Taylor Voorhees to play baseball at Morton College
By FRED KRONER
Things are not always how they seem.
Taylor Voorhees’ final baseball season at St. Joseph-Ogden is the perfect example.
The senior outfielder/designated hitter played in all 36 of the Spartans’ games this spring. Just three other teammates didn’t miss a game.
He was second on the team in home runs (two), fifth in runs batted in (25) and compiled a .292 batting average for SJ-O’s 28-8 team.
For someone who was third on the team in hitting as a junior, with a .438 batting average, the senior-year totals might – at first glance – appear sub-par.
“I worked very hard over the summer and fall (following his junior season) to have an incredible senior year,” Voorhees said. “I had a great junior year and hoped to continue that into my senior year.”
In truth, it was remarkable that Voorhees even made it on the field as a senior.
In late September of 2022, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament as well as his meniscus in a fielding practice at a Prep Baseball Report showcase.
He underwent surgery on Oct. 11.
“I thought I wasn’t going to have a senior year when I was told I would need surgery,” Voorhees said. “It was incredibly frustrating.
“I felt like that was taken from me, and it was out of my control. So I did everything I could to get back and have a chance to play in my last year.”
Five months and four days after having the surgery, Voorhees was in the lineup when the Spartans opened the season on March 15 against Edwardsville.
He was – and still is – at less than 100 percent physically even though in the season’s third game, he crashed a home run.
“It was difficult to get back on my feet again, learn to walk, and eventually get back to a stage where I could hit and run to first base,” Voorhees said.
His physical therapist, Adam Carver, “helped me significantly,” Voorhees said.
The plan was to rebuild and work his way back slowly.
“I had to come back in stages,” Voorhees said. “First, I was only able to DH and run to first base. Then I would need someone to pinch run for me.
“Then, I was able to go for doubles, and finally, I was fully released to run the bases. Coach (Josh) Haley allowed me to follow through with this plan and worked around my injury, which allowed me to have a senior year.”
He finished the season with 28 hits in 96 at-bats. Besides the two home runs, Voorhees hit six doubles.
“It was frustrating because I didn’t get the results I had expected for myself,” he said, “but I am very, very grateful that I had the opportunity to still be able to play.”
Voorhees will continue to get the opportunity to play. He has signed a letter of intent to continue his baseball career at Morton College, a community college in the Chicago suburb of Cicero.
He heard from nine different colleges and Morton was one of the last ones to make contact.
The coaching staff didn’t back off even after he had the ACL surgery.
“Morton still wanted to take a chance on me, even knowing I was injured, and that really resonated with me,” Voorhees said. “When I got on campus, I just got a feeling that Morton was the place I should go.”
He has plenty to do beyond working on his hitting before he enrolls in college.
“I am currently focusing on my physical therapy, getting both legs to function equally, and getting more comfortable making plays in the field as my leg is still healing,” Voorhees said.
Haley has full confidence that Voorhees will make a full comeback.
“Taylor has had success hitting at every level in the SJ-O program, middle school, junior varsity and varsity,” Haley said. “Taylor is a tireless worker in the cage, always working on his swing. He worked so hard to recover from his ACL tear.
“Taylor can have a big impact at the plate at Morton.”
Voorhees found the recruiting process to be tedious.
“It was challenging and not anything like I expected,” Voorhees said. “Getting coaches to recruit or even give me a look was very difficult. When I went to the Senior Showcase, I started getting contacted a lot more.
“I didn’t expect to have to send so many emails and try to contact and research each college. Having to pick was extremely hard, along with turning down the other colleges that had made me an offer after I had decided on going to Morton.”
In Voorhees’ final two high school seasons, he played in every game the Spartans had while the team compiled a cumulative record of 63-11.
Like all Illinois high school baseball players in the Class of 2023, there was no freshman season. The IHSA canceled all spring sports after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.
Although he had no at-bats as a ninth-grader, he was establishing his goals for the future.
“My desire to play college ball didn’t really become a serious goal until a coach of mine, Andrew Cotner, invited me to the East Central hitting facility in Champaign over the summer (of 2020),” Voorhees said. “I would be out there for two to three hours daily over the summer, and it took the next three years to achieve my goal.”
He kept baseball prominent in his mind throughout COVID.
“It was frustrating losing my freshman season due to COVID,” Voorhees said. “I had put in a lot of work to lose that time, but I didn’t let it keep me down. I used the extra time at home to work on my swing and practice even more.”
Even though his high school career is behind him, one aspect moving forward won’t be any different for Voorhees.
“My strength is my work ethic,” he said. “I have worked a ton these past few years, and nothing about that will change.”
While Carver played a pivotal role in recent months so that Voorhees could return to the game he loved, there were plenty of others who got him prepared to be a varsity regular for the first time as a junior.
The phrase, “it takes a village,” comes to mind.
Voorhees himself was diligent in his efforts to improve as well as in the commitment needed to excel in baseball.
“The key to my development is practice, and a lot of it,” Voorhees said. “I have worked hard the last several years with coaches Andrew Cotner, Andy Sestak, Brandon Haveman, Joe and Greg Immke, Delroy Robinson, and my parents (Mike and Paige Voorhees).
“Cotner contributed to my work ethic and the realization that it’s not going to be given to me and that I have to work for everything.”
Greg Immke, a former SJ-O standout who has coached Voorhees in the summer, has a facility on his property known as “The Shed,” where area athletes frequently take advantage of the chance to hit.
Voorhees, however, had his priorities.
“In the fall semester of my junior year, my dad and I would go out there after I got all my homework done around 8 or 9, and I would hit every night,” Voorhees said. “Greg helps me get into a calm-hitting mindset that I need to be successful at the plate, and I always try to remember everything he tells me when I struggle a little.
“Joe broke me out of the kind of shell of a player I was when he first became my coach. He taught me not to think; I overthink and need to simplify the game to make it easier on myself.”
Voorhees worked to better himself physically as well.
“I began weightlifting more and more the summer after my sophomore year,” he said. “Weightlifting contributed greatly to my ability to hit the ball further and harder.”
Input from Sestak, Haverman and Robinson has also been instrumental.
“Sestak has worked a ton with me on improving my fielding and footwork and some needed adjustments to my swing,” Voorhees said. “Haveman helped me realize that I should focus on my feelings about the game and not be a robot at the plate and in the field. If I feel something in my swing, I need to adjust.
“Delroy helped me with my opposite-field hitting and, most recently, would call me with encouragement and positivity after my surgery.”
Voorhees also acknowledged the invaluable role his parents have played.
“My parents have been a big part of my development,” he said. “They have continued helping me play by practicing with me on the field, paying for all of my equipment, facility memberships, training lessons, driving to tournaments and showcases, and helping and encouraging me to be the best player I can be.”
Voorhees heard from eight colleges, besides Morton.
Others that showed interest were Blackhawk Community College, Cleveland Community College, DePauw University, East Central Community College, Elmhurst College, Illinois College, Shawnee Community College and Southeastern Community College.
“It wasn’t easy to narrow down initially because I couldn’t decide what I wanted,” Voorhees said. “I had always leaned more toward the community colleges but didn’t want to rule out all the others.”
Voorhees made visits to six of the schools – Blackburn, DePauw, East Central Community College, Elmhurst College, Illinois College and Morton – and entertained offers from five. The others besides Morton who showed the most interest were Blackhawk, DePauw, Elmhurst College and Illinois College.
“Morton is a good academic school which is what I was looking for, and a place to play baseball,” Voorhees said. “I connected with the coaches as they would check on me and how I was doing and check in with my parents throughout the process.
“I settled on what I would enjoy and be comfortable around for the next two or four years, depending on whether I chose a junior college or not. I settled on Morton because I felt comfortable with the coaches. They are getting an all-new baseball facility, and I really liked their academic buildings. To me, Morton felt right.”
Though he played basketball and soccer when he was younger, Voorhees always considered baseball – which he took up as a 5-year-old in tee-ball – his favorite sport.
“The appeal of baseball to me is the one-on-one challenge I have every time I get to the plate,” he said. “It’s just me versus the pitcher, and I like that feeling.”
Voorhees plans on entering the engineering program that Morton offers.
He doesn’t know where that will lead.
“I am not sure where I see myself in 10 years other than having a college degree and a job in the engineering field,” he said. “I would love to be still playing baseball.”
The distance from St. Joseph to Cicero is approximately 150 miles and will separate the family.
“I do expect the transition to be difficult,” Voorhees said. “My family is very close. We do nearly everything together. They have helped me greatly, and I will miss them when I leave.
“It will be a different and good experience for me to go to Morton and live on my own. I will have to learn to care for myself better and ensure I get everything I need without my parents’ help.”
Morton College has an enrollment of approximately 3,900 students and is the state’s second-oldest community college. It was established in 1924.
“I feel that I can grow and improve through simply having the experience of being on my own and taking care of myself, going to all my classes, and putting in all of the work to play at the college level,” Voorhees said. “I do like that I have to prove myself again.
“It will be a new chance to make the best of the opportunity to continue playing and earn my spot.”
