News came out that last year’s backup catcher, Joe Mercurio has just signed with University of Maine. From Lower Hudson Online: For much of their childhood, Joe Mercurio and Myckie Lugbauer were the best catchers their age in Putnam County. Their skill eventually extended far beyond the county’s borders; as…
July is All-Star time not only for the Majors but also for the college leagues. University of Illinois is well represented on a few All-Star teams throughout the country. Scott Shaw and Joe Bonadonna faced off against each other last Wednesday in the Northwoods League All-Star Game. Shaw, who is…
Former University of Illinois starting pitcher Brian Blomquist is on a roll. He’s had four straight quality starts for the Southern Illinois Miners culminating in Saturday night’s outing. That night, he pitched a four-hit shutout against the River City Rascals. “It had been a year since I had thrown in…
Scott Shaw pitching during the Big Ten Tournament Fightingillini.com has starting pitcher Scott Shaw up this week for their regular series of University of Illinois baseball player reporting back from their collegiate leagues. Shaw is pitching for the Waterloo Bucks in the Northwoods League. He’s doing a good job up…
Northwoods League. Coastal Plain League. Central Illinois Collegiate League. I’ve written about about these leagues and others like them. They’re all college summer leagues and they serve a very important purpose in developing college baseball players. In this episode of Baseball Zealot Radio, I interview Andrew Hartwell who, as far…
Turns out Ben Reeser and Aaron Martin aren’t the only Illini doing well this summer. Take a look at Joey Bonadonna who is spending his dog days playing for the Duluth Huskies in the Northwoods League. Bonadonna has already broken the team single season record for stolen bases. He did…
Brian from Big Ten Hardball pointed out to me that University of Illinois’ Ben Reeser is putting up some good numbers for the Fayetteville Swampdogs in the Coastal Plain League. He’s 3-0 with a 0.36 ERA in 25 1/3 innings. He’s leading the CPL in ERA. Swampdog teammate and Illini…
The Illini who are playing in college summer leagues have been busy typing away for the fightingillini.com’s Summer Diamond Notes. A few days ago, Mike Stankewicz checked in from the Crystal Lake Cardinals and just today, Nick Stockwell writes from the Lombard Orioles. Both are in the Chicago Suburban League.…
Within a week of the First-Year Player draft, both Illini players who have been drafted have already signed contracts with their respective teams. According to the Denver Post, the Colorado Rockies signed 27 of the draft picks including catcher Lars Davis who they called an “intriguing catcher from Illinois”. And…
Fightingillini.com has their first college summer league update. Dom Altobelli checks in from the Coastal Plain League.