Madison Mallards Utility Player Justin Parr, Outfielder Willie Argo and Pitcher Matt Milroy are spending the summer playing baseball together; following a spring that was extremely successful at the University of Illinois. As members of the Fighting Illini baseball team, they won the Big Ten title, and advanced to the Regional Finals of the NCAA Tournament.
During the first half of the Northwoods League 2011 season, they went 21-14 for the Mallards.
Parr, a Chillicothe, IL native is hitting .263, 1 HR 10 RBI in 114 AB. Argo, who hails from Davenport, Iowa is hitting .258, 3 HR 16 RBI in 66 AB with a .866 OPS. Milroy, from Batavia, IL will pitch in the league’s All-Star game. He’s 1-1 4.02 era, in 15 2/3 ip, 24:6 K:BB ratio.
“I know a lot of guys from Illinois in the past have been in the All-Star game so it’s kind of nice to keep that going for all of us,” he said.
Milroy talked about succeeding in the Northwoods League. “The competition is right up there with any league in the country, and the stuff that goes on is very similar to what goes on at the next level.”
Parr talked about what last year’s success in Champaign and what that means moving forward for the Illini program.
“Coming in as the underdog with them (the media experts) putting us ninth in the preseason, probably one of the best baseball experiences of my life to go through. And to win like that, and make the tournament and feel like we’re one of the best teams in the nation, something I’ll have with me forever,” he said.
The Northwoods League is a summer baseball league comprising teams of college players with remaining NCAA eligibility. Players are not paid so as to maintain their college eligibility. They play under the same conditions (wooden bats and minor league specification baseballs) as in the minors in a 70 game schedule running from early June to mid-August. The season is broken into two halves, with the winners of each half in each of the two divisions meeting in a playoff to determine a divisional champion; the divisional champions then meet for the league championship.
The Northwoods League has more teams, higher attendance and plays more games than any other Summer Collegiate Baseball League. Many of the teams in the league play in ballparks formerly occupied by professional clubs from the Midwest League, Prairie League and the Northern League. The League has had 277 of its alumni taken in the last two Major League Baseball Amateur Drafts including three first round selections in 2009 and the fourth selection overall.
Parr articulated his favorite part of playing in this league.
“Playing everyday, without the school part of it. You kind of live baseball, so I get to do the thing I love the most everyday, work hard and not have school,” he said.
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