This past Saturday afternoon, history was made not only for the state of Illinois high school baseball, but for the small town of Highland as for the first time, they celebrated a state championship in an athletic sport.  The Highland High School baseball team capped off a remarkable and historic season by beating Rock Falls to take the inaugural Class 3A state championship.  As an alum of the school and an avid follower of all the sports team, it brings a smile to my face to know that I was indeed around when history was made.  It was 50 years ago when Highland last made the state tournament in baseball and proceeded to drop there first game.  Since then, there have been a couple of teams in basketball, one girls and one boys, that made it to the supersectionals and there was a football team from 1989 that made it to the Final Four but neither of those teams could take that extra step.  Finally, there was a team that was able to cross that threshold and bring home the ultimate prize, a moment that I'm glad that I was around to witness.  They were welcomed home as the grand marshalls of yesterday's Schweizerfest parade and received standing ovations from the paradegoers as they made there way along the route.  Last night, they made the rounds on the local airwaves, with a story on one station and then live in studio during the extended sports hour another.  They will be worshipped like rockstars and have etched there names in the record book

This Highland team was led by Jake Ordorizzi, a stud pitcher and shortshop that was just drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round of the MLB amateur draft.  Never has this town seen a kid so gifted, talented and dominant.  For the season, Ordorizzi gave up ONE run in 89 innings pitched, while striking out 187 and walking 6.  Those arent mistakes, that's a strikeout to walk ratio of 31 to 1 and an ERA of 0.008.  Odorizzi won his last 25 starts over the past two seasons and ended his high school career by slamming the door in the final game, striking out the 4th and 5th place hitters with the bases loaded and the game on the line. Odorizzi will no doubt forgo his scholarship offer with Louisville and start in the Milwaukee organization once his contract is signed.  He is now the second kid from Highland to join the ranks of MLB, with Chris Frey being a member of the Colorado Rockies AAA team.  I've had a chance to meet Odorizzi before and the kid is as grounded, humble and quiet as any 18 year old you could ever meet.  He's quick to pass on any accolades to his teammates, but knows full well that scouts and the press come to see him play.  This Highland team was fun to watch, using a mixture of small and longball, great defense, superb pitching and timely hitting to win 36 of 40 games on the year.  Coach Joel Hawkins does a great job of getting the best out of his talent and after years and years of steadily progressing but falling short, he was able to take his team to the promise land, on the arm of Ordorizzi and the bats, speed and smart play of a bunch of 17 and 18 year olds that believed. 

Congrats Bulldogs..... CLASS 3A STATE CHAMPIONS