Iowa baseball’s future on the upswing

IOWA CITY - The roots for Iowa's historic 2015 baseball season were set last spring in Rick Heller's inaugural year as the Hawkeyes' skipper.

Before Heller, the team posted losing seasons in 15 of the previous 17 years. In Heller's first season, Iowa advanced to the Big Ten Tournament and won a game. It gave the program a foundation of success and boosted confidence among the returnees.

'It definitely set the tone for this season,” Heller said. 'The fact that last year's team had a good year, did a nice job, won a game in the tournament, it really motivated those guys who are coming back to find a way to get there.

'To do it when we lost (shortstop) Jake Yacinich in the draft and lost (pitcher) Sasha Kuebel in the draft, those are two pretty tough losses to overcome and make a run at a conference championship. But the guys who are coming back knew that we could do it. They had the right attitude from day one. They started putting the work in last summer.”

Iowa's 2015 season ended Sunday night with a 3-2 loss to Missouri State. The Hawkeyes finished with 41-18 record, the second-most wins in school history. The second-place Big Ten finish was the program's highest since 1990, which also was the last time the Hawkeyes qualified for the NCAA tournament. The regional wins against Oregon marked Iowa's first postseason victories since 1972.

'We had, I think, (45) wins total in my freshman and sophomore years,” said Iowa senior outfielder Kris Goodman. 'To have 41 now is pretty incredible and kind of shows the type of players we are, to stick to it and just keep on going regardless of what's going on or what people are saying.”

The spotlight now shines brighter on a program that was overlooked because of its lack of success. Home attendance soared by season's end with several crowds reaching capacity. Iowa was considered a possible NCAA host site and would have moved bleachers along the first- and third-base lines to accommodate fans.

Iowa has spent nearly $2.5 million on renovations to Banks Field. The school is considering building a new stadium at the same location with luxury suites.

But the success also brings greater challenges. Five of Iowa's nine hitters in Sunday's lineup are seniors. Center fielder Eric Toole holds the school record for singles, and first baseman Kris Goodman bats cleanup. The top three pitchers are juniors, but it's likely any of the three - Tyler Peyton (also a first baseman), Blake Hickman and Calvin Mathews - could get drafted. Relief pitcher Nick Hibbing, who logged more than 110 pitches in relief over two games Sunday, is a senior. Hibbing was named the regional's most valuable player.

To combat those losses, Heller signed the Big Ten's top recruiting class, according to Perfect Game. Among the instate recruits include Cedar Rapids Kennedy pitcher/infielder Zach Daniels, Norwalk pitcher Chris Comito Jr., Dallas Center-Grimes pitcher Cole Baker, New Hampton pitcher Cole McDonald, Sioux City North outfielder Robert Neustrom and Waterloo Columbus outfielder Luke Farley.

Junior-college catcher Zach Fricke, a Waterloo native, helped North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) reach the NJCAA World Series by hitting .343 with 13 doubles, 12 home runs and 71 RBIs.

'It's going to be a challenging season next year losing the nine seniors, and we'll have to wait and see what happens in the draft,” Heller said. 'Our recruiting class was voted No. 1 in the Big Ten and top 40 nationally, and we feel like we've got the core group of guys coming in that's going to be the future of Iowa baseball.

'That's what we wanted to do, lay the groundwork, have some success the first two years so that these seniors that are leaving are going to leave a nice legacy for the guys who are coming after them. The expectations will already be there when this class comes in, which is a great thing.”

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