HR0464 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0464 LRB100 13014 MST 27270 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate the University of Illinois at Chicago men's baseball team, the Flames, on winning the 2017 Horizon League Tournament and securing a bid to the NCAA Tournament; and

WHEREAS, This was the fifth time in program history that the Flames won the Horizon League Tournament; the victory marked the 39th of the season, matching the program record previously achieved in both 2002 and 2003; and

WHEREAS, The Flames have earned the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008; and

WHEREAS, David Cronin was named the Most Valuable Player of the Horizon League Championship; he was joined on the All-Tournament Team by fellow teammates Reid Birlingmair, Cody Bohanek, Jake Dahlberg, and Mickey McDonald; and

WHEREAS, The Flames lowered their staff ERA to 2.57 on the season, second in the nation behind Oregon State; the Flames boasted the top fielding-percentage defense in the NCAA entering the championship game and did not commit a defensive miscue in three Horizon League Championship games; the Flames batted .303 in the tournament; and

WHEREAS, The Flames are coached by Head Coach Mike Dee, Assistant Head Coach Sean McDermott, Assistant Coach John Flood, and Assistant Coach Brian Harris; they are supported by Bill Seiple, Denny Wills, Nick Zostautas, Darren Kent, Dr. Wendy Borlabi, and Rachel Webb; and

WHEREAS, The Flames are David Cronin, Brandon Gibis, Josh Gere, Thomas Norton, Riley Hebert, Scott Ota, Matt Bottcher, Garrett Myers, Jack Andersen, Jake Dahlberg, Joey Fredrickson, Mickey McDonald, Reid Birlingmair, Mitchell Schulewitz, Austin Smith, Noah Masa, Fred Gosbeth, Ricardo Ramirez, Rob Calabrese, Alex Padilla, Bowen Ogata, Alex Dee, Chris Macahon, Connor Ryan, Jacob Key, Wyatt Trautwein, Cody Bohanek, Sam Ballard, Derrick Patrick, Danny Riley, Ryan Campbell, Joshua Figueroa, Jordan Krueger, and Charlie Cerny; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the University of Illinois at Chicago men's baseball team, the Flames, on winning the 2017 Horizon League Tournament and securing a bid to the NCAA Tournament; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Flames as a symbol of our respect and esteem.