The Southern Illinois Miners Frontier League baseball team is keeping busy in the off season by signing four players for 2012.
The Miners signed three pitchers - James Albury, Albert Ayala, Anthony Collazzo and 1B/OF slugger Matt Fields.
Fields returns to the Miners after playing 57 games for the Miners last season before breaking a bone in his hand. Fields hit .275 with 17 homers and 45 rbi's in 57 games.
Bobby Pritchett, who is ranked as the #5 prospect for independent baseball by Baseball America, will return to the CornBelter pitching staff for 2011.
Pritchett joined the CornBelters in late June last season and finished with a 2-2 record, 2.86 ERA and 79 K's in 72.1/3rd innings. Pritchett's fastball has been clocked as high as 94.
The CornBelters season starts on May 20, 2011 against the River City Rascals in O'Fallon MO.
The Gateway Grizzlies announced the signing of five returning pitchers for the 2011 season.
The Grizzlies will bring back the following pitchers:
Mark Brackman, 13-4 with a 3.18 ERA in 152.2 innings in 2010. Brackman went 10-0 after the the All-Star break last season.
Tim Chubb, threw 118.2 innings with a 3.42 ERA last season.
B.J. Dail, started 19 games and over 100 innings for the Grizzlies.
Josh Whitlock, had only three starts last season and went 2-0 with a 4.82 ERA.
Nick Walters will return to the bullpen again for 2011. Walters earned the team's Reliever of the year award in 2010 by going 5-0 with a 1.14 ERA in 41 appearances last season. Walters also struck out 71 batters in just over 47 innings in 2010.
