The Joliet Slammers have aquired outfielder Zach Mandelblatt from the McAllen Thunder of the North American Baseball League for a player to be named later. Mandelblatt hit .298 with 14 homers and 46 rbi's last season with the Thunder.
The Slammers also signed catcher Ryan Ferguson, who attened Temple University. Ferguson holds the record at Temple for hitting safely in 26 games. Ryan hit .316 with 10 homers his senior year at Temple.
The Slammers are an Independent professional baseball team who plays at Siver Cross Field in Joliet Illinois. The Slammers are part of the Frontier League.
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.
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.
Joliet Slammers' baseball closer Ryan Quigley signed with the Washington Nationals on Monday and will be heading to the New York Penn League.
Quigley spent last year on the Windy City Thunderbolts and in his first year after Tommy John surgery with the Slammers Ryan has six saves and a 1.08 ERA.
Ryan is a Joliet Illinois native, attended Joliet Catholic Academy and Saint Xaiver University.
The Joliet Slammers Independent Baseball Club announced their first tryout date on Saturday April 30th 2011.
The tryouts will be held at Silver Cross Field in Joliet at 2:00 pm and open to players who are born in 1984 and after due to the Frontier League's age limit.
The cost of the tryout is $40, must be in cash and registration will take place on the day of the tryout. All interested players should arrive at 1:00 pm to sign up.
The Joliet Slammer, the new Joliet independent baseball team, signed three local Illinois players last week.
Three local pitchers, Cedric Redmond, Andy Deain and Brian Smith, were all added to the Slammer roster on March 9th.
Redmond, 22, is out of Joliet West High School was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and made it to the triple A level before being released by the Cubs.
Deain, 24, went to Prairie Ridge High School and Northern Illinois University, made 128 appearances for NIU which is the most appearances in the history of the Mid-American Conference. Andy finished at NIU with 23 career saves which is second all time at Northern.
Smith, 24, is another Northern Illinois University alum, attended Richards High School is fully recovered from his injuries and the Slammers are hoping to get a lot of innings from Brian.
The Joliet Slammers baseball team announced that baseball great Maury Wills is going to be attending the Slammers logo party on March 10, 2011.
The Slammers, the new independent professional team in Joliet, will unveil their logo at the Rialto Square Theatre on March 10th. Tickets are free but required to attend the event. Tickets can be picked up at Silver Cross Field in Joliet IL.
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).
Now that the JackHammers are gone the Joliet Slammers are moving in to Silver Cross Field. The new owners wanted a new name for the professional team located in Joliet since the former JackHammers ran into financial troubles.
More than 1000 fans suggested names to replace the JackHammers and the Joliet Jailbirds came out as the most suggested name but team executives thought it was a bit much. The Exec's went along with the prison theme and came up with the Slammers.
The Slammers will open their Frontier League schedule on May 19th 2011 in Joliet against the Washington Wild Things.
