DeKalb Hogs Pre-Tournament Notes
June 14, 2006
De Kalb, IL
De Kalb, Il.
The DeKalb Hustle Hogs are heading to their first tournament of the year this weekend in Radom, Il. for the Terry Deering Memorial Tournament. The Hogs come into this week on a four game win streak. The Hogs are hitting .359 as a team with six players hitting over .350. These numbers have been against some very good pitching as the Hogs play in two very competitive leagues.
Tommy Crouch leads the team with a .586 average and a .657 OBA. Shaun Cavasos is hitting .571 doing it from the left and right side of the plate. The rest of the .350 or better hitters are: Matt Smith (.500), Mike Drew (.400), Chad Crutcher (379), and Jay Armes (364).
The Hogs have a couple of players that will be playing with their regular traveling team this weekend, so the Hogs' front office decided to pick up C/OF, Brian Crouch from San Diego, CA. Brian is a former Hog standout and will play Wed and Thu with the Hogs in their leagues before making the trip to Radom on Friday. The Hogs first tournament game will be at 9pm. This will also be a reunion of sorts as the entire Hogs squad will stay at Grandpa Crouch's place in Mt Vernon, Il. with many family members attending the tournament to cheer on the Hogs.
The Hogs' staff will include Tim Murphy and Joe Crouch. Murphy has had a great start to the '06 season as his knee is finally healthy. Murphy has gone through a tough off- season workout regiment to get ready for the season and it has showed in his first five starts. Crouch, has also started the season on a high note pitching very well for the Rockford BHAC club and last weekend pitched in the prestigious Blue/Grey tournament in Alabama where his team (Alabama Fastpitch) finished second.
The Hogs are looking forward to a successful week and tournament.
Les Johnson
seanmattchad(at)yahoo.com