Last night in front of a big crowd at CarShield Field, the River City Rascals hosted the very first Home Run Derby putting former MLB players against the Frontier League. Trae Santos of the Gateway Grizzlies walked away with the trophy with 32 homeruns.
Many baseball fans are used to watching the American verses National or East verses West. Some fans coming tonight for the 2018 Frontier League All-Star Game at CarShield Field in O’Fallon, MO may not understand why players on the same teams are in opposite dugouts. The 2018 Frontier League All-Star Game is divided between Rookies vs. Experienced players. The Frontier League defines Rookie and Experienced Classification as:
Rookie Classification: The Rookie classification will be split into two sub-classifications, Rookie-1 and Rookie-2. The Rookie-1 sub-classification will be for players who made their professional debut in the current season and therefore have no prior professional experience, or whose experience does not meet the minimum appearances listed below. The Rookie-2 sub-classification is for players who have one year of professional experience.
Experienced Classification: The Experienced classification is for all players who do not meet the requirements to be classified under the Rookie-1 or Rookie-2 classifications.
The following is the roster and projected starters for each team that was released by the Frontier League July 2nd.
Rookie Team Roster (Projected starters in BOLD)
Manager: Gregg Langbehn
Pitchers:
Mitchell Aker (Evansville)
Cody Mincey (River City)
Liam O’Sullivan (Joliet)
Joe Iorio (River City)
Payton Lobdell (Schaumburg)
Randy Wynne (Evansville)
Jack Landwehr (Normal)
Max MacNabb (Gateway)
Johnathon Tripp (Florence)
Jonny Ortiz (River City)
Catchers:
Trey Fulton (Joliet)
Nick Oddo (Schaumburg)
Mike Rizzitello (Evansville)
Infielders:
Trenton Hill (Joliet) 1B
Jacob Wark (Florence)
Jack Parenty (Schaumburg) 2B
Aaron Hill (Lake Erie)
David Cronin (Evansville)
Dane Hutcheon (Lake Erie) 3B
Artemis Kadkhodaian (Gateway) SS
JD Hearn (River City)
Outfielders:
Ryan Long (Evansville)
Isaac Bernard (Traverse City)
Kelvan Berges (Florence)
Romero Cortina (Southern Illinois)
Experienced Team Roster (Projected starters in BOLD)
Manager: Mike Pinto
Pitchers:
Hector Hernandez (River City)
Luc Rennie (Evansville)
Zack Stecker (Washington)
Sean Renzi (Lake Erie)
Steve Hagen (Florence)
Jordan Desguin (Traverse City)
Thomas Dorminy (Washington)
Zac Westcott (Windy City)
John Michael Knighton (Traverse City)
Kyle Tinius (Southern Illinois)
Catchers:
Kyle Pollock (Washington)
Tanner Lubach (Normal)
Mike Jurgella (River City)
Infielders:
Chris Iriart (Normal) 1B
Steve Lohr (Traverse City)
Justin Fletcher (Normal) 2B
Kenny Towns (Schaumburg) 3B
Danny Zardon (Joliet)
Santiago Chirino (Normal) SS
Will Kengor (Traverse City)
Toby Thomas (Evansville)
Trae Santos (Gateway)
Chance Shepard (Southern Illinois)
Outfielders:
James Harris (Washington)
Derrick Loveless (Normal)
Roman Collins (Washington)
Travis Harrison (Evansville)
Currently the River City Rascals (25-22) are first in the Western Division and are 2.0 games ahead of the Evansville Otters. The Gateway Grizzlies (22-31) are on the opposite end of the Western Division 8.0 games behind the first place Rascals. The Washington Wild Things (30-21) are currently sitting comfortably 3.0 games ahead of the Joliet Slammers.
Tickets still remain for tonight’s 2018 Frontier League All-Star Game at CarShield Field in O’Fallon, MO. Gates open at 6 pm and first pitch at 7:05 pm. Go to www.rivercityrascals.com or call 636-240-2287 for more information.
