Sports stats



FL Windy City ThunderBolts

Six ThunderBolts on Frontier League All-Star Team

July 4, 2012 - Frontier League (FL)
Windy City ThunderBolts News Release


The 2012 Frontier League All-Star rosters were announced Wednesday morning, and once again the ThunderBolts were well represented with six members.

Three quarters of the starting infield on the West Division team will be wearing Windy City uniforms for the July 11 game at The Corn Crib in Normal. Chad Cregar was voted the starter at first base with the middle infield of Mike Torres and Chris Wade joining him.

The Bolts will also have three pitchers on the squad with starters Mike Recchia, Stephen Sauer and Dustin Williams all earning all-star nods.

Cregar will be appearing in his first Frontier League All-Star Game. Entering play on July 4, he leads the team in batting average (.317), home runs (12) and RBI (47). His 47 runs batted in put him on a Frontier League record pace and his 12 home runs are already the most for any ThunderBolt at the all-star break in the history of the franchise.

With his third all-star selection, Torres ties Gilberto Mejia and Zach Aakhus for the most all-star appearances with the ThunderBolts. He was voted onto the 2010 East Division squad as a reserve third baseman and earned his first starting selection at second base on the 2011 team. This year, he will be starting for the second time. He went 2-3 with a stolen base and a run scored in last year's game after walking in his only plate appearance in 2010. This year, Torres is hitting .302 with 10 extra base hits and 24 RBI. His 19 stolen bases rank second in the league.

Like Torres, Wade will not be a newcomer to the all-star festivities. He was voted in as a reserve infielder in 2011 and will be making his first all-star start in 2012. Wade leads all Frontier League shortstops with a .305 batting average this season. He has a .383 on-base percentage and has stolen ten bases. In last year's All-Star Game, Wade went 0-1 at the plate.

Recchia, in his first season with Windy City, has posted a 5-2 record in his nine starts and a 3.19 ERA. He has the Frontier League strikeout lead by more than ten with 70. Recchia is the only pitcher in the Frontier League this season who has thrown two complete game shutouts, and in his most recent start, he struck out 16 Evansville Otters in a three-hitter.

Sauer will also be appearing in his first All-Star Game for Windy City. This year's opening day starter has a 4-3 record and ranks sixth in the league with 50 strikeouts. In his first eight starts this year, Sauer lasted at least 5.2 innings and allowed no more than three runs every time.

Williams will be representing the ThunderBolts in his second All-Star Game. He allowed one run in one inning in last year's appearance. After setting the league strikeout record last year, Williams is again in the top ten with 48 this season. He also leads the league in wins with six.

The six ThunderBolts voted into the All-Star Game is the most for the team since they had seven elected in the 2007 championship season. Jamie Bennett of Schaumburg will manage this year's club and will select three additions to the team on July 5.

Check out the Windy City ThunderBolts Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Frontier League message board...

Frontier League Stories from July 4, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central