June 11, 2007

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Hey Illini Fans, this is Dominic Altobelli and I just wanted to keep everyone up to date with what is going on in summer baseball. I am out here on the east coast in North Carolina playing for the Fayetteville SwampDogs in the Coastal Plain League. Aaron Martin and Ben Reeser are also on the team and we have started off well both as a team and individually. We are 9-2 and currently in first place in our division, and soon we'll start a streak of 21 straight games (yes, that's 21 days in a row). Hopefully we'll continue to play well as a team.

Aaron and Ben are doing well, with each of them earning wins in their first start of the season. It's great to have them here because we get along well and enjoy each other's company outside of baseball. As for myself, I am doing a decent job out here, with the highlight of my season so far being a home run I hit this past weekend in front of a huge crowd of about 3,000 fans. It is really exciting playing every night in front of a crowd that enjoys baseball as much as the fans at Illinois do.

In other news, I thought it was great to see a Big Ten team like Michigan make it to the super regionals. It goes to show you that the Big Ten can compete on a national level and hopefully our Fighting Illini team will make it to a super regional and beyond next year!!! Thanks for checking in with us and GO ILLINI!