Former Hawkeye Yacinich having good pro season in Burlington

CEDAR RAPIDS – Don't count Jake Yacinich among those surprised by the breakout baseball season of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Not even 40-plus wins, a spot in a NCAA regional and two wins in that regional took Yacinich aback.

'Ever since freshmen year, we knew we had something,” the Burlington Bees shortstop said in an interview during his team's three-game series last week against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. 'We just didn't put things together for a couple of years. Junior year, you really started to see what we had.”

Some of those guys are his professional colleagues now. Taylor Zeutenhorst is an outfielder in the Midwest League for the Clinton LumberKings and pitcher Sasha Kuebel is in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Iowa has had four 2015 players drafted and signed professionally: pitcher Blake Hickman (White Sox), outfielder Eric Toole (Rockies), infielder Kris Goodman (Marlins) and pitcher Nick Hibbing (Pirates).

'Coming back this year, they had pretty much everybody,” Yacinich said. 'You knew those guys were hungry and that they had just scratched the surface. To see what they did this year is just impressive. I couldn't be more happy for those guys.”

Yacinich was an eighth-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels last year. He took a .300 batting average into the final weekend of the Midwest League's first half and was selected by league managers for the MWL All-Star Game, which is Tuesday night at Peoria, Ill.

Other than a two-week stint on the disabled list, caused by a dive at shortstop that separated his shoulder temporarily, it has been a good season for the former West Des Moines Dowling prep.

'I feel good about it,” Yacinich said. 'Obviously there is always room to get better, and that's what I'm trying to do. Get better every single day. As far as this team, there are a bunch of great guys here. Everybody comes to work every day, and that makes it fun. Looking forward to the second half.”

And the All-Star Game.

'Yeah, for sure,” he said. 'It means that people believe in what I can do. Obviously I was voted in my other managers, and that's very humbling to be considered by them.”

Yacinich said he feels blessed to essentially begin his professional career so close to home. He has had his parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and plenty of friends attend games so far this season.

His pass list for the three games in Cedar Rapids was full. Yacinich did play six games for Rookie-level Orem after signing last season but broke his ankle on a defensive play and missed the majority of the season.

'That was really disappointing,” he said. 'You get to pro ball, and you're like ‘Yes, let's go, let's play and have fun.' Then all of a sudden, it's done like that. There's always a blessing that comes with that kind of stuff. I was able to go down to Arizona, see how some of the guys who have been in the organization for awhile handle their business. It made me appreciate where I'm at. Take a step back and look. Sometimes when you get to playing baseball every single day, you take it for granted a little bit. Getting injured made me realize how much you love the game and how much of a privilege it is to play it every single day.”

PLAYOFF TALK

Quad Cities has wrapped first place in the Midwest League's Western Division and Cedar Rapids second place. That means both will be part of the playoffs in September.

Over in the Eastern Division, Lansing had a playoff spot clinched going into Saturday. Great Lakes was a game behind the Lugnuts for second place, with Bowling Green and Dayton two games behind the Loons and still alive for a first-half playoff berth.

The second half of the season begins Thursday, with every team's record going back to 0-0. The first and second-place teams in each division also qualify for the playoffs, unless they already did so in the first half. Then it could go down to third or four place in a division.

TYING A RECORD

The Clinton LumberKings tied the Midwest League record for consecutive losses last week at 15. They beat Quad Cities to avoid having the record themselves.

Despite the recent futility, Clinton won't finish in last place in the West. That honor will go to Wisconsin, which was 22-46 going into Saturday.

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