CHAMPAIGN — "Big Boat" floated ashore in Champaign-Urbana on Friday.
That's Tanner Gordon — or it was, at least, when he was pitching for Champaign Central.
"Tanner was a big, strong kid," said Maroons coach John Staab, who revealed his former pupil's high school nickname. "Kind of like an oak tree on the mound."
That part doesn't appear to have changed.
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound hurler moved forward from four years with Central and another two at John A. Logan College to securing a spot this year as one of three weekend starters for the 19th-ranked Indiana baseball program.