Hard work and talent have given Eric Toole a chance in professional baseball.
Now, he’ll see what happens when he keeps working.
The former Lewis Central and University of Iowa outfielder was drafted in the 22nd round on Wednesday by the Colorado Rockies. He joins his older brother, Justin, a former Hawkeye who’s with the Akron RubberDucks, the Class AA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.
Eric Toole said he was at home with his dad, Lewis Central baseball coach Lee Toole, when he got a text from Brett Baldwin, area scouting supervisor for the Colorado Rockies, telling him to hang tight. The call came soon afterward. Toole was to learn more details late Wednesday, including a contract proposal and when and where he is to report.
“I was ecstatic,” he said. “I hadn’t had any verbal contact with the Rockies. I filled out the normal sheet for draft eligible players, but that was it.”
“I wasn’t really, like, picking and choosing teams. I’m just looking for the opportunity to play at the next level. Whoever was willing to give it to me, I was willing to play for them.”
It might appear as if Toole’s path has been leading to this day for some time. His father is a coach, his brother plays in the minors, and Eric was part of a major turnaround this season at Iowa under coach Rick Heller. Toole is one of five Hawkeyes drafted, tied with the 1992 team for the most in school history.
All of those factors have helped, he said.
“It’s been a huge part of our lives,” he said. “Our dad started teaching us real young. He’d help us with our swings or if we had a bad day.”
Lee Toole, who played at Northwest Iowa Community College in Mason City, said having two pro ballplayers in the family makes him proud.
“It’s kind of one of those things where you just sit down and go, ‘Wow.”
Lee Toole said he and his wife, Jeanine, took the same basic approach with their sons and their daughter, Lindsey, a former Lewis Central athlete who now teaches at a preschool in Omaha.
“My wife and I basically took the attitude that we’d let the kids decide what to do and provide guidance, not pressure. But once you start something, you’re going to finish it.”
As Eric grew older, he watched his brother, who wasn’t drafted, work his way through the Cleveland minor-league system.
“It kind of opened our eyes to how minor-league baseball works,” Eric said.
Heller’s arrival at Iowa after Toole’s sophomore season was a turning point for the program. This year, the Hawkeyes finished 41-18 and qualified for an NCAA regional.
Toole said the coach – and the team’s success – were a big help.
“Coach Heller is outstanding,” he said. “He knows a bunch of guys, a bunch of scouts. He wants his players to be ready for the draft but not worry about it till after the season.”
“I had a good year and the team had a good year,” said Toole, who finished as the school’s all-time singles leader and hit .306. “It probably – definitely – helped.”
Along the way, he graduated in May with a degree in health and human physiology–health promotion.
And his post-college job search is taken care of.
“I just think I have to go there with an open mind, work hard, use my speed and do everything I did at Iowa, get on base however I can, and play hard whenever I get the chance to,” he said.
http://www.nonpareilonline.com/spor...cle_ed505a44-0ff0-11e5-b2a2-07e0c6a217c2.html
Now, he’ll see what happens when he keeps working.
The former Lewis Central and University of Iowa outfielder was drafted in the 22nd round on Wednesday by the Colorado Rockies. He joins his older brother, Justin, a former Hawkeye who’s with the Akron RubberDucks, the Class AA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.
Eric Toole said he was at home with his dad, Lewis Central baseball coach Lee Toole, when he got a text from Brett Baldwin, area scouting supervisor for the Colorado Rockies, telling him to hang tight. The call came soon afterward. Toole was to learn more details late Wednesday, including a contract proposal and when and where he is to report.
“I was ecstatic,” he said. “I hadn’t had any verbal contact with the Rockies. I filled out the normal sheet for draft eligible players, but that was it.”
“I wasn’t really, like, picking and choosing teams. I’m just looking for the opportunity to play at the next level. Whoever was willing to give it to me, I was willing to play for them.”
It might appear as if Toole’s path has been leading to this day for some time. His father is a coach, his brother plays in the minors, and Eric was part of a major turnaround this season at Iowa under coach Rick Heller. Toole is one of five Hawkeyes drafted, tied with the 1992 team for the most in school history.
All of those factors have helped, he said.
“It’s been a huge part of our lives,” he said. “Our dad started teaching us real young. He’d help us with our swings or if we had a bad day.”
Lee Toole, who played at Northwest Iowa Community College in Mason City, said having two pro ballplayers in the family makes him proud.
“It’s kind of one of those things where you just sit down and go, ‘Wow.”
Lee Toole said he and his wife, Jeanine, took the same basic approach with their sons and their daughter, Lindsey, a former Lewis Central athlete who now teaches at a preschool in Omaha.
“My wife and I basically took the attitude that we’d let the kids decide what to do and provide guidance, not pressure. But once you start something, you’re going to finish it.”
As Eric grew older, he watched his brother, who wasn’t drafted, work his way through the Cleveland minor-league system.
“It kind of opened our eyes to how minor-league baseball works,” Eric said.
Heller’s arrival at Iowa after Toole’s sophomore season was a turning point for the program. This year, the Hawkeyes finished 41-18 and qualified for an NCAA regional.
Toole said the coach – and the team’s success – were a big help.
“Coach Heller is outstanding,” he said. “He knows a bunch of guys, a bunch of scouts. He wants his players to be ready for the draft but not worry about it till after the season.”
“I had a good year and the team had a good year,” said Toole, who finished as the school’s all-time singles leader and hit .306. “It probably – definitely – helped.”
Along the way, he graduated in May with a degree in health and human physiology–health promotion.
And his post-college job search is taken care of.
“I just think I have to go there with an open mind, work hard, use my speed and do everything I did at Iowa, get on base however I can, and play hard whenever I get the chance to,” he said.
http://www.nonpareilonline.com/spor...cle_ed505a44-0ff0-11e5-b2a2-07e0c6a217c2.html
