When Indiana opens its 2017 season this weekend, its batting order will boast a big return.
Senior outfielder Craig Dedelow chose to come back in Bloomington after getting selected in the 34th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He hit a team-high .302 during his junior season and will anchor a veteran lineup beginning Friday.
““It was mostly, ‘Am I ready to start my professional career?’” Dedelow said. “Some parts of me felt like I was, but overall, I just didn’t feel my whole self was there ready to make the decision. I just felt it I wasn’t 100 percent bought into it, it just wasn’t the right time.”
During his 56-game junior campaign, the Munster, Indiana, native led the Hoosiers in seven statistical batting categories, finished second in three more. He started in each of the 56 contests he played in.
Still, it wasn’t close to the level of production Dedelow experienced as a sophomore in 2015.
He batted .325, recorded 76 hits, scored 40 runs, hit seven home runs and slugged .496 that year in 59 games. Last year, he was just short of those marks playing in three fewer games.
Returning to Bloomington gave Dedelow a chance to bring his number back up to in 2015 and also created value a summer league couldn’t provide.
“Being in the weight room and being a lot more physical is a big thing for me,” Dedelow said. “Not playing summer ball this summer and staying in Bloomington and being able to work out with our strength coach and actually have a program day-by-day — that was a big part for me.”
Along with junior outfielder Logan Sowers, the Hoosier batting order brings back two of its most-experienced sluggers from the 2016 season.
“It’s going to be huge,” IU head coach Chris Lemonis said of having both Sowers and Dedelow back. “When you come up and see us play, you’ll see we’ve got some physicality, we’ve got some athleticism and we have a lot of experience too. These guys have played a lot baseball and swung it really well to this point. I think they’re at the point in their careers where they’re ready to have big years.”
Dedelow’s decision to turn pro, and subsequent selection by the Pirates in the draft, wasn’t too surprising.
His 2016 campaign concluded with Third Team All-Big Ten honors and the 11th-most doubles in the league at 16. He also batted a team-high .302 last season.
IU junior outfielder Logan Sowers remembered seeing an initial report that Dedelow had signed a pro contract after getting drafted and was happy for his teammate, but was even happier when he learned Dedelow had actually decided to stay.
“When I heard that I was like, ‘Good for him, but that kind of hurts us,’” Sowers said, laughing. “Then the other news came out that he actually didn’t sign, and I was extremely happy.
“The guy has hit over .300 the last two years, he’s just a solid guy in the middle lineup, a good outfielder,” Sowers said. “[His return] just helps us a ton.”
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