CHARLESTON, Ill. – While Brett Nommensen's selection as the starting left fielder in the Texas Collegiate League All-Star Game has headlined the summer-league seasons for current members of Eastern Illinois baseball, the rising junior is only one of six Panthers playing in the annual wood-bat leagues.
Pitchers Alex Guttosch and Tyler Brandon have carried the Brainerd Blue Thunder's bullpen in the Northwoods League of Minnesota and Wisconsin. This marks Brandon's second summer in the Northwoods League after pitching for the La Crosse Loggers last season. Recent graduate Erik Huber, meanwhile, also played for the Blue Thunder in 2006.
Closer to home, Brian Morrell is pitching in relief for his hometown Quincy Gems in the Central Illinois Collegiate League and Tinley Park natives Curt Restko and Scott Foley are playing for the first-place Lombard Orioles in the Chicago Suburban Baseball League.
Nommensen went 1-for-2 with a base hit from the No. 2 spot in the order, as the Rogers Hornsby Division defeated the Tris Speaker Division, 3-0, in the Texas Collegiate League's All-Star Game on July 9. His McKinney Marshals team won its first game after the break over the Denton Outlaws, 10-1, with Nommensen going 3-for-4 at the top of the lineup to raise hit squad-best average to .365.
Brandon (19) and Guttosch (14) rank one-two in appearances for the Blue Thunder. Brandon was the winning pitcher in the June 20 win over Mankato thanks to two scoreless innings out of the bullpen and earned a save in a July 7 victory against Thunder Bay with an inning and a third of hitless relief. His .259 batting average is among the staff leaders.
Fellow rising senior Guttosch has issued just six walks in 21 innings pitched. He was the winning pitcher in his only decision of the summer, a 9-8 victory against the Wisconsin Woodchucks on June 16. The right-hander tossed two innings of one-hit relief in the win.
Morrell has pitched in relief in nine games, striking out 18 through 22 1/3 innings. He was the winning pitcher in the season opener against the DuPage Dragons and also earned a save in a June 12 victory at Danville.
Complete stats for Restko and Foley's Lombard Orioles are unavailable, but Foley has recorded at least two saves out of the bullpen. Lombard sported a 12-3 record in the 11-team league heading into games on Wednesday, July 11.
For more information about the Panthers playing in summer collegiate leagues visit the links listed below.
