Indiana University Athletics
Dedelow Proving He Has More To Come
5/13/2016 8:18:00 AM | Baseball
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Craig Dedelow's sophomore season a year ago was the breakout Indiana needed not just for that team's part of the batting order, but this year's and perhaps even the next.
In his first season as an every-day starter, Dedelow led Indiana with a .325 batting average, 76 total hits and seven home runs while earning a spot on the All-Big Ten Third Team. It was the type of season that put that established the now-junior as one of the premier hitters in the Big Ten and earned him a place as the unquestionable heart of the Hoosiers' lineup in his first season as an upperclassman.
But Dedelow couldn't worry about that, not when he's thinking championships and pro potential. He had to do it all again if he wanted to validate his work.
To date, he's done just that.
"I pretty much showed what I could do," Dedelow said Thursday. "Being able to carry it into this year has been big for me."
Dedelow once again leads Indiana with 58 hits, 19 of which have gone for extra bases. His power and average have dropped slightly— batting .305 now a —but just about everything Dedelow has done this season mirrors or improves on what he did a season ago.
"He's one of the best players in the league," head coach Chris Lemonis said, "and he's shown that over time."
The one-time Purdue commit that changed his mind after Indiana's 2013 College World Series run identified more as a basketball player in high school. A native of Munster, Indiana, Dedelow said being at the heart of the basketball-hungry "Region" of Northwest Indiana where hoops reigns king will do that.
But Dedelow chose baseball, and now he's showing why. His standout junior season is a validation of sorts not just for what he's done, but what he intends to do.
"I think there's still a lot more in me," he said. "I don't think I'm anywhere near where I can be."
Dedlow, who will likely have to mull a stay-or-go MLB draft decision this summer, is still a work in progress. He's got natural gap-to-gap power and speed to back it up but Lemonis said Dedelow may one day have a spot in the corner outfield for a big league team if he can add weight to his 6-foot-4, 199 pound frame and start turning a few of his 13 doubles into home runs.
"I think he's a gap-to-gap guy that'll hurt you if you lay one in there," Lemonis said. "He's shown that power at times, there's real power in that swing, but he stays within himself a lot and will just take that pitch where it's pitched."
The latter has been done with a purpose.
Dedelow has seen firsthand the way other elite Indiana hitters he's played alongside did the same whether it by Dustin DeMuth, Kyle Schwarber, Sam Travis, Scott Donley or any of the other big bats he saw at the end of their college careers. They didn't reach to play outside their potential, instead letting the hits come and their bats develop over time.
Dedelow has followed a similar approach and will continue to do to in this weekend's final home series against Illinois and beyond. His junior season's work isn't quite done yet, and even when it is, he'll still have more left to prove.
"I still need to become more of a physical ballplayer, bigger in the body, faster," Dedelow said. "I'm still just learning what I can be."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Craig Dedelow's sophomore season a year ago was the breakout Indiana needed not just for that team's part of the batting order, but this year's and perhaps even the next.
In his first season as an every-day starter, Dedelow led Indiana with a .325 batting average, 76 total hits and seven home runs while earning a spot on the All-Big Ten Third Team. It was the type of season that put that established the now-junior as one of the premier hitters in the Big Ten and earned him a place as the unquestionable heart of the Hoosiers' lineup in his first season as an upperclassman.
But Dedelow couldn't worry about that, not when he's thinking championships and pro potential. He had to do it all again if he wanted to validate his work.
To date, he's done just that.
"I pretty much showed what I could do," Dedelow said Thursday. "Being able to carry it into this year has been big for me."
Dedelow once again leads Indiana with 58 hits, 19 of which have gone for extra bases. His power and average have dropped slightly— batting .305 now a —but just about everything Dedelow has done this season mirrors or improves on what he did a season ago.
"He's one of the best players in the league," head coach Chris Lemonis said, "and he's shown that over time."
The one-time Purdue commit that changed his mind after Indiana's 2013 College World Series run identified more as a basketball player in high school. A native of Munster, Indiana, Dedelow said being at the heart of the basketball-hungry "Region" of Northwest Indiana where hoops reigns king will do that.
But Dedelow chose baseball, and now he's showing why. His standout junior season is a validation of sorts not just for what he's done, but what he intends to do.
"I think there's still a lot more in me," he said. "I don't think I'm anywhere near where I can be."
Dedlow, who will likely have to mull a stay-or-go MLB draft decision this summer, is still a work in progress. He's got natural gap-to-gap power and speed to back it up but Lemonis said Dedelow may one day have a spot in the corner outfield for a big league team if he can add weight to his 6-foot-4, 199 pound frame and start turning a few of his 13 doubles into home runs.
"I think he's a gap-to-gap guy that'll hurt you if you lay one in there," Lemonis said. "He's shown that power at times, there's real power in that swing, but he stays within himself a lot and will just take that pitch where it's pitched."
The latter has been done with a purpose.
Dedelow has seen firsthand the way other elite Indiana hitters he's played alongside did the same whether it by Dustin DeMuth, Kyle Schwarber, Sam Travis, Scott Donley or any of the other big bats he saw at the end of their college careers. They didn't reach to play outside their potential, instead letting the hits come and their bats develop over time.
Dedelow has followed a similar approach and will continue to do to in this weekend's final home series against Illinois and beyond. His junior season's work isn't quite done yet, and even when it is, he'll still have more left to prove.
"I still need to become more of a physical ballplayer, bigger in the body, faster," Dedelow said. "I'm still just learning what I can be."
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