2019 CCJBL All-Stars, League Leaders

CCJBL Red Team

Josh Smith, P, Mt. Carroll

Eddie Cicotte, P, Shannon

Amos Rusie, P, Lanark

Cody Bellinger, OF/1B, Milledgeville

King Kelly, OF/IF/C, Chadwick

Willie Wells, SS, Mt. Carroll 

Frank Baker, 3B, Mt. Carroll

Gary Carter, C , Shannon

Roy Hobbs, OF, Shannon

Max Carey, OF, Milledgeville

Ricky Ankiel, OF, Lanark

Willie Hayes, CF, Savanna

CCJBL Black Team

Ryan Tepera, P, Chadwick

Mike Harkey, P, Shannon

Claude Jonnard, P, Savanna

Frank Chance, 1B, Lanark

Johnny Berardino, 2B/SS, Chadwick

Joey Tinker, SS, Lanark

Matt Williams, 3B, Chadwick

Ira Thomas, C, Mt. Carroll

Billy Hamilton, OF, Shannon

Reggie Jackson, RF, Mt. Carroll

Mikey Mahtook, OF, Shannon

Cliff Floyd, OF, Savanna

Willie Wells carried his tournament championship game heroics over to the all-star game. Wells won the game MVP award, going 3-3 with a pair of doubles and two RBI! Roy Hobbs went deep for the Red squad as they triumphed easily 4-0. Eddie Cicotte got the win hurling three scoreless innings. 

Prior to the game the league awards were given out. Neither were a big surprise to anybody. Shannon's Roy Hobbs won league MVP and the Tully McAuliffe 

Award also went to an Eagle, Eddie Cicotte. Hobbs had the best power season in CCJBL history, slugging 7 home runs in eleven games. He hit for a .484 average, scored ten runs, and knocked in eleven. Cicotte had perhaps the most dominant pitching performance the league has seen. He went 5-1 with a 0.79 ERA. In 34 1/3 innings he gave up just 24 hits and 3 walks. Cicotte completed four of his six starts, two of them shutouts.

Not bad for two first year players! It will be hard to top those statistics next season!

LEAGUE LEADERS

(Note that tournament have DO count towards season totals and averages) 

Batting Average

Hobbs, Shannon              .484

Chance, Lanark                .452

Berardino, Chadwick       .435

Mahtook, Shannon           .412

Wells, Mt. Carroll             .389

Cicotte, Shannon              .375

Jackson, Mt. Carroll          .375

Kelly, Chadwick                .364

Baker, Mt. Carroll            .361

Thomas, Mt. Carroll         .357     

Floyd, Savanna                 .350

Hits

Hobbs, Shannon                  15

Chance, Lanark                    14

Wells, Mt. Carroll                 14

Baker, Mt. Carroll                13

Jackson, Mt. Carroll             12

Kelly, Chadwick                    12

Delahanty, Lanark               11

Runs

Hobbs, Shannon                   10

Wells, Mt. Carroll                  10

Hamilton, Shannon                9

Carey, Milledgeville                8

Jackson, Mt. Carroll                8

Mahtook, Shannon                 7

Chance, Lanark                       7

RBI 

Jackson, Mt. Carroll                13

Hobbs, Shannon                      11

Bellinger, Milledgeville          10

Williams, Chadwick                 9

Floyd, Savanna                          7

Carter, Shannon                        7

Ankiel, Lanark                           6

Alou, Lanark                               6

Wells, Mt. Carroll                       6

Doubles 

Zisk, Savanna                            5

Baker, Mt. Carroll                     3

Thomas, Mt. Carroll                  3

Delahanty, Lanark                    3

Alou, Lanark                              3

Chance, Lanark                         3

Dunston, Shannon                    3

Kelly, Chadwick                          3

Triples 

Baker, Mt. Carroll                      2

Home Runs 

Hobbs, Shannon                       7

Jackson, Mt. Carroll                  5

Bellinger, Milledgeville           4

Williams, Chadwick                 4

Hayes, Savanna                         3

Wells, Mt. Carroll                      3

Stolen Bases

Carey, Milledgeville                 8

Kelly, Chadwick                        6

Hamilton, Shannon                  5

Chance, Lanark                         4

Hayes, Savanna                         3

DeShields, Mt. Carroll              3

Team Batting Average

Shannon                                   .302

Lanark                                      .276

Mt. Carroll                                .267

Savanna                                     .247

Chadwick                                   .238

Milledgeville                             .211

Runs Scored

Shannon                            54

Mt. Carroll                         50

Lanark                                38

Chadwick                           30

Milledgeville                     30

Savanna                             29

Earned Run Average

Cicotte, Shannon                       0.79

Smith, Mt. Carroll                      1.99

Harkey, Shannon                       2.57

Boswell, Milledgeville               3.13

Jonnard, Savanna                      3.22

Rusie, Lanark                              3.82

Tepera, Chadwick                      3.86

Roberts, Savanna                       3.97

Wins

Cicotte, Shannon                      5

Rusie, Lanark                            5

Haines, Chadwick                    3

Worrell, Milledgeville             3

Vaughn, Mt. Carroll                 3

Smith, Mt Carroll                     3

Saves

Johnson, Milledgeville              3

Tepera, Chadwick                      3

Strikeouts

Worrell, Milledgeville               32

Rusie, Lanark                              31

Smith, Mt. Carroll                       22

Roberts, Savanna                        18

Lorenzen, Shannon                    18

Cicotte, Shannon                         17

Jonnard, Savanna                       16

Vaughn, Mt. Carroll                    16

Team ERA 

Shannon                        2.28

Mt. Carroll                     3.50

Savanna                        4.13

Chadwick                       4.16

Lanark                            5.25

Milledgeville                 5.35

Run Differential 

Shannon                        +37

Mt. Carroll                     +20

Savanna                           -7

Chadwick                        -12

Lanark                            -15

Milledgeville                  -18

Other leaders and oddities! 

-Richie Zisk hit .273 with a league leading 5 doubles. But not one single RBI in eleven games. 

- Gene Robertson of Mt. Carroll was the only position player to go hitless, 0-13. 

- Don Drysdale had eight at-bats. He had two hits, a three-run homer and a grand slam. 

- Cicotte not only won the Tully McAuliffe Award for Best pitcher, he also went 6-16 at the plate with a triple, four runs scored, and five RBI. 

- "Willie Mays" Hayes had just three steals and was caught five times. 

- Willie Wells did not strike out in 36 at bats. Lanark's Mickey Owen also did not fan in 19 at bats. 

- Frankie "Home Run" Baker led the league in triples the last two seasons with two each year. 

-Savanna's "Pee Wee" Reese led the league in errors by far with seven. 

- The Missiles Joey Votto and Timmy Federowicz were #1 and #2 in batting average in 2018, hitting .429 and .419 respectively. This season Votto hit. 167 and Federowicz .152. 

- Hayes' two season totals: .203, 4 HR, 8 R, 6 RBI, 8 SB, 8 CS. 

- Brad Ausmus of Savanna two season totals: .328, 4 HR, 8 R, 9 RBI 

- Robin Roberts two season totals: 3-10, 4.99 ERA

- Frank Baker two season totals: .299, 4 triples, 10 R, 14 RBI.

Willie Wells two season totals: .338, 7 doubles, 4 HR, 15 R, 9 RBI.

- Ricky " Wild Thing" Vaughn two season totals: 6-5, 3.25 ERA, 39 K. 

- Billy Hamilton two season totals: .274, 3 HR, 15 R, 8 RBI, 16 SB.

- Max Carey of Milledgeville two season totals: .303, 13 R, 8 RBI, 15 SB.

- Moises Alou two season totals: .281, 6 doubles, 5 HR, 15 R, 17 RBI.

-Amos Rusie two season totals: 9-4, 2.71 ERA, 54 K. 

-Chadwick's Matt Williams: .273, 8 HR, 12 R, 16 RBI.

2019 CCJBL Tournament

Tournament time is here again, CCJBL fans!!! Let's get to the recaps of all the great action!

July 1, 2019

#3 Lanark Beavers vs #6 Savanna Indians, Eastland H.S.

Savanna looked primed to pull off an early upset when they took a 2-0 lead in the first on an Aaron Boone two-run single. But the Beavers answered back in the second inning when Eric McNair knocked a Robin Roberts fastball over the fence to tie the game!

Things remained deadlocked into the fifth. Savanna had sent reliever Claude Jonnard to the bump and with one out Frankie Chance singled and quickly swiped second base. Moises Alou lined a clutch single into left. Chance scored for a 3-2 Lanark lead. 

Meanwhile Amos Rusie was cruising after giving up those two first inning runs. He allowed one walk to the Indians Boone in the top of the sixth but that was all he would allow. He got the victory with a complete game! 

Final score: Lanark 3, Savanna 2

Lanark performance highlights

Rusie W, 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Chance 2-3, R, 2B, SB

Alou 1-3, RBI 

Tinker 1-2, R, 3B

McNair 2-2, R, RBI, HR

Savanna performance highlights

Roberts 4 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, BB, 2 K

Jonnard L, 1 IP, ER, 2 H, K

Ausmus 2-3, R

Zisk 1-3, R, 2B

Boone 1-2, 2 RBI, BB

Floyd 2-2

#4 Chadwick Silver Streaks vs #5 Milledgeville Missiles, Handel Park

Milledgeville struck first in the opening frame when Joey Votto drive home Max Carey. They scored again in the fifth when Cody Bellinger doubled Carey home for a 2-0 lead. 

Their pitching staff made that lead stick. Davey Boswell hurled four scoreless and Bobby Johnson threw two more without giving up a run to give the visiting Missiles the upset victory! 

Milledgeville performance highlights

Boswell W, I 4 IP, 0 R, 3 H, K

Johnson S, 2 IP, 0 R, 2 BB, K

Carey 1-2, 2 R, 3 SB

Bellinger 1-3, RBI, 2B

Votto 2-2, RBI, BB

Chadwick performance highlights

Haines L, 4 2/3, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Tepera 1 1/3, 0 R, BB

Robinson 1-3

Davis 1-3

July 3, 2019

#5 Milledgeville Missiles vs #1 Shannon Eagles, Lions Park

Three innings went by with no score in this contest. The Missiles Todd Worrell was matching Shannon's Eddie Cicotte strike for strike. Max Carey, who spearheaded Milledgeville's opening round victory, led off the fourth with a single against Cicotte. He stole second against the cannon arm of Gary Carter. Then with one out he scored on a Cody Bellinger single. 

That was all the support Worrell would require. The Missiles hurler has had an up-and-down season but he dominated the heavily favored Eagles on this day, throwing a complete game shutout. He allowed just two hits and struck out seven. 

Ladies and gentleman, we have a Cinderella in the league championship game!

Final score: Milledgeville 1, Shannon 0

Milledgeville performance highlights

Worrell W, 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 7 K

Carey 1-3, R, SB

Bellinger 1-3, RBI

Shannon performance highlights

Cicotte K, 6 IP, ER, 3 H, 6 K

Dunston 2-3

#3 Lanark Beavers vs #2 Mt. Carroll Hawks, Point Rock Park

Mt. Carroll pounded the visiting Beavers on their way to earning a championship game berth. They scored four unearned runs against Lanark's Billy Lee in the second. They added three more scores the next two innings against reliever Dallas Keuchel. Meanwhile Josh Smith cruised on the hill, throwing a complete game shutout. He added a three-run homer to boot! 

Final score: Mt. Carroll 7, Lanark 0

Mt. Carroll performance highlights

Smith W, 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 4 BB, 6 K. 1-3, R, 3 RBI, HR 

Baker 1-2, 2 R, BB

Jackson 1-2, R, 2 RBI, HR

Murphy 1-1, R, 2 BB

Thomas 1-3, R

DeShields 0-1, R, RBI, BB 

Lanark performance highlights

Lee L, 4 R, 0 ER, 3 H, BB, K

Keuchel 2 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 3 K

Rusie 1 IP, H, BB, K

Chance 1-1, 2 BB, SB, CS

Tinker 1-2

Championship. July 6, 2019

#5 Milledgeville Missiles vs #2 Mt. Carroll Hawks, Handel Park

Beautiful Handel Park was, as always, the scene for the CCJBL league championship game! Who would prevail? The underdog Missiles? They had shut out three of their last four opponents! Or the favored Hawks, who bludgeoned Lanark in the semi-finals?

To make a long story short.... the Hawks. Milledgeville's pitching collapsed after two weeks of dominating performances. Willie Wells led the bottom of the first off with a home run for a 1-0 lead. Then Mt. Carroll's bats exploded in the third. They scored nine times against Todd Worrell and Bobby Johnson, highlighted by another long dinger by Wells, a two-run shot this time. 

Meanwhile Ricky Vaughn and Don Drysdale were rolling over the Missiles offense. They allowed just two hits and no runs in a combined shutout. Milledgeville's unlikely run to the tourney championship fell far short in the finale. Congrats to the Hawks!!!

Final score: Mt. Carroll 10, Milledgeville 0

Mt. Carroll performance highlights

Vaughn W, 4 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Drysdale 2 IP, 0 R, K

Wells 3-3, 3 R, 3 RBI, SB, 2 HR

Baker 2-3, R, RBI, 2 B

Cruz 1-3, R, 2 RBI 

Thomas 2-3, R, RBI, 2 2B

Kelly 1-2, R, 2 RBI

Milledgeville performance highlights

Boswell L, 2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, K

Worrell 0 IP, 5 ER, 2 H, 3 BB

Johnson 3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 2 K

Dihigo 1-2

Federowicz 1-2

Week 5 CCJBL, 2019

This week in CCJBL baseball!!!

June 24, 2019

Savanna Indians @ Chadwick Silver Streaks, Handel Park

Both teams were held scoreless by the opposing hurler until the bottom of the third when red hot Johnny Berardino drove in a run with a double in the gap. However, the visiting Indians answered with authority in the fourth with a pair of two-run singles courtesy of Cliff Floyd and pitcher Claude Jonnard. 

Chadwick battled back against Jonnard in the bottom of the frame when King Kelly drove in a pair of runs with two outs. But Kelly committed a very costly error in right that allowed a Savanna insurance run to score in the fifth and seal the deal for the visiting Indians. 

Final score: Savanna 5, Chadwick 3

Savanna performance highlights

Zisk 2-2, R, 2 2B

Floyd 1-2, R, 2 RBI 

Buechele 1-2, RBI 

Jonnard W, 3 2/3, 3 R, 1 ER, 6 H, BB, 2 K. 2-2, 2 R RBI 

Roberts S, 2 1/3, 0 R, 2 H, 2 K

Chadwick performance highlights

Kelly 1-4, 2 RBI, E

Berardino 2-3, RBI 

Gonzales 1-3, R

Haines L, 3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB. 1-1, R

Tepera 1 IP, H, K

Ogea 2 IP, R, H, 2 BB, K

Milledgeville Missiles @ Lanark Beavers, Eastland H S.

Davey Boswell and Bobby Johnson combined for a two-hit shutout of the home team Beavers. Milledgeville scored an unearned tally in the first inning and Boswell drove in another in the fifth. That was all runs Milledgeville would need to take the victory. 

Final score: Milledgeville 2, Lanark 0

Milledgeville performance highlights

Bellinger 1-3, RBI 

Craft 2-2, R, 3B

Boswell W, 5 IP, 0 R, 2 H, BB, 4 K. 1-2, RBI 

Johnson S, 1 IP, 0 R, K

Lanark performance highlights

Alou 1-2, 2B

Lee L, 3 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 H, BB, K

Keuchel 2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, K

Rusie 1 IP, 0 R, H, 2 K

Mt. Carroll Hawks @ Shannon Eagles, Lions Park

Shannon's Lions Park was the stage for this epic battle for first place! 

Unfortunately for the visiting Hawks this one went badly from the start. Don Drysdale gave up a solo dinger to Roy Hobbs in the first and another run in the second on a Chone Figgins single. After Hobbs again homered (he is looking like the favorite for league MVP at this point) in the third and Gary Carter doubled, young Don was done for the evening. Reliever Josh Smith immediately gave up a single for a 4-0 Eagles lead. Another run-scoring single later in the inning pretty much sealed the game for Shannon.

Meanwhile Eddie Cicotte continued to add to what is looking like one of the great pitching seasons in CCJBL history. He hurled four innings of shutout, one hit ball before being removed for Michael Lorenzen. Lorenzen finished off the shutout victory and Shannon took control of first place from the slumping Hawks, who have now lost three of their last four after a 5-0 start. 

Final score: Shannon 5, Mt. Carroll 0

Shannon performance highlights: 

Hobbs 3-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR

Carter 1-3, R

Taylor 1-2, R, RBI

Gandil 1-2, R, BB

Fox 2-3, RBI, 2 B

Figgins 1-2, RBI 

Cicotte W, 4 IP, 0 R, H, 2 BB, K

Lorenzen 2 IP, H, K

Mt. Carroll performance highlights

Baker 1-3, 3B

Drysdale L, 2 1/3, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 K

Smith 1 2/3, 1 ER, 3 H, BB 

Vaughn 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, K

June 27, 2019

Mt. Carroll Hawks @  Savanna Indians, Old Mill Park

Things were looking great for Mt. Carroll in the first inning. The first two batters of the game singled against Savanna starter Robin Roberts. Then Reginald Jackson drilled a three-run homer over the right field fence! 

Unfortunately they never scored again. The Indians tallied four runs off of Ricky Vaughn in the fourth inning and held on the rest of the way for the narrow victory, just their third off the season. Mt. Carroll sunk to 6-4 after a torrid 5-0 start.

Final score: Savanna 4- Mt. Carroll 3

Savanna performance highlights

Zisk 1-3, R

Fielder 1-2, R

Boone 1-2, R, RBI 

Reese 2-2, R, 2B

Buechele 1-2 , 2 RBI 

Roberts W, 4 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K

Viola 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, K

Jonnard S, 1 IP, 0 R

Mt. Carroll performance highlights

Wells 1-3, R

Baker 2-3, R, 2B

Jackson 1-3, R, 3 RBI, HR

Vaughn L, 3 2/3, 4 ER, 6 H, K

Drysdale 1 1/3, 0 R, K

Milledgeville Missiles @ Shannon Eagles, Lions Park

Shannon kept their foot on the peddle in their quest for the one seed in the CCJBL tourney. After Milledgeville struck first with a run in the first the Shannon bats exploded for six in the third inning. Billy Hamilton contributed a three-run jack in the inning while Roy Hobbs homered later in the frame. Hobbs would homer yet again later in the game, giving him four taters this week alone and an astounding seven for the regular season! The kid is a natural!

The Missiles scored twice in the sixth thanks to a two-run shot from Tanner Boyle off of reliever Michael Lorenzen but it wasn't nearly enough. They fell to 3-7 for the campaign while Shannon improved to 8-2,  securing the regular season title. 

Final score: Shannon 7, Milledgeville 3

Shannon performance highlights

Hamilton 2-3, R, 3 RBI, HR

Fox 1-2, R

Hobbs 2-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR

Johnson 1-2, R

Figgins 1-2, R

Mahtook 1-2, R, RBI 

Harkey W, 3 IP, ER, 5 H, K

Lorenzen 3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Milledgeville performance highlights

Dihigo 1-3, R, 2B

Bellinger 2-3, RBI 

Boyle 1-3, R, 2 RBI, HR 

Worrell L, 2 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 K

Johnson 3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 K

Lanark Beavers @ Chadwick Silver Streaks, Handel Park

A pair of fielding errors victimized Chadwick's Chad Ogea in the first as Lanark scored three runs. Matt Williams got two of those runs back when he slammed a two-run shot off of Amos Rusie in the bottom of the inning. 

Rusie was dominant after the first inning, however. He allowed only one base runner the rest of the contest on his way to the complete game victory. Both teams end the regular season slate with 5-5 records. 

Final score: Lanark 4, Chadwick 2

Lanark performance highlights

Delahanty 3-4, R, 2 2B, SB

Chance 2-3, R, 2B, SB

McNair 1-1, RBI 

Tinker 1-2, RBI, Sac Fly

Owen 1-3, 2B

Rusie W, 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, 7 K

Chadwick performance highlights

Kelly 1-2, R, BB, 2 SB, CS

Williams 1-3,R, 2 RBI, HR

Ogea L, 4 IP, 3 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Tepera 1 1/3, ER, 4 H, BB, K

Haines 2/3, 0 R

Final Regular Season Standings

Shannon Eagles                   8-2

Mt. Carroll Hawks               6-4

Lanark Beavers                   5-5

Chadwick Silver Streaks    5-5

Milledgeville Missiles         3-7

Savanna Indians                  3-7

Sorry, no stats this week. Why? I'm lazy, that's why! I will post final statistics after the league tournament this week. Reminder that the CCJBL counts tournament stats towards season totals.