Summer Ball

[MadBird]

I haven't looked anywhere else to see who's playing where, but today's Madison paper says Derek Salata is playing in Madison:

Derek Salata struck out four and tossed five scoreless innings as the host Madison Mallards opened their Northwoods League season with a 7-0 victory over the Wausau Woodchucks at Warner Park.

Page B2

View the Wisconsin State Journal for Tuesday, May 30, 2023

madison.com

 

[isuquinndog]

The Cornbelters start tomorrow but they haven't posted a roster.

 

[Cindy00]

I haven't looked that closely at the rosters this year but I know there are some ISU kids playing in the KCL at the Corn Crib. KCL – Normal CornBelters
For those that don't know what the KCL is, it is a collegiate league that started during Covid when most places had shut down. They put together four teams of local kids along with ISU and IWU kids that were in town. They do double headers most nights that the CornBelters aren't playing. If you are looking for some good, cheap summer baseball this is a great option.

 

[MadBird]

A quick trip through the Northwoods League rosters showed, in addition to Salata:

Thomas Harper P, Daniel Pacella OF, and Gradin Teschner P at Lakeshore Chinooks (play in a Milwaukee suburb); and Greg Nichols 2B at Waterloo Bucks.

I think the Northwoods League is still considered one of the "best" summer leagues. At one point, there weren't any ISU kids playing in the Northwoods, and I thought at one point Holm said he didn't think it was that important ISU kids played there, keep them closer to "home" playing in KCL, or one of the other "Illinois based" leagues, like the Prospect League. Maybe I'm wrong about that.

 

[isuquinndog]

Here's what I found from the KCL:

Bluecaps:
- C Daniel Contretas (transferring to ISU this fall)

Bobcats:
- RHP Ben Dandelet

Ground Sloths (not a great baseball team name IMO):
- 1B/DH Judah Morris (ISU commit)
- RHP Collin Miller (ISU commit)
- 3B/SS Eduardo Letamendi (ISU commit)
- RHP Jesse Courtney (ISU commit)
- OF Luke Stugla (ISU commit)

Merchants:
- None

 

[MadBird]

Salata won again Sunday for Madison Mallards in the Northwoods League. 1 hit in 5 innings. His ERA is now 0.900 in two games/10innings, 10 K's, 2-0. Off to a good start.

 

[isuquinndog]

Cornbelters from ISU:

- FR OF Ben Karpowicz
- SO C Tyler Woltman

Also some Bradley players on the team.

 

[Dmills]

ISU night at the Corn Crib

Food, fireworks, baseball, Reggie, and Redbirds all in one night!

t.co

 

[isuquinndog]

Maybe cause there are more ISU players on the KCL teams, but crazy they doing this not for the actual CornBelters but their homegrown in house league instead.

 

[MadBird]

Salata pitching this afternoon for Madison vs. Lakeshore Chinooks, Pacella's team.

 

[MadBird]

Salata pitched 5 scoreless innings, 3 hits, to lower his season ERA to .600! Not 6.00, but .600, less than one run per game! But he was not the pitcher of record in a Madison walk-off win. First relief pitcher gave up 4 runs in 2 innings, taking Salata out of things. He's on a roll!

 

[MadBird]

Salata on the mound tonight for Madison vs. Kalamazoo Growlers. Salata's ERA at .600. Pitcher for Kzoo coming in at 17.42!!! Fingers crossed.

 

[MadBird]

Salata only pitched 3 innings last night, no mention of an injury, so who knows what up. But he still pitched solid ball. No runs, 5 K's in 3 innings. ERA now .500. Wow.

Salata, after going five innings in each of his first three starts, surprisingly only threw 56 pitches over three innings. Madison used three arms out of the bullpen starting with Cam Clines in the 4th and 5th, handing it off to Will Morris for three scoreless innings before calling on the freshman from North Carolina University, Will Simmons to pick up his first career save.

 

[FRedbird]

Derek Salata went through senior day, so I am guessing he will be grad transferring elsewhere?

 

[Dmills]

Derek Salata went through senior day, so I am guessing he will be grad transferring elsewhere?

He should be out of eligibility. Played 5 seasons. He posted a "goodbye to baseball" type post on Instagram at the end of the season, but maybe he will try to play pro or semi pro.

 

[MadBird]

Salata hadn't pitched for several days, so I looked at the Mallards roster, and he's no longer listed. And can't find any mention of him leaving on the Mallards or Northwest League info. So who knows? Maybe he got picked up by someone? Or injured? He was pitching awfully well this summer.

 

[Bird Friend]