The move from high school to Division I sports is a big one.
But as Sean Cody has proven throughout the season, it was something he was more than ready for.
In his first year as UIC’s starting shortstop, Cody not only was chosen the Freshman of the Week in the Missouri Valley Conference for May 5, he was All-MVC honorable mention.
“It was a huge jump for me to be honest,” Cody said. “The game is so much different now and it’s a lot faster pace. Everyone’s good.
“Everyone’s a great player. The jump was huge, but it also helped me a lot having experienced guys on the team that I can get a lot of advice from.”
The 2025 Richards graduate started every game for the Flames, who won the MVC title and advanced to the NCAA Atlanta Regional en route to a 27-29-1 finish. He hit .258 with one home run, nine doubles, 30 runs scored and 23 RBIs. He also led the team in stolen bases with 10 in 12 attempts.
“My strength as a player is playing good defense and honestly, just doing my job at the plate,” Cody said. “Whether it’s moving a runner over or if it’s putting the ball in the air or on the ground at a certain point in the game.
“We have a lot of guys on the team who have a lot of power and are used for the big swings and getting the big hit. I find myself as just one of the guys who knows my place and I do my job at the plate while playing great defense because that’s what my coaches have harped on me about since day one.”
Cody’s quality play on defense hasn’t gone unnoticed. Flames head coach Sean McDermott said on UIC’s website: “There has been tremendous growth this year for Sean. … He has put in a lot of hard work and I’m excited to see him continue to get better.
“Sean has been very important to our team this year being an elite shortstop with excellent defense.”
So, what does Cody think makes him good with the glove?
“It’s just doing things the right way,” Cody said. “Coach McDermott has gotten on all the infielders since the first day we got on campus about three things: He wants us to play good catch, be aggressive and never let the ball go under our gloves.
“We just want to be athletic and not like a robot on the field and trying to do everything one certain way. Just playing yourself, being super athletic and playing free.”
The Flames won the MVC regular-season title at 16-8, their first league championshjp since finishing first in the Horizon League in 2017.
“Winning the conference means everything to us,” Cody said. “It was a rough start to the season and things weren’t going our way. We had a lot of injuries and it was definitely a super hard challenge to get to where we wanted to be.
“But the coaches and the staff and my teammates, everyone still had a positive mindset, practices were still good vibes and we always believed that we were going to win the conference. Even if things weren’t going our way, we were still going to find a way to get it done and that’s what we did.”