CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois baseball is having one of its best seasons in decades.
The Salukis won the Missouri Valley Conference title on Friday for the first time in 32 years. But a big reason for this success has been the play of two Massac County grads.
Fifth-year seniors J.T. Weber and Noah Farmer graduated from Massac County in 2017.
Their careers at SIU have been filled with highs and lows, but the duo is seeing the payoff this season.
Weber broke SIU's single season home run record this year with 18. He said he's thankful for the Southern Illinois community for supporting him through his prolific career with the Salukis.
“It wasn’t necessarily like I felt like the hometown kid when I got here or anything, but as I’ve developed and we’ve continued to have team success, I have had a lot of people in the community reach out, or people from home come watch me play that were longtime Dogs fans," Weber said. "That has been cool.”
Farmer is 6-2 this season as a pitcher, and has recorded 50 strikeouts. He said he hopes he and Weber's success at the DI level inspires other local talent to strive for the same.
“I hope that it can just show local high school kids that you can make it, you can go division one if you keep working. Around here, I think people don’t have the drive or don’t think they can do it, but I think me and (J.T.) have both set good examples that if you work hard and stay determined, you can do whatever you want to do.”
Weber and Farmer will help lead the Salukis when they begin the MVC Tournament on Wednesday.
