Normal CornBelters Baseball to Host 2012 Frontier League All-Star Game

The Normal Cornbelters will host the 2012 Frontier League All-Star game on Wednesday July 11th at the Corn Crib in Normal Illinois.  A Home Run Derby will be held on Tuesday July 10th. 

The Frontier League also added two additional teams for next season, London, Ontario and Schaumburg.  The Frontier League is an independent professional baseball league with 14 teams in two divisions (East and West) with seven teams in each division.

Slammers Quigley Signs with Diamondbacks

The Joliet Slammers announced that closer Ryan Quigley's contract was picked up by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.  

Quigley, 26 years old, set a single season record with 28 saves in the regular season and another five in the playoffs.  The Joliet Catholic alum posted a 2.32 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 42 and 2/3rd innings in 2011.

Quigley is the second Joliet Slammer baseball player to be picked up during the 2011 season.  Aaron Dott's contract was picked up by the Yankees during the season.

Ryan's hometown is Joliet Illinois.

Rockford RiverHawks Host Free Youth Baseball Clinic in Loves Park Illinois

The Rockford RiverHawks will host a free youth baseball clinic on Sunday November 6th at Wallbangers Academy in Loves Park Illinois. 

This free clinic will focus on hitting, and is one of a series of free clinics scheduled through May, 2012. 

Clinics are broken down by age groups where ages 7-12 go from noon to 1PM and ages 13 and older go from 1-2PM.

For more information please call the RiverHawks at 815-885-BALL.

Boomers Baseball Hires Jamie Bennett as Manager

The Schaumburg Boomers announced the hiring of Jamie Bennett as their field manager for their first season.  Bennett recently stepped down as pitching coach for the Gary SouthShore RailCats in 2010 after five seasons.

Bennett also began his career with RailCat Manager Greg Tagert back in 2002 with the DuBois County Dragons and stayed with Tagert as a player and a coach through 2010.

Bennett was a 22nd round draft pick in 2000 by the Phillies and spent two seasons in the New York Penn League.

Western Illinois Leatherneck Baseball Adds Assistant Coach Shane Davis

The Western Illinois baseball program announced the hiring of Shane Davis as an assistant baseball coach.  Davis spent the last two seasons with Cleveland State as an assistant coach.  Cleveland State dropped their baseball program at the end of last season.  Davis was a catcher at Eastern Michigan and his best season was in 2005 where he played in 30 games, started 10 and hit .279 with a homer and 9 rbi's.

UIC Baseball Voted Best Recruiting Class in Horizon League

Baseball America voted the University of Illinois Chicago as the top recruiting class in the Horizon League.  UIC brought in left-handed pitcher Ryan Hinchley from York High School who is 87-90 mph, junior college transfer and pitcher Mike Mckinley 87-89 mph,  from Heartland Community College.  The article also mentions infielders Andres Ortegano, Cody Dykema and outfielder Tyler Detmer, who the Flames hope to covert to a catcher.  

 

Southern Illinois Miners Sign Two Ex-UIC Baseball Players

The Southern Illinois Miners announced the signing of two ex-University of Illinois Chicago baseball players - outfielder Steve McGuiggan and infielder Jason Ganek.

Ganek is from Hersey High School in Illinois and is currently playing professional baseball in Australia.

The Miners also added left handed pitcher Shawn Gilblair.

Schaumburg Names it's New Independent Baseball Team

The name of the new Schaumburg independent baseball team is......

The Boomers!

Yep, the Boomers.  The old baseball prairie chicken.  The nickname "boomer" comes from the dance the male prairie chicken do in order to attract female prairie chickens.  Goes perfect with baseball eh?

The Boomers will begin play in the Frontier League in 2012, replacing the deadbeat Flyers at Alexian Field.

Isn't there a Boomers Hot Dogs in Schaumburg????

DuPage County Hounds Join the Midwest Collegiate League in 2012

The Dupage County Hounds will join the Midwest Collegiate League for the 2012 summer season.  The Hounds are a new summer wood bat collegiate team which will replace the Dupage Dragons at Benedictine University.  The Midwest Collegiate League was formed in the fall of 2010.

The Hounds also announced the hiring of Sean Osborne as Head Coach.  Osborne played two summers for the Dupage Dragons and was the hitting and catching coach for Benedictine University in 2010.

Robert Morris Springfield Baseball Will Host 2012 USCAA Small College World Series

Robert Morris University Springfield was awarded the opportunity to host the 2012 and 2014 United States Collegiate Athletic Association Baseball Small College  World Series.

The 2012 USCAA Baseball Small College World Series will be held May 5th - May 11 2012 at Chamberlin Park in Springfield Illinois.

Brother Rice Baseball Hires a New Head Coach - Again

The Brother Rice baseball program hires it's second head baseball coach in two years at Dan Szmergalski steps down after one year as the school's baseball coach.  His replacement is St. Rita sophomore baseball coach John McCarthy.  McCarthy is a 2002 graduate of St. Rita and a 25th round draft pick of the Texas Rangers in 2002.

Brother Rice finished last season 14-15.

Three CornBelter Baseball Players Make Independent League Top 10 Prospect List

Marshall Schuler, Ryan Sheldon and Bobby Pritchett from the Normal CornBelters were listed as the top 10 prospects of 2011 in Independent League baseball by Baseball America.

RHP Marshall Schuler earned the #1 overall prospect after going 1-2 with a 1.74 ERA and 12 saves for the CornBelters.  Schuler tops out at 94 mph and sits at 91-92.

RHP Ryan Sheldon was listed at #3 throws a cut-fastball and sits at 88-90 mph.

RHP Bobby Pritchett, a 5'9" 160 pounder, listed as the #7 overall prospect, went 9-5 with a 3.57 ERA in 124 innings for the CornBelters in 2011.  Pritchett sits 91-92 mph.



Another Illinois Independent League player was on the top 10 list - Lake County Fielder SS Travis Weaver was listed as the #4 prospect on the list.  Weaver can run a 6.5 in the 60 yard dash.

University of Illinois Chicago Baseball's Nick Addison Wins "Finest in the Field" award

Redshirt junior Nick Addison from the University of Illinois Chicago baseball program was awared the 2011 Rawlings "Finest in the Field" award by the Northwoods League.  The annual award honors the top fielder at each position. 

Nick completed his summer season with the Eau Claire Express committing only one error all season and ending with a .990 fielding percentage.

Nick is from Barrington Illinois and attended Fremd High School.

Peoria Chiefs Matt Szcur Named #9 Top Prospect in Midwest League

Peoria Chiefs outfielder Matt Szcur was voted the #9 overall top prospect in the Midwest League this past summer.  Matt hit .314 with 5 homers, and 27 rbi's with the Chiefs and hit .260 with 5 homers and 19 rbi's with Daytona (the Cubs high A team in the Florida State League).

Matt was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 5th round of the 2010 MLB Draft.

Adam Dunn's Brutal Numbers at the Plate for the Chicago White Sox

How bad was Adam Dunn in 2011 for the Chicago White Sox?  I took a look at some of his statistics on Baseball Reference.com for the 2011 season and thought I would share them with you.


In 496 plate appearances Dunn hit .159 had only 66 hits and scored only 36 times all year.  He did hit 11 homes but he struck out 177 times and his strikeout percentage (percentage of all plate appearances ending in a K) was a whopping 35.7%!  He was last on the Sox with a contact percentage (foul + inplay strikes / foul + inplay + swinging strikes) of 68% - the team average was 81%. 

Only 24% of Dunn's outs were productive outs where he advanced a runner. 
Only Alexis Rios was lower at 21% and the league average is 33%.

North Central College Baseball Prospect Camp October 23, 2011

North Central College baseball will host a fall prospect camp on October 23, 2011 at Zimmerman Stadium on the North Central College campus.  The camp is for players who will be graduating high school in 2012 or 2013.  The camp will run from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm and will cost each camper $45.00

For more information click on the link below.


North Central College Baseball Prospect Camp

Tickets on Sale for New Schaumburg Independent Baseball Team

Season tickets are on sale for the return of Independent baseball to Schaumburg Illinois.  Nope, not the Flyers, but a new team will join the Frontier League for 2012.  The new franchise will also announce the team name at a launch party at 5:00pm on Tuesday October 18th.

To purchase season tickets or to request more information contact Andy Viano at 847-461-3695.

Looks like the city of Schaumburg might get some rental payments next season!

Westmont High School Baseball Seaching for Head Coach

Westmont High School and Community Unit School District 201 in Westmont Illinois is hiring a head baseball coach for the varsity level.  Applicants must apply online at www.cusd201.org/employment.

For additional information please contact the Athletic Director Dennis Renner at:

Westmont High School
909 North Oakwood Drive
Westmont, Illinois 60559

Northwestern University Baseball Wildcat Elite High School Showcase

The Northwestern University baseball program will host a 2011 Elite High School Showcase on December 28th and 29th in Evanston Illinois.

The showcase is open to high school baseball players ages 14-18 and geared to improve and evaluate each camper's overall baseball skills.

The showcase runs from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm and cost $150.00.

For more information click on the link below.

Wildcat Elite Baseball Showcase

2011-2012 Remaining NCAA Division I Baseball Recruiting Calander

Baseball recruiting dates that remain for 2011-2012 per the NCAA recruiting calendar.

First a recap of recruiting terms...

Contact Period - During this time, a college coach may have in-person contact with you and/or your parents on or off the college's campus. The coach may also watch you play or visit your high school. You and your parents may visit a college campus and the coach may write and telephone you during this period.


Dead Period - The college coach may not have any in-person contact with you or your parents at any time in the dead period. The coach may write and telephone you or your parents during this time.


Quiet Period - The college coach may not have any in-person contact with you or your parents off the college's campus. The coach may not watch you play or visit your high school during this period. You and your parents may visit a college campus during this time. A coach may write or telephone you or your parents during this time.






As of October 3rd 2011 we are still in the contact period, which continues through November 6th, 2011.

From November 7th through November 10th - Dead Period.

From November 11th through February 29th, 2012 - Quiet Period - except for January 5th - January 9th 2012 - Dead Period.

Contact Period starts again March 1st 2012 through July 31, 2012 except for the Dead Period from April 9th - April 12th 2012.