Playing 20 games, much less winning that many contests, has been no easy feat for any team located in the turbulent Midwest through the first month-and-a-half of the 2022 season. Yet, despite the frigid temps and the seemingly regular appearances of rain, snow and ice the past three or four weekends, Southern Illinois has managed to compile a 20-8 record.

Calling Carbondale home, a city over 100 miles southeast of St. Louis on the southern tip of Illinois, has allowed the Salukis to play 20 of those 28 games within the comforts of Itchy Jones Stadium.

While scanning the Southern Illinois roster in search of a hero that has carried this team to that many wins you’ll find a player from an interesting hometown: Metropolis, Ill. While Metropolis – located an hour south of Carbondale – may not be the bustling, urban epicenter that Clark Kent calls home in the DC comic books, you will find a statue of Kent’s alter-ego, Superman, greeting you as you enter town.

One of its former residents, JT Weber, certainly resembles a super hero, at least more so than a mild-mannered newspaper journalist given his 6-foot-2, 210-pound build. And as far as I know, no one has ever seen Weber and Superman in the same room.

“I take a lot of pride in it,” Weber said about staying close to home to play college baseball. “I loved growing up where I did. I never had anything handed to me as far as baseball [opportunities] and facilities go. I was blessed to have two parents that really worked hard for me. My dad played college baseball and my mom played college basketball so from early on they knew what it took to really get to the next level. I spent a lot of time working with them and playing with my friends that were trying to do the same thing.”

Weber is playing his fifth season with Southern Illinois, starting his collegiate career during the 2017-18 school year. It’s been the last two seasons, however, that he has truly stood out, enjoying a breakout 2021 campaign as part of a record-setting Salukis team that started 14-0 and won 40 games for the first time since 1990, and yet still missed the NCAA Tournament.

The SIU offense was particularly impressive, hitting .297 as a team and slugging 84 home runs. Weber had 15 of those homers while slashing .322/.375/.589, leading the team in RBIs (63) and total bases (139).

He was in good company, as he was one of four players that started all 60 of SIU’s games. One more batter, shortstop Nick Neville, appeared in 59 of the Salukis games, and that quintet, along with several other significant contributors, were a big part of Southern Illinois’ success a year ago.

“Last year you’ve probably wondered, ‘was he benefiting from having all those other guys in the lineup who were doing a lot of damage?’,” SIU third-year Head Coach Lance Rhodes said. “He had a lot of protection, you had to throw to JT. But then he comes back, one of the few guys returning that had those big power numbers, and he’s doing it again. It’s not a fluke what he did last year. Credit to him, he’s anchored our lineup this year, he does [still] have protection behind him, but he’s stepped up whether it be verbal leadership, leadership by example or obviously production.”

Despite the departure of players such as Neville, Tristan Peters, Philip Archer and Ian Walters the Southern Illinois offense at worst has held steady. Through games played this past weekend they’re batting .306 as a team, good for 19th best in the nation. They’re tied for 19th in runs scored and their 45 home runs are tied for 16th best.

Not surprising given his 2021 numbers Weber is leading the team is almost every notable category, although he does have considerable help from a new cast of characters. Weber’s .416 batting average is 28th-best in the nation and his 13 home runs are tied for second, one behind the nation’s leader, Virginia third baseman Jake Gelof, who has 14.

Now at roughly the halfway point of the 2022 season his 30 career home runs put him seven away from being the program’s all-time leader.

“It’s been a steady progress over the year,” Weber said. “As I’ve developed as a player [the success] comes with being more comfortable in the box. I’ve had a ton of college at-bats, including summer ball at-bats, and I think it all plays into being comfortable. Last year we had four or five other guys that were right there behind me kind of doing the same thing, which really did make it easy to go out there to play and perform every day. It helped me transition to this year, having the confidence to go out there and repeat the same thing.”

Weber was quick to point out the continued protection he has in the SIU lineup, a program that reloaded quickly largely due to their success mining talent from the junior college level. Batting just behind Weber is shortstop Kaeber Rog, one of five regulars in the lineup this year that were playing at the JUCO level a season ago. Rog is also batting on the sunny side of .400 (.403), leading the team with 14 doubles and tied for first with Weber in RBIs with 31 of his own.

Add in productive holdovers such as Cody Cleveland, Grey Epps and Evan Martin and you once again have a well-oiled offensive machine in Carbondale. Even with that level of overall production in the lineup from top to bottom, it’s Weber’s presence that matters most.

“When you look at what he’s done on the field it’s a direct reflection of who he is as a student athlete and as a person,” Rhodes said of Weber. “When you get a guy like JT that has the work ethic, the demeanor, [etc.], the production usually follows because it doesn’t matter for him if he’s 0-for-5 on a given day or 5-for-5. He shows up the very next day with the same work ethic and routine, you couldn’t tell a difference.”

“He just sets the bar so high for how it’s supposed to be. When you get a guy producing like JT it just doesn’t happen by luck. There’s a lot of guys that would love to have the type of year that he’s having, or the career he’s put together. But there’s only a select few people that are actually willing to put in the work he’s done to be able to make that happen.”

Weber’s career at Southern Illinois began with the 2018 season, arriving onto campus as a promising recruit with intriguing offensive upside. He managed to play 28 games during his freshman year, starting 19 of those contests batting .200 with a pair of home runs. As a sophomore in 2019 he took a considerable step forward, playing in 50 games, 47 of which were starts while batting .261 and finishing the season strong. His third year in school stopped barely before it could get going as he was hitting .261 with six doubles, starting all 18 games SIU played.

His jump leading up to the 2021 season happened to coincide with the abrupt end to the abbreviated 2020 season which gave Weber more opportunities to improve his swing.

“Towards the end of the COVID year I was starting to heat up,” Weber said. “After that spring I used my time to work on my swing. Me and my old shortstop, Nick Neville, really took time to break down our swings and work on it – I made some adjustments and took a leg kick out of my swing. The past two years I’ve had the same consistency in my swing which I think has really helped.

“It was a lot of tee work and a lot of soft toss during the COVID stint. There wasn’t much open or going on so I was feeling out my swing and my stance and where I needed to be. That really helped coming back in the fall making the transition a little easier.”

Rhodes was also quick to recognize the improvements Weber has made, particularly with his swing.

“When I first got here there was a slight mechanical change that he made with his swing,” Rhodes added. “Coming into his third season it was pretty steep, he wasn’t getting a lot of balls in the air. He’s always been a very strong kid, he just wasn’t using his leverage to his advantage. So, we did make a slight tweak, and credit to him, he’s done a lot of the work [to correct it].”

The offensive side of Weber’s game, much like the overall Southern Illinois team, isn’t his only strength. He has also developed into a strong, versatile defender.

He started his collegiate career as a third baseman, moving across the diamond to first base in 2019. Starting in 2020 and carrying over to the 2021 season Weber served as the team’s everyday left fielder, a position he has excelled at. And with so much turnover from 2021 to this year he has made the switch once again, now calling center field home, although he does still play first base from time to time based on team needs.

“Early on in my career as a freshman and sophomore I knew that it would be helpful for me to play multiple positions,” Weber said. “It just adds value to the team and it was able to work out when I moved over to first base and then after that slide in to left field to get more bats into the lineup. I’ve enjoyed playing different positions, I’ve always played multiple positions growing up, I’ve never been a one-position guy. That makes the game more fun and exciting when you can play anywhere on the field.”

Each move has been made as an attempt by Southern Illinois – the last three years with Rhodes at the helm – to put the best team they can offensively on the field. For as good as they have been at the plate they have also stood out defensively.

Last year their fielding percentage was .976, committing 52 errors in 60 games, easy math to figure out that’s less than a 1-to-1 ratio, which is always a good number to strive for. This year it’s much of the same, a .975 fielding percentage, good for 48th-best in the nation, with 25 errors in 28 games.

Weber has yet to commit an error this year, making just two defensive miscues a year ago after having a perfect fielding percentage in 18 games during the 2020 season. Eleven of his 13 career errors came from 2018-19 when he was manning the corner infield positions.

He also has 12 assists the past three years as an outfielder, once again proving there’s not much on a baseball field he can’t do.

“He’s just a really good college baseball player that doesn’t have a lot of holes,” Rhodes said. “He could be a super utility guy and be really good at every single thing that he does. And that’s kind of the person he is. He wants to go play basketball? He’s good at basketball. When he throws a football he’s good at football. Just a naturally gifted athlete … he makes the game look good with everything that he does.”

Not surprisingly, Weber is good in the classroom, too. Studying civil engineering, he has interest in construction and project management. He knows full well that as a 23-year-old fifth-year senior, despite posting gaudy numbers on a baseball field, his options may be limited. With fewer round of the draft and fewer professional opportunities due to the reduction of minor league teams it’s wise to have a sound backup plan.

Whether it be as a baseball player, an engineer, a super hero or just your average, everyday upstanding citizen, Weber is poised to enjoy greatness with whatever comes next.

“I give all of the credit to God. He’s blessed me with the abilities and opportunities to be able to do this,” Weber said. “I’m just thankful I’ve been able to be here five years, to be in this community and play the game that I love.”