June 16, 2005
Normal, Ill. -
Summer means it's recruiting time for spring sports, and the Illinois State baseball team is wasting no time. Just two weeks into June, head coach Jim Brownlee has signed his eighth recruit for the 2005-06 season, Jesse Griswold from Parkland College in Champaign, Ill.
At Parkland, Griswold amassed an impressive resume in his two years of play. After batting .388 with 13 home runs his freshman year, Griswold earned First Team Collegiate Conference of Central Illinois (CCCI) All-Conference infielder honors and was named a Third Team National Junior College Athletic Association All-American for the Cobras. In his second seasons, Griswold hit .332 with 11 home runs and 61 runs batted in.
His efforts during the regular season carried over to the postseason, as Griswold earned Region 24 All-Tournament team honors in 2005, helping Parkland to a second place finish in the NJCAA World Series.
Redbird baseball head coach Jim Brownlee is impressed with Griswold's bat.
"Jesse is very athletic and his best days as a hitter are still ahead of him," said Brownlee. "He should add some pop in the middle of our lineup, which we haven't had a lot of the past couple of years. He also has the ability to play several positions for us and possibly steal some bases. We're extremely happy we could get Jesse signed."
Griswold, a Mendota, Ill. native, finished his junior college career with school records in HR's (24) and RBI's (124) at Parkland. He is also second on the career list in doubles (39) and runs (119).
Griswold is the first junior college transfer to sign with the Redbirds for 2005-06. He will join high school recruits Dan Sorce (Lyons Township H.S.), Ian Berger (Oak Park-River Forest H.S.), Jim Sajewich (Glenbard West H.S.), Gabe DeMarco (Rockford Boylan H.S.), Kevin Dubler (Downers Grove South H.S.), Mike Staloway (Joliet Catholic) and Mike Tokarski (Downers Grove North H.S.) in the fall at ISU.
Brownlee is looking forward to the fall when all his recruits will return to campus.
"This fall is going to be very interesting for us," said Brownlee. "We have a lot of guys returning and these new recruits, Jesse included, will have to show us where they are. The competition for playing time between the veterans and the new recruits should be exciting and fun to watch."
