Boomers Stadium Hosts Schaumburg Baseball Sectional

The Schaumburg Boomers and Boomer Stadium are hosting today's Illinois High School Association baseball sectional starting at 5:00 pm.

The Boomers game was moved to 11:00 am today against the London Rippers to make room for the IHSA sectional.  The Boomers are an Independent professional baseball team participating in the Frontier League. 

Sectional Schedule:
Game 1 Bartlett vs. Willowbrook at 5:00 pm
Game 2 Schaumburg vs. St. Charles East at 7:00 pm

2012 Frontier League Baseball Draft Results for Illinois Teams

The 2012 Frontier League baseball draft picks chosen by Illinois Independent baseball teams.


Rockford RiverHawks:
Mike Lee - RHP - round 1
Nick Rice - LHP - round 2

Schaumburg Boomers:
Jose Rodriguez - LHP - round 1
Sean Mahley - OF - round 2
Chad Mozingo - OF - round 3

Gateway Grizzlies:
Jonathan Gonzalez - RHP - round 1
Blair Springfield - IF - round 2
Justin Dunning - C - round 3

Normal CornBelters:
Brendon Smith - RHP - round 1
Ryan Krumlauf - RHP - round 2
Elio Briones - RHP - round 3

Windy City ThunderBolts:
Ricky Szeligo - RHP - round 1
Jorge Navarette - LHP - round 2

Joliet Slammers:
Kyle Zimmerman - IF - round 2
Anthony Amedei - IF - round 3

Southern Illinois Miners:
Matthew Soderlund - C - round 2
Blake Whitt - C - round 3

2012 Frontier League Tryouts

The 2012 Frontier League tryouts will be held on Monday April 30th 2012 at CONSOL Energy Park in Washington, Pennsylvania.  Registration will begin at 8:00 am on April 30th. 


Illinois Independent baseball teams in the Frontier League include:

Southern Illinois Miners
Gateway Grizzlies
Rockford RiverHawks
Joliet Slammers
Schaumburg Boomers
Normal CornBelters
Windy City ThunderBolts

For more information follow the link below...

2012 Frontier League Tryouts

2012 Frontier Baseball League Tryouts

The 2012 Frontier League tryouts will be held on Monday April 30 and Tuesday May 1 2012 at CONSOL Energy Park in Washington Pennsylvania which is the home of the Washington Wild Things.

All 14 Independent Frontier League teams will be represented at the tryouts along with Major League Baseball scouts.

Registration will begin at 8:00 am and the workouts begin at 9:00 am on April 30th.

Advance registration is available on the Frontier League website which is listed below.

Illinois Independent Frontier League teams include the Southern Illinois Miners, Gateway Grizzlies, Joliet Slammers, Normal CornBelters, Rockford RiverHawks, Shaumburg Boomers and the Windy City ThunderBolts.

2012 Frontier League Tryouts

ThunderBolts Baseball Bring Some Vipers to Crestwood Illinois for 2012

Ex Calgary Viper manager and current ThunderBolt manager Morgan Burkhart has brought over three of his ex players to Crestwood for the 2012 baseball season. 

Outfielder Bryan Burke signed with the Vipers in 2011 and set his career best in batting average hitting .302 last season.

Shortstop Louis Templeton spent his rookie season in Calgary last summer hitting .289 with 5 home runs in 2011.

Right handed pitcher Stephen Whalen pitched for four different teams in three season, the latest being in Calgary in 2011.  In 14 games at Calgary Whalen went 7-5 with a 5.13 ERA.

The T-Bolts also signed right handed pitcher Bobby O'Neil after O'Neil was release from rookie ball with the Twins in 2011.

The ThunderBolts play their home games at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood Illinois and open their 2012 baseball season on May 14th 2012.

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.

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????

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!

Joliet Slammers Baseball Wins Frontier League Championship

The Joliet Slammers captured their first Frontier League Championship with a 6-5 victory over the River City Rascals last Sunday night.

Rain forced the game to start 43 minutes late and also delayed the game before restarting in the fourth inning at 9:05 pm.

Joliet scored three in the fifth and three more in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead into the eighth inning. 

Reliever of the year Ryan Quigley pitched the ninth and recorded his fifth save of the postseason.

Brad Netzel, who graduated from the University of St. Francis in Joliet, was named the championship Most Valuable Player.

2011 Frontier League Baseball All-Stars From Illinois Teams

The 2011 Frontier League All-Stars have been announced and below are the players from the Illinois Independent baseball teams.  The Frontier League All-Star Game will take place on July 13th in Avon Ohio at All Pro Freight Stadium.

West Division
Inf - Steve Alexander - Normal CornBelters
Inf - Will Bock - Southern Illinois Miners
Backup Infielders include Logan Parker, Gateway Grizzlies and Tyler Keebler, Normal CornBelters

OF - Alvaro Ramirez, Normal CornBelters
Backup outfielder Asif Shah, Normal CornBelters

C - Sean Coughlin, Southern Illinois Miners

DH - Charlie Lisk, Gateway Grizzlies

P - Mark Brackman, Chris Enourato - Gateway Grizzzlies
P - David Harden, Ryan Zink - Southern Illinois Miners
P - Ryan Sheldon - Normal CornBelters

East Divison
Inf - Erik Lis - Joliet Slammers
Inf - Mike Torres - Windy City ThunderBolts
Inf - Jake Eigsti - Rockfork RiverHawks
Backup infielders Chris Wade, Windy City and Luis Parache, Rockford

OF - Josh Flores, Joliet Slammers
Backup outfielder Bobby Leeper, Joliet

C - Zack Aakhus, Windy City

DH - Devin Shepard, Windy City

P - Todd Privet, Windy City
P - Ryan Quigley, Joliet
P - Brett Durand, Rockford

Frontier League Draft Results for Illinois Independent Baseball Teams

Below is a list of players drafted by Frontier baseball teams in Illinois for 2011.

Rockford RiverHawks:
RHP Steven Faulkner
RHP Lance Brown
3B/RHP Jordon Yost

Normal CornBelters:
LHP Kolby Moore
SS Jon Reed
RHP Mike Click

Joliet Slammers:
RHP Jason Santana
LHP Kyle Kriech
2B Ben Ferrell

Gateway Grizzlies:
RHP Scott Sobczak
C Eric Bloom
RHP Justin Yackee

Windy City ThunderBolts:
C Larry Pempek
OF Lenell McGee

Southern Illinois Miners:
C Roger Vasquez
1B Anthony Armenio

Rockford RiverHawks Move Back into the Frontier League for 2011

Rockford's independent professional baseball team announced on Monday that it will play in the Frontier League for the 2011 season.  In addition the team also announced that the RiverHawks are also the Stateline's newest team.  Dr. Chris Hanners, a longtime minor-league owner, heads a group that has acquired the lease at Road Ranger Stadium and will operate a Frontier League Franchise, also named the RiverHawks.

The RiverHawks will take over the Frontier League schedule of the Kalamazoo Kings who ceased operations for the 2011 season.  Kalamazoo players have also been assigned to the RiverHawks for the 2011 season.

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

Corn Crib

The Normal CornBelters along with the Frontier league announced that the 2012 Frontier Baseball League will host the 2012 All-Star game at the Corn Crib in Normal Illinois.

The 2012 All-Star game will take place on July 11, 2012.

The All-Star game for this season will take place on July 13th, 2011 in Lake Erie Ohio and hosted by the Lake Erie Crushers.

Bart Zeller Selected to Manage the Joliet Slammers Baseball Team

Bart Zeller has accepted the job to manage the new (or reorganized) independent Joliet team - the Slammers.  Zeller, the former pitching coach for the Southern Illinois Miners in 2010, has been a member of Mike Pinto's coaching staff since 2005. 

Bart Zeller is a native of Chicago Heights IL, logged one major league at bat with the St. Louis Cardinals and attended Rich East High School. 

The Slammers will play 96 games in the Frontier League and 48 home games at Silver Cross Field in Joliet in 2011. 

For more info on the Joliet Slammers please call 815-722-BATS (2287).

2011 Frontier League Tryouts Announced

The Frontier League, Independent professional baseball, will hold it's annual tryout camp and draft on May 2nd and May 3rd 2011.  The tryouts will be held at Champion Window Field in Florence Kentucky with registration beginning at 8:00 am on May 2nd.

All 12 Frontier League teams will be in attendance and Major League Baseball scouts have attended the past six years. 

Advance registration is available by clicking on the link below.


2011 Frontier League Tryouts

Charlie Lisk Wins Frontier League Baseball MVP Honors

The Frontier League announced it's post season awards and honors for 2010:

Charlie Lisk of the Gateway Grizzlies was voted the Morgan Burkhart Award winner as the Most Valuable Player.  Lisk set the Frontier League's career record for home runs along with being selected as the starting catcher for the All Star team three years in a row.  Lisk is leading the league this season in rbi's with 87, second in home runs with 21 and is hitting .315.

Joe Augustine from the Southern Illinois Miners won the Brian Tolberg Award as Pitcher of the Year by leading the league with a 1.97 ERA and 121 strikeouts.  Joe is tied for the lead league with 10 wins.

Dustin Williams from the Windy City Thunderbolts won the Jason Simontacchi Rookie of the Year Award as a Pitcher by posting a 7-3 record, 2.41 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 100.2 innings.

The remaining list of award winners from Illinois Frontier League teams is below.

Post Season All Stars:
2B Gilberto Mejia - Windy City Thunderbolts
3B Daniel Cox - Normal Cornbelters
OF Jereme Milons - Southern Illinois Miners
OF Jason Patton - Gateway Grizzlies
C Charlie Lisk - Gateway Grizzlies
SP - Joe Augustine - Southern Illinois Miners

Coach of the Year - Randy Martz - Gateway Grizzlies
Trainer of the Year - Geof Manzo - Gateway Grizzlies
Groundskeeper of the Year - Ben Young - Gateway Grizzlies
Newspaper of the Year - The Daily Republician - Marion Illinois
Writer of the Year - Steve Millar - Southtown Star - Tinley Park
Broadcaster of the Year - Joe Pott - Gateway Grizzlies
Organization of the Year - Southern Illinois Miners


 

Southern Illinois Miners Baseball Hold 8 1/2 Game Lead in Frontier League Standings

The Southern Illinois Miners remain in first place with an 8 1/2 game lead over the River City Rascals in the West Division of the Frontier League.  The Independent teams in Illinois are in bold

West Division
Southern Illinois Miners 53-22
River City Rascals 44-30
Gateway Grizzlies 40-33
Normal Cornbelters 34-41
Florence Freedom 31-44
Evansville Otters 28-45

East Division
Oakland County Cruisers 45-30
Windy City Thunderbolts 43-30
Traverse City Beach Bums 40-35
Lake Erie Crushers 36-39
Washington Wild Things 31-43
Kalamazoo Kings 21-54

 

Independent Professional Baseball Stadiums in Illinois

Many of you are probably not aware of the Independent professional baseball teams in Illinois along with where they are located at where they play.  Well...you are in luck!  Below are pictures of the stadiums along with addresses and phone numbers of the teams in Illinois.

Gateway Grizzlies

GCS Ballpark

618-338-3000 Capacity of 6,000 Capacity

Located in Sauget, Illinois

Joliet Jackhammers

Silver Cross Field

815-726-BALL

Capacity 6,500

Located in Joliet Illinois

 

 

Lake County Fielders

847-731-8000

Capacity 8,000

Located in Zion Illinois

850 Green Bay Road

Under Construction

  

 

McHenry County K-Nines

815-355-0085

Capacity 6,200

Located in Woodstock, IL

Under Construction

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Normal Cornbelters

The Corn Crib

309-454-2255

Capacity of 6,000

Located at Heartland Community College Normal, Illinois

Under Construction

 

Rockford Riverhawks

Road Ranger Stadium

815-885-BALL

Capacity 3,079

Located in Loves Park, IL

Schaumburg Flyers

Alexian Field

847-891-2255

Capacity 6,000

Located in Schaumburg, IL

 

 

Southern Illinois Miners

Rent One Park

618-998-8499

Capacity 5,000

Located in Marion, IL

 

   

Windy City Thunderbolts

Standard Bank Stadium

708-489-2255

Capacity 3,200

Located in Crestwood, IL