HANNIBAL, Mo. — The baseball stadium was under water, destroyed by the second-worst flood in history in the region.

The team has had to report to a Walmart parking lot to take a 30-minute bus ride to a college park in Quincy, Mo., to play their “home” games.

It's not an ideal way for Moniteau grad Derek Boben or the Hannibal Hoots baseball team to play a season.

“It definitely threw a wrench into things,” said Boben, a right-handed pitcher for Hannibal, a small town that sits on the banks of the swollen Mississippi River. “It's been stressful. It's been a little rough.”

But Boben, who just finished his redshirt sophomore season at Slippery Rock University, is making the most of his year in the Prospect League.

He's just happy to be playing baseball at all this summer.

Boben didn't pitch anywhere last summer, which he said turned out to be a blessing.

“I was supposed to play for the Butler BlueSox, but it didn't work out,” Boben said. “It was nice to relax. I've been playing baseball basically year-round since I was 10. I'm feeling the best I've felt in my career.”

Boben has also dropped 25 pounds since last summer.

“I just feel so much better,” Boben said. “It's really helped my pitching. I have more movement and I can recover quicker.”

Boben has always been a workhorse dating back to his days at Moniteau.

So far this season with Hannibal, Boben is leading the team in appearances with seven and has a 5.26 ERA.

Throw out one bad outing and Boben's ERA drops to 3.08.

Part of his mission this summer is to gain better command of his pitches and to expand his repertoire.

The big pitch Boben is tinkering with is a splitter to go with a fastball, breaking ball and a changeup, which he's also trying to harness.

A big boon for Boben is the fact his manager in Hannibal, Clayton Hicks, is a former standout pitcher at Quincy University and is the pitching coach at nearby Danville Area Community College.

“The coaching here has been phenomenal,” Boben said. “(Hicks) played Division II ball and won a World Series with Quincy. He definitely knows what he's talking about, not just mechanics, but also mindset.”

Boben has already formed a mindset for next season in Slippery Rock.

He wants to be the guy with the baseball at the end of a game.

Butler graduate Wyatt Daugherty has held that role and held it well for The Rock for the past three seasons.

Boben wants to fill Daugherty's big shoes beginning next spring.

“I want to come in and take over his role in the back-end of the bullpen,” Boben said. “My personal goal is to be able to close out four games in a weekend. You don't see that so much. I want to be the guy who can do it.”

Boben said he made an extra effort to watch Daugherty and talk with the reliever to prepare himself.

“He had a great career and being both local guys, that was pretty cool to play with him,” Boben said.

Boben showed flashes of being that kind of guy with The Rock.

He went 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA this season with SRU, striking out 15 in 14 2/3 innings.

His most eye-opening stat was his effectiveness against left-handed hitters, who were just 1-for-15 against him.

“My breaking ball is honestly my better pitch,” Boben said. “The big thing for me is getting more consistent. If I can do that, I can accomplish what I want to accomplish.”