the Bluff City Bombers. Dessau made one appearance during the week and pitched 8 strong innings in a 4-2 win over Quincy on June 30, allowing only 2 hits and striking out 8. The win improved Dessau's record to 3-0, the best record in the league and the only pitcher with more than 2 wins. Allowing no earned runs in the game, Erik lowered his ERA for the season to 1.29, second only to Brad Stone's (Quincy) 1.27 ERA. Dessau is scheduled to be the starting pitcher for the West squad in the 2004 CICL All Star game this coming July 6. He is from St.Louis, Missouri, and will be a senior this fall at the University of Missouri.

The CICL Player of the Week for week #2 of the 2004 season, which includes games played June 17-23, is Chris Coghlan of the Danville Dans. Coghlan is a left-handed hitting infielder from Tarpon Springs, Florida, and will be sophomore this fall at Ole Miss. For the week, Coghlan led the league in average at .516 (16-31); led in on-base percentage at .545; led in hits with 16; led in RBI with 9; and led in total bases with 23. He hit one homer, tying for the league lead, was third in slugging at .742; tied for second in doubles with 4; and tied for fourth in runs with 7.

The Pitcher of the Week award is shared this week between Quincy right-hander Brad Stone and Danville right-hander Josh Johnson. Stone is from St. Louis, Missouri, and will be a sophomore this fall at Quincy University. Brad pitched the only complete game of the week, a nine inning 6-0 shutout over Springfield on June 17 in which he allowed 6 hits, walked 1 and struck out 5 Rifles batters. Stone has not allowed an earned run in either of his two starts so far.

Johnson made 2 starts during the week and went 2-0 while pitching 10 innings allowing only 3 hits, 1 unearned run and fanning 12 batters. Batters hit at .094 for the week off Johnson. Josh is from Caledonia, Mississippi, and will be a sophomore this fall at Mississippi State.

CICL Players of the Week for games played June 10-16 have been selected. For position players, co-winners are A.J. Van Slyke of the Bluff City Bombers and Keiji Szalo of the Galesburg Pioneers. For the week, Van Slyke played 7 games and went 12-25 (.480), scored 5 runs, had 4 RBI and 15 total bases. Van Slyke is from LaDue, Missouri, and will be a junior this fall at the University of Kansas,

Keiji Szalo played 6 games and went 9-21 (.429), scored 6 runs, had 6 RBI, 1 homer and also 15 total bases. Szalo is from Kewanee, Illinois, and just finished his sophomore year at Blackhawk College

Pitcher of the Week honors go to Quincy's Michael Cole who tossed a no-hitter vs. Springfield this week. Cole is from Boone Terre, Missouri, and will be a sophomore this fall at the University of Missouri.