Jacobs grad Albano on fire at Lewis

Jacobs baseball product Ben Albano had quite a string of success recently.

Albano, who now plays at Division II Lewis University in Romeoville, was recently named the D2BASEBALL.COM national player of the week.

Albano earned the honor after helping the Flyers to a 4-2 record over Great Lakes Valley Conference foes UW-Parkside and Southern Indiana.

In those series, Albano hit .591 in 22 plate appearances, recording 13 hits, 3 home runs, a double, 9 runs scored and 6 RBI.

Albano, a sophomore, recorded a hit in each game. He opened the stretch going 3-for-4 against Parkside and followed it up with a 4-for-4 outing that included 2 home runs in the second game. He finished the span going 3-for-4 with 3 runs scored in a win at Southern Indiana.

In addition to the national honor, Albano, a West Dundee native, was also named the GLVC baseball player of the week.

“Ben has been seeing the ball really well of late and it is great to see him receive the player of the week award,” Lewis coach Tim McDonough stated. “He has taken advantage of his teammates getting on base in front of him and using the whole field to hit. When that happens, he has the ability to drive in a lot of runs.”

At the time of the honor, Albano was leading the league in slugging percentage (. 702) and home runs (11). He was second in the conference in total bases with 92.

Through Friday, Albano was hitting .363 with 49 hits in 135 at-bats. He had 33 runs scored, 6 doubles, 2 triples, the 11 homers and 37 RBI. Albano also sported a .681 slugging percentage and a .438 on-base percentage. He was 7-for-12 in stolen-base attempts.

In the field, Albano had 56 putouts, no assists and only 2 errors. Lewis was 29-13 overall and 18-10 in GLVC play through Friday.

Locals at Illinois State: A pair of former area standouts are contributing to the Illinois State University baseball team. Dundee-Crown graduate Kenny Long, a senior pitcher, recently helped the Redbirds to a 13-5 victory over Bradley that gave ISU the Missouri Valley Conference series win.

Long, usually the team’s closer, started and responded with seven strong innings — the longest outing of his career. He posted his first win of the season after allowing 5 hits and 3 earned runs, while striking out seven and walking two.

Through Friday, Long was 1-1 with a 1.87 ERA. He had 33 strikeouts in 33 2/3 innings. In 19 appearances, Long has given up 20 hits.

Cary-Grove product Eric Aguilera is also a key part of the Redbirds’ team. Through Friday, Aguilera was hitting .340 in 37 games. He had 49 hits in 144 at-bats and had scored 32 runs. Those 49 hits included 4 doubles, 1 triple and 6 homers to go with 27 RBI.

ISU was 22-15 and 4-7 in MVC play through Friday.

Arceneaux at Loyola: Another Jacobs alum who had recent success is current Loyola-Chicago softball player Lauren Arceneaux. She played a role in the team’s recent 3-1 nonconference win over Purdue.

Arceneaux tripled in the third inning of the game and scored on an RBI double.

Through Friday, Arceneaux was hitting .311 in 40 games for the Ramblers. She had 38 hits in 122 at-bats and had scored 29 runs. She had 6 doubles, 2 triples, 7 homers and 20 RBI to go with a .566 slugging percentage and a .421 on-base percentage (22 walks). Arceneaux also was 15-for-17 in stolen-base attempts.

Loyola was 20-20 and 11-7 in Horizon League play through Friday.

Kay at Illinois State: Bartlett product Elizabeth Kay was hitting .267 through Friday for the Illinois State University softball team. Kay had started all 49 of the team’s games this season, accumulating 39 hits in 146 at-bats. She had 30 runs scored, 7 doubles, 7 homers and 28 RBI to go with a .459 slugging percentage. In the field Kay had 63 putouts and 117 assists for a .968 fielding percentage.

ISU was 29-20 overall and 14-7 in Missouri Valley Conference play through Friday.

Dennison at Butler: Callie Dennison, another Bartlett graduate, is a member of the Butler University softball team. Dennison had played in all 50 of the team’s games through Friday (48 starts). She had 31 hits, including 5 doubles to go with 12 RBI and 10 walks. Dennison was also 5-for-7 in stolen-base attempts and had a .915 fielding percentage. Butler was 21-29 overall and 11-10 in Horizon League play through Friday.

Hardie at Winona State: Crystal Lake South graduate Kaitlin Hardie is now a junior second baseman on the Winona State softball team. Through Friday, Hardie, whose team was in the midst of the NSIC tournament, was hitting .304 in 50 games (48 starts). She had 38 hits in 125 at-bats and scored 22 runs. Of those 38 hits, she had 5 doubles, 1 triple and 1 homer to go with 15 RBI. Hardie also had 11 walks and a .370 on-base percentage. She was 5-for-6 in stolen bases and had a .957 fielding percentage in 159 total chances.

Winona State was 42-9 and 21-6 in conference play.

McCleary at Iowa Wesleyan: Larkin graduate Sarah McCleary is a senior first baseman on the Iowa Wesleyan softball team. In 45 games, McCleary was hitting .293 with 36 hits in 123 at-bats to go along with 20 RBI. In the field, she had a .983 fielding percentage with only 5 errors in 297 chances. Iowa Wesleyan was 23-20 and 11-13 in conference play through Friday.

Locals at Dominican: Three local players have made significant contributions to the Dominican University softball team. Larkin graduate Corinne Wimmer was leading the team in hitting at .392 in 36 games. She had 49 hits in 125 at-bats to go with 31 runs scored and 11 RBI. Wimmer, a freshman utility player, had a .944 fielding percentage.

Dundee-Crown alum Melissa Summaria, a junior utility player, was hitting .374 in 32 games. She had 37 hits in 99 at-bats to go with 26 runs scored. She also had 3 doubles, 3 homers and 18 RBI along with a .495 slugging percentage. She only struck out 4 times in 99 at-bats. Summaria also had 16 stolen bases and a .900 fielding percentage.

Crystal Lake South graduate Emily Mahoney was hitting .307 in 36 games. She had 35 hits in 114 at-bats. Included in those 35 hits were 9 doubles and a homer. She also had 23 RBI and an impressive .986 fielding percentage (2 errors in 144 total chances). Mahoney also struck out only 10 times in those 114 at-bats. In the pitchers circle, Mahoney was 7-8 with a 2.42 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 86 innings.

Dominican was 23-30 and 11-13 in conference play through Friday.

Locals at Bradley: Two area products are part of the Bradley University baseball team. Bartlett graduate Greg Partyka was hitting .295 through Friday. In 39 games, he had 43 hits in 146 at-bats to go with 8 homers and 38 RBI.

Burlington Central graduate Austin Jarvis had 24 hits in 28 games. He also had 1 double, 2 homers and 12 RBI. Jarvis was also sporting a .991 fielding percentage with 2 errors committed in 221 total chances.

Bradley was 23-16-1 and 6-7 in Missouri Valley Conference play through Friday.

Popenfoose at Auburn: Huntley alum Marcus Popenfoose, now a sophomore thrower on the Auburn men’s track and field team, recently recorded a new career-best throw in the hammer. Popenfoose threw the hammer 173 feet in the team’s recent appearance at its own 2012 War Eagle invitational.

Off at college wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at difibulator@aol.com.