Player of the Year showed all-around excellence in 2005

BY SHANNON COUNTRYMAN
THE COURIER

Mount Pulaski senior pitcher Josh Blaum proved what a force he can be on the baseball field with one classic game in the postseason.

Facing top-seeded Normal U-High and University of Illinois-bound pitcher Ben Reeser in a Riverton Sectional semifinal game, Blaum preserved a 2-2 tie by pitching out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam in the bottom of the seventh inning, fielding a comebacker for the first out and striking out the final two hitters with fastballs.

"I thought about taking him out and he was like ‘I’m not coming out,’" said Mount Pulaski head coach Gale Clark.

Blaum then came through with a deep RBI triple to center off Reeser in the eighth, his second extra base hit and RBI in the game, in what would be a 3-2 Hilltopper win and a 149-pitch complete game for Blaum.

That dominant effort was the exclamation point on a breakthrough season that led to the honor of The Courier’s 2005 Baseball Player of the Year.

"That game is really what kind of typified his performance for us," Clark said. "He won that game for us, there’s no question. It was an outstanding performance, one of the better performances that I’ve ever had a chance to be around and coach."

On the mound, Blaum finished his senior season with an 8-1 record, a 3.01 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 112-38 in 76 2/3 innings.

Perhaps more impressive was his offensive breakthrough. After a 2004 campaign in which Blaum hit .325 with four home runs and 16 RBIs, he busted out for a .376 average, 14 home runs and 50 RBIs in 2005.

"I shortened up my swing a lot this year," Blaum said. "I had a really long swing last year, and if I got a hold of it it would go a long way, but a lot of the outside pitches I just dinked. But this year I hit a couple out to the opposite field because I shortened up my swing and most of my doubles went for home runs this year; last year they just would have been doubles.

Blaum achieved those power numbers in a much more pitcher-friendly home field for the ’Toppers. Whereas the old park had quirky dimensions of 320-feet down the left field line and 290 to center, the new field is 380 to center and 365 or so to the power alleys, according to Blaum.

"He hit balls out of almost every park we played in, and he hit four or five out of our place," Clark said. "Nobody’s ever hit more home runs and driven in more runs since I’ve been a coach at Mount Pulaski.

"I think he realized he’s the one big gun in the lineup that can hit the ball out of the park. And when he got in good counts, when he got in 2-0 or 3-0 counts he looked to hit the ball out of the park."

Blaum got plenty of help from his teammates, particularly from the man hitting behind him, Chase Lowery (.427, 34 RBI).

"Maybe about a quarter of the way through the season, I moved Chase behind him," Clark said. "Chase was leading us in batting average, and there were a few times this year when people would intentionally walk Josh to get to Chase and then he came up with a big base hit, and I think people after scouting our team kind of started to realize that the guy behind him can hit."

The guys hitting at the top of the order, John Foley (.412 average) and Dan Gleason (.316), gave Blaum ample opportunities to drive in runs.

"Well, they’ve got to get on base for me to hit them in," Blaum said. "The top of the order did a good job of getting on base this year. We had Foley and Gleason leading off, and one of them usually got on. Then I’d have a chance to hit them in, and if I didn’t, Lowery would hit them in."

A much improved changeup was a key in his pitching success, coming off a fine junior season in which he posted a 2.63 ERA and 84 strikeouts.

"I worked really hard on my changeup this year to throw it more often to get it to where I could throw it whenever I wanted to, because last year I mainly was just fastball, slider and occasional change up. This year I can throw it whenever I want to and I think that helped out in some big spots."

Blaum will attend Lake Land College in the fall, a two-year NJCAA school in Mattoon. Clark thinks that Blaum has some attributes that will have scouts watching him as his college career progresses.

"I think Josh can be a really good hitter in college, but I still think his future lies with the ball in his hand on the mound," Clark said. "I think he’s got all the physical attributes and make up that even professional scouts look for. Big, lanky frame (6-foot-6), and obviously he can add muscle. I think he’s going to be a guy who a year or two from now, maybe even next year will be throwing the ball in the 90s. He’s usually 82-85 right now, with virtually no weight training at all.

"Once he adds a little bit of weight I think he’s going to be a guy that’s looked at heavily, not only by four year schools but maybe even professional scouts, just because he has that perfect frame they look for, and he’s really learned how to pitch I think the last couple of years."

Starting with Blaum’s sophomore season, the ’Toppers won three straight regional championships after not having won a regional since 1984. The closest they got to state was a sectional title in 2004.

"We wanted to make it to state, because my seventh-grade year we made it to state in baseball, and no one from Pulaski has ever made it to state, and we wanted to make it a goal that that little nucleus of guys makes it to state," Blaum said. "We came up a few games short every year, but we definitely had a good enough team to make it there."

Blaum is currently playing American Legion baseball for Clinton while looking forward to beginning practice with Lake Land in August in preparation for the fall season.

"I don’t think he’s played his best baseball," Clark said. "I think he’s going to be even more dominant in the future in college, and hopefully someday I can say ‘I’ve coached this guy’ when he’s making money. If that’s how far he wants to take it, I think he’s got that kind of potential."