Pistol Shrimp ready for year two in Illinois Valley

The start of the Prospect League season was pushed back this year until after college conference tournaments concluded.

Still, not all players will be arriving before the Prospect League opener, so Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp manager John Jakiemiec and managers around the league aren’t quite sure what type of talent they’ll be working with this summer.

“At this point, I’ve seen a handful of guys and I know who’s returning,” Jakiemiec said. “We’re a lot bigger. We have some good sized kids relative to what we had last year and we have some good ball players, too.

“We have some guys who I know from their coaches have plus arms. We have a few guys who will be 92-94 mph. I’m pretty confident we’ll have more depth in the pitching staff this year.”

The Shrimp open the season Wednesday at the Danville Dans before playing the Terre Haute Rex in the home opener at 7:05 p.m. Thursday at Veterans Park in Peru.

PITCHING STAFF

The Shrimp will have a top of the line ace on staff to start the season as Oswego East graduate Noah Schultz has joined the team.

Schultz is a 6-foot-9 left-hander who is signed to play at Vanderbilt University. He’s a top MLB prospect with some publications predicting him to be drafted in the first round this summer.

Schultz, whose fastball tops out around 96 mph, will start the home opener Thursday.

The Shrimp have some other hard throwers as well.

“The challenge early on is, the guys who are hard throwers, usually the reason they’re coming to us is they’ve been having trouble consistently throwing strikes so their coaches are sending them here to get some work in so hopefully, we can fix them up and get them going,” Jakiemiec said. “That’s a large part of summer ball is getting guys ready to be major contributors for their teams next year.

“I think our pitching is deeper. We have to get consistency from guys who haven’t been asked to throw a whole lot for their college teams, but if we can get enough pitching, I think our offense will be pretty good.”

Jason Shanner, a returning player from North Central College, made 17 appearances with six starts for the Cardinals, going 5-0 with six saves, a 3.02 ERA and 69 strikeouts and 27 walks in 53 2/3 innings.

Also back is Tyler Conklin, who had 12 appearances with three starts at Eastern Illinois University, going 3-0 with a 4.80 ERA.

Cal-Berkeley’s Tucker Bougie (15 appearances, 3-0, 3.42 ERA) is a two-way player who also plays infield, Rockford University’s Jared Herzog, who is from Ottawa, was 3-4 with a 3.52 ERA this spring and Charleston Southern University’s Sam Massey was 1-1 with a 5.03 ERA.

Other pitchers are Cal-Berkeley’s Vaughn Mauterer (0-1, 5.25 ERA), Three Rivers Community College’s Dan Vogt (4-3, 6.56 ERA), Eastern Illinois’ Nick Laxner (5 appearances, 8.44 ERA), Illinois-Chicago’s Ryan Smith (6 appearances, 8.74 ERA), Lake Land’s Eben Heine (2-3, 3 saves, 8.35 ERA) and Ball State’s Zach Losey (6 appearances, 11.12 ERA).

LOCAL TALENT

The Shrimp have three local players this summer.

Along with Herzog, who Jakiemiec said will likely pitch Thursday, Hall graduate Chance Resetich and Ottawa graduate Evan Evola are on the roster.

Resetich played with the Shrimp briefly last summer on a temporary contract. He’s on a full contract this season.

“It feels great (to be on a full contract),” Resetich said. “I love competing. That’s what I’m going to go out and do.

“I’m going to try to work on my offensive game and being more patient. This spring, I was really aggressive swinging at a lot of pitches. Now, playing better competition, I have to start seeing more pitches, hitting in better counts, that kind of stuff.”

At Black Hawk College this spring, Resetich hit .376 with 16 doubles, 11 home runs, 64 runs and 55 RBIs in 53 games.

Resetich, who is going on to play at Southeast Missouri State next year, will handle the bulk of the innings at shortstop.

Evola made 42 starts for Webster University, hitting .409 with 15 doubles, eight home runs, 44 runs and 49 RBIs.

FAMILIAR FACES

The Shrimp have several returning players this summer in Shanner, Conklin, Laxner, catcher Logan Delgado (.235, 4 HR, 16 R, 15 RBI last summer) and outfielder Justin Rios (.280, 7 2B, 22 R, 14 RBI).

“It’ll help with familiarity with the league, familiarity with our field and our culture,” Jakiemiec said. “It’s a really big deal having a core group of guys back. They will absolutely help us out, certainly at the beginning of the year helping us set the tone.”

Garry Maynard (.256, 8 2B, 16 R, 13 RBI) and Damen Castillo (.297, 13 HR, 38 RBI, 27 R) will start the season with the Shrimp on temporary contracts.

“They both graduated but enjoyed their summer so much last year that they wanted to finish out their baseball careers playing for a week or two with the Pistol Shrimp,” Jakiemiec said. “We’re really excited to have those guys back.”

LANSING TRIO

The Shrimp have three players in catcher Bobby Calvin and outfielders Hunter Lay and Blake McRae who have helped Lansing Community College to the NJCAA Division II World Series.

Calvin is hitting .374 with eight doubles, four home runs, 32 RBIs and 28 runs in 34 games, Lay is hitting .392 with 13 doubles, two triples, eight homers, 58 runs and 57 RBIs in 52 games and McRae is hitting .358 with 14 doubles, three triples, five homers, 54 runs and 49 RBIs in 53 games.

OTHER NEWCOMERS TO WATCH

There are several other strong newcomers to watch for the Shrimp this summer.

In the infield are Eastern Illinois’ Christopher Worcester (39 starts, .320, 8 2B, 2 HR, 24 R, 29 RBI), Webster’s Matt Staker (41 starts, .315, 10 2B, 2 HR, 41 R, 24 RBI), Ball State’s Zach Lane (42 starts, .239, 5 HR, 26 R, 23 RBI) and Washington in St. Louis’ Harry Mauterer (34 games, 9 2B, 24 R, 25 RBI) while Hawaii’s Jared Quandt (20 games, .310, 9 R, 8 RBI) will play in the outfield.

Alton Gyselman, who played at Yavapai Community College this spring and is committed to Hawaii, is a catcher who hit .346 with four homers, five runs and 18 RBIs.

Also on the roster is Hinsdale Central graduate Luke Adams, a Michigan State commit who can play infield or outfield.

COMING TOGETHER

The Shrimp roster is made up of players from junior college, NCAA Division III and NCAA Division I schools with players who are local to as far away as Hawaii.

“It’s always exciting to get a group of guys together and watch guys gel an start building good team comraderie and team chemistry, then build off that and let everyone play their game,” Bougie said. “Hopefully, that leads to wins.

“I think (building chemistry) is about giving everyone an equal opportunity to speak their mind when they want and making sure everyone feels welcome and at home. A lot of guys are going to be away from home. Giving everyone a sense of family for the season is a big part of chemistry.”

The Shrimp, who went 24-36 last summer, hope team chemistry leads to success in their second season in Peru.

“We want to win as many games as possible,” Resetich said. “I would love to see us compete in the playoffs and possibly win a championship.”