CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois had two former baseball players wrap up their 2015 professional seasons recently. Zach Borenstein played for the Mobile BayBears, a class Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Southern League.
Matt Borens was the other former EIU player who finished up his season recently. Borens was a member of the Staten Island Yankees, a class Single-A Short Season affiliated with the New York Yankees in the New York-Penn League.
Borenstein split time between the Reno Aces (Class AAA) and BayBears (Class AA) before ending the season on the disabled list. Borenstein appeared in 103 games between the two clubs. He had 96 hits with 10 home runs and 60 RBI. He finished the year with a respectable .289 batting average.
Borens had a brief stint with the Tampa Yankees (Class A Advanced) before joining the Staten Island Yankees (Class A Short Season). Throughout the season, Borens has appeared in 15 games making nine starts posting a 1-4 record and a 6.26 ERA. He pitched in 54.2 innings while striking out 41 batters. The Staten Island Yankees fell short of the NYPL title as they were defeated 4-3 and 3-1 to the West Virginia Black Bears in the Championship Series.
Mike Recchia began the 2015 season with the Chicago White Sox AA affiliate in Birmingham, but announced his retirement from baseball during the season.
EIU also had four former players active in coaching positions during the 2015 season. Kevin Seitzer transitioned to the Atlanta Braves hitting coach after serving as the hitting coach of the Toronto Blue Jays the season before. Derek Johnson continued his role as the Chicago Cubs minor league pitching coordinator. Andy Haines again led the Triple A New Orleans Zephyrs as team manager, going 58-86 on the season. Kyle Haines was the manager of the Short Season Single A Salem-Keizer Volcanoes organization. The Volcanoes are an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, who went 39-37 and clinched a playoff berth in the Northwest League.
Tim Bogar served this year as the special assistant to the general manager for the Los Angeles of Anaheim. Last season, Bogar was a member of the Texas Rangers coaching staff and even served as the interim manage to close out the 2014 season with a record of 14-8.
