With the Illinois State baseball team, all that really matters is the convergence of wisdom and talent ushered the Redbirds to a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship.
ISU was rewarded for that achievement Tuesday when the MVC selected Redbird coach Steve Holm its Coach of the Year, Joe Aeilts its Player of the Year and Brent Headrick its Pitcher of the Year on the opening day of the Valley Tournament at Duffy Bass Field.
In his first season as a head coach, Holm guided the Redbirds to their first 30-win campaign since 2014 at 32-22, already a 10-win improvement over ISU's 22-30 record in 2018.