The Hawks competed fiercely to earn a trip to the 2008 District Tournament but fell just short dropping a pair of tight ball games to conference foe Parkland at the Region 24 Tournament in Springfield.
After falling by one run in the tourney opener to Parkland, the Hawks came back to defeat Illinois Central College 3-2. The Hawks met the Cobras again with a chance to make it to the tournament championship but again came up two runs short.
The Hawks finished their inaugural season ranked No. 17 in the NJCAA D-II. Sophomore Michael Stalter (14) and freshman Cody Gilles (13) tied for 9th and 10th respectively in the national homerun race. Freshman pitcher Ryan Juris (8-0) tied for 5th in the country for wins. As a team the Hawks hit .349, good for 14th nationally.

Heartland Hawks Baseball Team
5/12/08 - The No. 17 Hawks (37-15) headed into the ninth inning tied with No. 21 Parkland (37-15-1) but surrendered two runs in the top half of the inning to fall 5-3 in what turned out to be Heartland's season finale at the NJCAA D-II Region 24 tournament in Springfield, IL. Ty Wiesemeyer had two hits and scored a run.
5/10/08 - Facing elimination the Hawks' Ryan Juris dominated on the mound in a 3-2 win over Illinois Central (27-22). In nine innings Juris allowed two earned runs on five hits and struck out five. Cody Gilles went 1-for-3 at the plate and drove in two runs while scoring another.
5/9/08 - After getting down early, the Hawks fought back but could not hold on, allowing a ninth inning run to Parkland in a 4-3 loss to open the NJCAA D-II Region 24 tournament in Springfield. Cody Gilles had three hits including a double. Ty Wiesemeyer had two hits.
For more information on Heartland Baseball, or on becoming a Heartland Hawk, please either fill out and return a player profile form and/or contact Coach Metzger.
*All Hawk baseball home games will be played off campus at McLean County PONY Baseball Complex, unless otherwise stated on the schedule page.