Brant Vanaman, UIS on quest for Div. II championship

Brant Vanaman gets in his rips for the University of Illinois-Springfield

Brant Vanaman was a shining star for the 2018 Hall Red Devils baseball team on the way to the IHSA Class 2A State championship.

Now he’s doing his best to help the University of Illinois-Springfield to the NCAA Division II Championship this weekend in Cary, N.C.

Brant Vanaman

Vanaman homered and scored two runs in a 10-4 win in the first of two games the Prairie Stars beat Quincy on May 28 in the Midwest Super Regional.

The Prairie Stars (48-9), who won the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles, will play Point Loma in the first round at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The former BCR Player of the Year is ranked top 40 nationally with 20 doubles, 16 home runs and 67 RBIs. He’s hitting .322 with a .659 slugging percentage and has scored 63 runs.

Vanaman was named second-team All-GLVC and American Baseball Coaches Association NCAA Division II Midwest Regional second team.

• Another former Red Devil star, Cam McDonald, ran his school record on-base streak to 63 games for the University of Illinois before being shut out on Friday, May 27 in an 8-1 loss to Indiana that knocked the Fighting Illini out of the Big Ten Tournament.

McDonald had reached base in every game dating back to May 8, 2021, including a 25-game hitting streak to start the season.

McDonald, who is drawing attention from big league scouts leading up to next month’s MLB Draft, led the Illini with a .363 average, 59 RBIs, two triples and a .561 slugging percentage to go with seven homers and 17 doubles.

Illinois went 31-22 overall and 17-7 in the Big Ten.

• Jett Wedekind, the BCR Player of the Year in 2016 from Princeton, had a banner senior season for Aurora University, batting .342 with 10 homers, 45 RBIs and 10 doubles.

The Spartans finished with a 36-11 overall record, winning the 2021 Northern Athletics Conference Conference regular season, and made their fourth consecutive NCAA Division III Regional appearance.

Jett Wedekind


• Sophomore Kelly VanDenBussche, of Princeton, took part in the Northwestern University (St. Paul, Minn.) golf team’s first appearance in the NCAA Division III National Tournament over May 10-13 in Houston. The former BCR Golfer of the Year shot a 288 over 72 holes, third best on the team.

Kevin Hieronymus is the BCR Sports Editor. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com