Pistol Shrimp notebook: Returning players reconnecting with fans

After fans 12 and younger ran the bases following the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp’s home opener Thursday, several kids came up to outfielder Tyler Dorsch to ask for his autograph.

Dorsch obliged, signing for the kids before handing the marker back, extending his arm to them and asking them to sign his white arm sleeve with a cross on it.

It’s a tradition he started last summer when he played for the Shrimp.

“I had them sign it last year, and I’m going to do it again,” Dorsch said. “It’s super cool. Last year Isaiah [Hart] is the one who introduced me to it. I saw him doing it, and I’m like, ‘Hey, that’s so cool, do you mind if I start doing it too?’ He said absolutely. I still have the sleeve from last year the kids signed. It’s all filled up. It’s awesome.”

The young fans who approached Dorsch are kids he interacted with last summer, as well. He’s excited to reconnect with fans this summer.

“It’s so cool,” Dorsch said. “Seeing the kids I saw last year, remembering their names, it’s absolutely incredible. That’s what you play for. You play for the Lord, and you play for the kids. It’s a kids game. It’s super cool to be back out here.

“It was an incredible atmosphere. I love all the fans and thank them for all their support.”

Pistol Shrimp owner/manager John Jakiemiec said he was pleased with the opening night crowd and enjoyed seeing the players interact with the fans.

“After opening night in Springfield, which was a good crowd but not a boisterous crowd, the returning guys were telling the new guys, ‘Wait until you see what happens at Schweickert with the fans and the energy that place generates,’” Jakiemiec said. “That was evident [Thursday]. It was a great crowd tonight. A lot of young families. The new guys have never seen the kids run the bases after the game and all that kind of stuff, which in my mind makes this place really special.

“Schweickert really has an intimate atmosphere. The fans are literally right on the fence right next to the dugout, and the players can feel it. There’s just a different energy at Schweickert. There really is.”

MAKING A SWITCH

Tate Foxson was primarily a shortstop at Palisades Charter High School in Los Angeles, but Butler University has converted him to a pitcher.

The 6-foot-4 right-hander had a solid debut for the Shrimp during their 9-5 win in their home opener Thursday as he pitched 4⅓ scoreless innings, allowing no hits while striking out five and walking two.

“The surprise story tonight was Tate Foxson,” Jakiemiec said. “Butler’s hope for this summer is Tate will work closely with [Pistol Shrimp pitching coach] Mark Sheehan and will come back and really be a major contributor because it’s pretty clear his arm works. He’s an easy 92 [mph]. It’s just a matter of getting him a little bit more consistent.”

AGGRESSIVE ON THE BASES

Jakiemiec has given his players the green light to run.

So far, the Shrimp are taking advantage. They’ve stolen 13 bases through the first three games, including eight in their home opener.

“The fun thing for me is I tell the players, ‘If you’re a base stealer, steal a base. You don’t have to get a sign from me,’” Jakiemiec said. “If you do it at the wrong time, we’ll have a conversation. They can bunt for a base hit. I tell them if their school asks them to do those things, this is the laboratory where you want to work on it.

“It’s a little uncomfortable for some players to have the freedom to steal a base without a coach giving them a sign, but I think the guys as they get used to it are really embracing it. We started that in Game 1 and now in Game 3 the majority of the stolen bases were guys stealing on their own, and the situations were all appropriate to do it. We caught a couple breaks with balls being thrown away.

“It goes back to our thought process of wanting to stay aggressive. We understand it’s not always going to work out. The exciting thing for me is the players are buying in.”

Dorsch said the Shrimp will continue to run all summer.

“The whole year we’re going to be running,” Dorsch said. “We’re aggressive. We have a fast team. We’re looking forward to it.”

TESTING THE ARMS

Through three games, the Shrimp have used four or more pitchers in every game.

That was the game plan going into the season so Jakiemiec and the coaching staff could get a look at the arms available to them.

“The first week we went in absolutely with this plan,” Jakiemiec said. “In many ways we’re treating it like a modified spring training where as a coaching staff we need to evaluate some guys because we’ve never seen them throw the ball before. We have to put them in a live situation to see what they can do. We go into a game this is a set of four to six pitchers who are likely to throw.

“We’ll start to extend guys out and get guys on a little bit more of a consistent rotation as we head into next week. Monday’s an off day. We’ll reset on the off day and come up with a script for next week.”