This is what Eric Toole wanted all along.
A former Lewis Central baseball standout, Toole signed with Iowa and played immediately as a freshman in 2012.
Toole steadily developed over the
years, but the same couldn't be said about the team. The Hawkeyes won
23 and 22 games, respectively, during Toole's freshman and sophomore
seasons, finishing both campaigns with losing records.
It led to a coaching change and
the hiring of Rick Heller. An Eldon, Iowa, native, Heller replaced Jack
Dahm after 10 seasons, a 235-302 record at the school and no NCAA
tournament appearances.
Heller brought with him a track
record of success. He came from Indiana State, where he led the
Sycamores to their first outright Missouri Valley Conference title in
2012. Before that, he coached at Northern Iowa from 1999-2009, leading
the Panthers to an NCAA tournament berth in 2001. In 27 years as a head
coach, Heller entered this season with a career record of 720-588-4.
Heller needed to instill a winning culture.
"Coach Heller came in last year
with arms wide open," Toole said. "He was like, 'You know what? I
believe in you guys. We're going to do what we can, and we're going to
instill our brand of baseball here at Iowa. If you believe in me, I'll
believe in you.' That's something that's been going on the last two
years, and it's working out well."
Heller last spring guided the Hawkeyes to a 30-23 record and their first Big Ten tournament appearance since 2010.
But this year has displayed just how much the Hawkeyes are investing into Heller's philosophies.
They're currently ranked 20th in
the latest Baseball America rankings. Following a win in the first game
of a doubleheader against Northwestern on Saturday, Iowa was 26-10
overall and 10-1 in the Big Ten, tied for first in the conference
standings with Illinois. Iowa and Northwestern started the second game
Saturday, but with weather delays, results were unavailable at press
time.
Making the season even more
special has been the overall success of the Big Ten Conference. The
latest NCAA RPI rankings had five Big Ten teams ranked in the top 29:
Iowa (20), Nebraska (21), Maryland (24), Illinois (27) and Ohio State
(29).
"I think the Big Ten discussion
is interesting this year because they're good, and they're good across
the board," ESPN college baseball analyst Kyle Peterson said. "If you
went to somebody five years ago and said there's going to be four Big
Ten teams in the postseason, they would have laughed at you. The depth
of the conference is a hell of a story.
"You maybe had a surprise team or
two in the past, but you never had the depth they have right now. It
benefits all of them because the weekend is not an RPI killer. On some
weekends, it's beneficial."
Following this weekend's sweep of
Northwestern, four conference series remain for Iowa before postseason
play. The Hawkeyes will play host to Nebraska (April 24-26) and
Minnesota (May 8-10) and have road series remaining at Michigan (May
1-3) and Rutgers (May 14-16).
The Hawkeyes have given
themselves a unique opportunity that few teams in program history have
enjoyed. Iowa has only three NCAA tournament appearances to its credit
with the last coming in 1990. The Hawkeyes also qualified in 1972 and
'75, with the '72 squad earning the program's only trip to the College
World Series.
Success has eluded the Hawkeyes,
especially in recent years. Since last winning the Big Ten in 1990, Iowa
hasn't had more than 32 wins in a season.
Heller's 2015 squad appears
poised to break that unfavorable trend, and the second-year coach said
the turnaround is because he inherited a group of players ready to win.
Nine seniors and 14 juniors are currently on the roster, and they were
ready for a change.
"There's really no magic
formula," Heller said. "I've got a system and a plan that we tried to
implement wherever I've been. It revolves around attitude, effort and
teaching. It helps off the field and in the classroom and community.
"You've got to have a group of
guys willing to buy in to that system. It's been great this year with
the team I inherited. I inherited a talented group, a bunch of guys who
are hungry and wanted to win. It's been fun since day one."
Pitching and defense have keyed
the Hawkeyes all season. They currently sport a 2.91 team ERA, and their
.980 fielding percentage is the best in the Big Ten.
Juniors Calvin Mathews, Tyler
Peyton and Blake Hickman lead what has been a potent Hawkeye pitching
staff. Hickman leads the team in innings (52 2/3) and wins (5), Peyton's
46 strikeouts is tops on the squad and Matthews' 1.32 ERA in 41 innings
is best among the starters.
Also from southwest Iowa, Glenwood graduate Taylor Kaufman has started 10 games for the Hawkeyes.
Offensively, the Hawkeyes had to
find a way to replace key bats Jake Yacinich and Taylor Zeutenhorst, who
were lost to the draft.
Their departures meant Heller put
more of a premium on getting runners on base and situational hitting.
Toole, the leadoff hitter, leads the Big Ten with 20 stolen bases and
the team with 26 runs to go with a .333 average. Peyton is also the
Hawkeyes' best hitter, sporting a .350 average and 18 RBIs. Jake
Mangler's 23 RBIs are best on the team.
"It's not like you can coach up
power," Peterson said. "You can't peg guys and say, 'I'm going to turn
you into a power hitter.' You've either got big-timer power bat speed or
you don't.
"But you can turn guys into much
better defenders. I think they're fielding close to .980 as a club, and
the ERA is below 3.00. You do that, especially in a year where the
offense is different than it was before, you're going to be in a lot of
games."
The method has worked so far, and
Heller wants to continue the success. The top eight teams in the
13-team conference qualify for the Big Ten tournament May 20-24 at
Target Field in Minneapolis. Ideally, Iowa would like the automatic
berth to the NCAA tournament that would come with a tournament title,
but Heller knows if the Hawkeyes can maintain course, they'll put
themselves in prime position for an at-large berth.
"If you're going to make a run at
a championship, every game is big," Heller said. "That's why people are
excited because up to this point, we've put ourselves in a great
position. We just have to continue to focus on the things we've been
doing well as far as trying to get better and improving in areas where
we've struggled. That's really all you can do is keep putting yourself
in that position, and it's going to be tough.
"Every game in the league this year is a war. The league is loaded with talent."
Link
A former Lewis Central baseball standout, Toole signed with Iowa and played immediately as a freshman in 2012.
Toole steadily developed over the
years, but the same couldn't be said about the team. The Hawkeyes won
23 and 22 games, respectively, during Toole's freshman and sophomore
seasons, finishing both campaigns with losing records.
It led to a coaching change and
the hiring of Rick Heller. An Eldon, Iowa, native, Heller replaced Jack
Dahm after 10 seasons, a 235-302 record at the school and no NCAA
tournament appearances.
Heller brought with him a track
record of success. He came from Indiana State, where he led the
Sycamores to their first outright Missouri Valley Conference title in
2012. Before that, he coached at Northern Iowa from 1999-2009, leading
the Panthers to an NCAA tournament berth in 2001. In 27 years as a head
coach, Heller entered this season with a career record of 720-588-4.
Heller needed to instill a winning culture.
"Coach Heller came in last year
with arms wide open," Toole said. "He was like, 'You know what? I
believe in you guys. We're going to do what we can, and we're going to
instill our brand of baseball here at Iowa. If you believe in me, I'll
believe in you.' That's something that's been going on the last two
years, and it's working out well."
Heller last spring guided the Hawkeyes to a 30-23 record and their first Big Ten tournament appearance since 2010.
But this year has displayed just how much the Hawkeyes are investing into Heller's philosophies.
They're currently ranked 20th in
the latest Baseball America rankings. Following a win in the first game
of a doubleheader against Northwestern on Saturday, Iowa was 26-10
overall and 10-1 in the Big Ten, tied for first in the conference
standings with Illinois. Iowa and Northwestern started the second game
Saturday, but with weather delays, results were unavailable at press
time.
Making the season even more
special has been the overall success of the Big Ten Conference. The
latest NCAA RPI rankings had five Big Ten teams ranked in the top 29:
Iowa (20), Nebraska (21), Maryland (24), Illinois (27) and Ohio State
(29).
"I think the Big Ten discussion
is interesting this year because they're good, and they're good across
the board," ESPN college baseball analyst Kyle Peterson said. "If you
went to somebody five years ago and said there's going to be four Big
Ten teams in the postseason, they would have laughed at you. The depth
of the conference is a hell of a story.
"You maybe had a surprise team or
two in the past, but you never had the depth they have right now. It
benefits all of them because the weekend is not an RPI killer. On some
weekends, it's beneficial."
Following this weekend's sweep of
Northwestern, four conference series remain for Iowa before postseason
play. The Hawkeyes will play host to Nebraska (April 24-26) and
Minnesota (May 8-10) and have road series remaining at Michigan (May
1-3) and Rutgers (May 14-16).
The Hawkeyes have given
themselves a unique opportunity that few teams in program history have
enjoyed. Iowa has only three NCAA tournament appearances to its credit
with the last coming in 1990. The Hawkeyes also qualified in 1972 and
'75, with the '72 squad earning the program's only trip to the College
World Series.
Success has eluded the Hawkeyes,
especially in recent years. Since last winning the Big Ten in 1990, Iowa
hasn't had more than 32 wins in a season.
Heller's 2015 squad appears
poised to break that unfavorable trend, and the second-year coach said
the turnaround is because he inherited a group of players ready to win.
Nine seniors and 14 juniors are currently on the roster, and they were
ready for a change.
"There's really no magic
formula," Heller said. "I've got a system and a plan that we tried to
implement wherever I've been. It revolves around attitude, effort and
teaching. It helps off the field and in the classroom and community.
"You've got to have a group of
guys willing to buy in to that system. It's been great this year with
the team I inherited. I inherited a talented group, a bunch of guys who
are hungry and wanted to win. It's been fun since day one."
Pitching and defense have keyed
the Hawkeyes all season. They currently sport a 2.91 team ERA, and their
.980 fielding percentage is the best in the Big Ten.
Juniors Calvin Mathews, Tyler
Peyton and Blake Hickman lead what has been a potent Hawkeye pitching
staff. Hickman leads the team in innings (52 2/3) and wins (5), Peyton's
46 strikeouts is tops on the squad and Matthews' 1.32 ERA in 41 innings
is best among the starters.
Also from southwest Iowa, Glenwood graduate Taylor Kaufman has started 10 games for the Hawkeyes.
Offensively, the Hawkeyes had to
find a way to replace key bats Jake Yacinich and Taylor Zeutenhorst, who
were lost to the draft.
Their departures meant Heller put
more of a premium on getting runners on base and situational hitting.
Toole, the leadoff hitter, leads the Big Ten with 20 stolen bases and
the team with 26 runs to go with a .333 average. Peyton is also the
Hawkeyes' best hitter, sporting a .350 average and 18 RBIs. Jake
Mangler's 23 RBIs are best on the team.
"It's not like you can coach up
power," Peterson said. "You can't peg guys and say, 'I'm going to turn
you into a power hitter.' You've either got big-timer power bat speed or
you don't.
"But you can turn guys into much
better defenders. I think they're fielding close to .980 as a club, and
the ERA is below 3.00. You do that, especially in a year where the
offense is different than it was before, you're going to be in a lot of
games."
The method has worked so far, and
Heller wants to continue the success. The top eight teams in the
13-team conference qualify for the Big Ten tournament May 20-24 at
Target Field in Minneapolis. Ideally, Iowa would like the automatic
berth to the NCAA tournament that would come with a tournament title,
but Heller knows if the Hawkeyes can maintain course, they'll put
themselves in prime position for an at-large berth.
"If you're going to make a run at
a championship, every game is big," Heller said. "That's why people are
excited because up to this point, we've put ourselves in a great
position. We just have to continue to focus on the things we've been
doing well as far as trying to get better and improving in areas where
we've struggled. That's really all you can do is keep putting yourself
in that position, and it's going to be tough.
"Every game in the league this year is a war. The league is loaded with talent."
Link
