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frankfortstation.com sports
the frankfort station | July 18, 2019 | 37
Baseball
Two Frankfort Eagles make
collegiate league All-Star Game
STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor
Matt Blaney and Joey
Kendrick’s baseball careers
have veered in different
directions, but both are
playing for the Frankfort
Eagles this summer for the
same reason: love of the
game.
Blaney, a Lincoln-Way
East graduate, is preparing
for his junior season at Illinois
Wesleyan.
Kendrick, a Frankfort
native who attended Illinois
Lutheran High School
in Crete, is not playing
college baseball as he attends
Grand Valley State
in Michigan.
Still, he’s spending his
summer the same way he
has almost his entire life:
on the diamond.
“Every summer coming
out here is a lot of fun,”
Kendrick said. “You look
forward to it every year.
We’ve had some of this
team together for five or
six years, but this is our
second year in the collegiate
league.
“It’s great to have
friends come out here and
getting to play with them.
It’s a lot of fun.”
The Frankfort Eagles
play in the 15-team Southwest
Chicago Inter-League
Association Collegiate
League. They are coached
by Joey Kendrick’s father,
Scott.
The team is made up of
players from mixed circumstances.
Some, like
Blaney, are getting in work
before returning to their
college teams. Some play
for their club teams in college,
and some only play
competitively in the summer.
Lincoln-Way East graduate Matt Blaney (left) and
Frankfort native Joey Kendrick are starring on the
Frankfort Eagles in the SWILA Collegiate League.
STEVE MILLAR/22ND CENTURY MEDIA
“I joined mid-summer
last year, met all of the
dudes and had a lot of fun
with them,” Blaney said.
“I decided to come back
again. It’s a really fun team
to play with.”
Blaney and Kendrick
represented the Eagles
in the SWILA All-Star
Game, which was played
at DuPage Medical Group
Field, home of the Joliet
Slammers.
Kendrick hit .482 over
the team’s first 21 games
with two homers and 17
RBI. He went 1-for-2 in
the All-Star Game.
“It’s always nice getting
to go down there and play
at that field,” he said. “It’s
a nice field.”
Through 21 games,
Blaney was 3-1 with two
saves and 38 strikeouts
in 21 innings. In the All-
Star Game, he pitched
two scoreless innings and
struck out four.
Blaney started his collegiate
career at the University
of Texas-Dallas
before transferring to Illinois
Wesleyan, where he
became a regular in the
bullpen this spring.
“I’m back playing
closer to home, get to
see family and friends
more, so that’s a bonus,”
Blaney said. “In the bullpen
for Illinois Wesleyan,
whatever role the coaches
needed me in, I was able
to do.
“I’ve talked it over with
my coaches to see what
they want me to work on
this summer. I’ve been
working a lot on my twoseam
fastball, trying to get
some more movement on
it.”
In the end, though,
Blaney’s ultimate goal for
the summer is the same as
Kendrick’s.
“The main thing, though,
is just to come out here and
have fun,” he said.
7/19
7/20
7/21
The Slammersare coming
home July 19-21!
Superhero Night &Fireworks Friday!
Princess Night with Fireworks
Family Sunday
JULY
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Formoreinformation, call us at
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www.jolietslammers.com
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