The Illinois baseball players don’t get much of a break after the college season is over. A few days after it’s over they travel to their college summer teams to hone their skills. This year, twenty-one Illinois players will be playing in these summer leagues.
For the most part our players are joining many of the same venues that they have in past years. The Northwoods League, based primarily in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, has been a popular haven for Illini in the summer. This year, we’ll be sending seven players there. Also, as seen in the past, we’re sending a few to the Fayetteville Swampdogs of the Coastal Plain League in North Carolina.
More locally, five Illini are playing in the Prospect League. The Prospect League spans the central belt in the Midwest but a few of the teams are close by in Illinois. Crystal Lake Cardinals also returns as a Illinois favorite. Doug Schumacher will be the Illinois rep there.
There are a couple new college summer leagues and teams that Illinois players will be joining. As far I recollect, the Laramie Colts of the Mountain Collegiate Baseball League and the Derby Twins of the Jayhawk League are new ones. Matt Cervantes and John Anderson will be on their rosters respectively.
FightingIllini.com has the full list including links to all the teams’ and leagues’ web sites.
Big Ten Tournament Update
Quick Update… Northwestern was the quick two and out. Indiana got knocked out today by tough hitting Purdue 15-5. Both Purdue and Iowa have won two but are on the cusp having lost one as well. As of now, there’s a tough battle going on between the two top seeds Minnesota and Michigan. Last I heard it was 3-3 in the extras.
Here’s the official Big Ten Baseball Tournament site.
Other News
I got an email from the father of former Illini catcher Joe Mercurio, Joe Sr.
Mercurio was a backup catcher for Illinois in 2007. He eventually transferred to the University of Maine. Don’t look now but Joe is doing pretty well. A senior now, Mercurio batted .363 with 12 homeruns and led them to the America East Tournament. Unfortunately, the Bears fell in the second game of the tourney (no fault of Mercurio’s… he got two hits).
Joe Sr relays that while they were up in the area, Joe took a few buddies to see Scott Shaw and the Binghampton Mets while they were playing New Britain. Apparently, they hooked up afterwards and caught up on old times.
Shaw currently is 4-3 with a 8.26 ERA.
Anyway, good luck to both Joe and Scott!