From a team standpoint, it wasn’t the kind of showing that former John A. Logan College star outfielder Luke Hileman and his USA teammates had envisioned when selected to play in the Haarlem Honkbal (baseball) Tournament in Haarlem, Netherlands earlier this month.

The American team, comprised of junior college standouts, finished with two wins against six losses at the tournament. Both wins came against Chinese Taipei. Losses came at the hands of Japan, Cuba and the host team.

Still, the experience is one Hileman will not soon forget.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me,” he said. “I got to see a lot of amazing sights and played against some good players from around the world. My goal is to coach after my playing days are over and it was eye-opening for me to see the different tactics used by teams at the tournament.”

Hileman, an Anna native, graduated this past spring from JALC. He will play ball on scholarship this fall at Indiana State University at Terre Haute.

Hileman started in seven of the eight tourney games overseas and played in the one game he didn’t start.

“I ended up with two extra-base hits (both doubles), scored four runs and stole two bases. I did OK, but played better in the beginning than I did near the end. As a team, we just didn’t perform as well as we thought we would. We were in the games we lost, but didn’t pull them out for one reason or another.”

Hileman said that when the USA took on the host Netherlands, a capacity crowd of 5,000 plus watched the action.

“That was a pretty great atmosphere,” he said. “Even the average crowds were about 2,000 for the other games.”

The lefthanded hitter said he will now concentrate on gaining strength the next few weeks before heading to Terre Haute on Aug. 16. Hileman is also in the process of completing an educational psychology course online at Logan, which will transfer to ISU.
Hileman said he chose the Sycamores from the Missouri Valley Conference over offers from Bradley and Louisiana Monroe.

“It was a difficult decision for me, but I believe ISU is a better team for me and I really like the coaches there. Having the opportunity to play in a new stadium is pretty cool, too. I think it’s a good fit.”