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NORMAL, Ill. - During college baseball's offseason, Illinois State third baseman Ryan Court is playing 70 games in 76 days for the Border Cats of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Court hopes to play professionally after graduating from ISU next spring, so the redshirt senior decided not to grow accustomed to a summer break from baseball.
"The level of competition out here is very similar to Minor League Baseball," Court said. "We play every single day, and it's a great opportunity to play with a wood bat to better my game. I thought about staying at home this summer and concentrating on working out, gaining weight and getting bigger, but the coaching staff thought that playing for Thunder Bay would provide a great opportunity for me to get better."
Eleven hours north of Court's home in Sleepy Hollow, Ill., Thunder Bay is the only Canadian representative in the esteemed Northwoods League. During its 16-year history, nearly 50 Major Leaguers have played for Northwoods summer college teams, including former Redbird pitcher and Toronto Blue Jay Jeremy Accardo.
"This league is serious about playing, winning and competing at the highest level," Court said. "The people who can hack it and the people who can last the whole summer are ready to play at the next level of baseball."
This is Court's third year of summer baseball, following seasons in the Clark Griffith Collegiate Baseball League and the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. While Court is used to spending his college offseason at the ballpark, he is not familiar with the concept of turning his cell phone off for days at a time. But Court is forced to do just that thanks to expensive international calling rates.
"I pretty much live off of Facebook to communicate with my family and friends," Court said. "My parents actually created an account just so we can communicate at night. It sounds like it would be bad, but we play in the states a lot, so it will usually only be a span of four days where I won't be able to use my phone when I'm in Canada."
Despite having to acclimate to living in a new country, playing with new teammates and hitting with a wood bat, Court has steadily improved. After hitting near .200 at the beginning of the season, Court's batting average has risen to .250 with 26 hits, including five doubles, one triple and three home runs. He has also produced 11 RBI and scored 14 runs.
"I give credit to Illinois State's coaching staff," Court said. "I had talked to them about struggling early on, and they said, `trust yourself and trust what you do.' Now I'm confident that I'll have a great summer."
As a redshirt senior next season, Court said he not only wants to be a team leader, but also a mentor to younger players.
"With the Border Cats, I think I'm one of the oldest guys on the team, and I'm trying to learn what helps guys get better," Court said. "Being a leader next year and helping our team succeed is my ultimate goal of what I can take back from here."
Listen to Complete Interview with Ryan Court
Illinois State Baseball Players in Summer Leagues - Stats Updated Friday, July 16 |
Kenny Long | Orleans Firebirds | Cape Cod League League
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2-3, 1.50 ERA, 24 IP, 1 SV, 27 SO, 7 BB, 19 H
 - Pitched two scoreless innings Tuesday, July 13 versus Yarmouth-Dennis, striking out one.
- Pitched 1.1 scoreless innings Sunday, July 11 versus Bourne.
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Ryan Court | Thunder Bay Border Cats | Northwoods League |
.250, 11 RBI, 26 H, 14 R, 5 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR
 - Went 3-5 with a home run, two RBI and one run scored Monday, July 12 versus Alexandria.
- Went 3-4 with a single, a double and a triple, a RBI and two runs scored Wednesday, July 7 versus Brainerd.
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0-2, 5.40 ERA, 15 IP, 13 SO, 6 BB, 21 H
 - Pitched 3.2 innings Saturday, July 10 versus Terre Haute, allowing five runs on six hits while striking out one.
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.247, 12 RBI, 22 H, 19 R, 15 SB, .382 OBP
 - Went 2-4 with one run scored and one stolen base Tuesday, July 13 versus Springfield.
- Went 2-4 with two RBI, one run scored and one stolen base Saturday, July 10 versus Lorain County.
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3-0, 3.92 ERA, 20.2 IP, 1 SV, 22 SO, 6 BB, 14 H
- Pitched seven innings Tuesday, July 13 versus Springfield, striking out seven while allowing two runs on two hits.
- Earned his first save of the season Saturday, July 10 versus Lorain County.
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.241, 4 RBI, 14 H, 15 R, 1 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR
 - Went 1-2 with one run scored Monday, July 12 versus Hannibal.
- Went 2-5 with his first home run of the season Saturday, July 10 versus West Virginia.
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0-1, 4.97 ERA, 12.2 IP, 4 SV, 9 SO, 9 BB, 12 H
 - Pitched a one run inning Thursday, July 15 versus Quincy, striking out one.
- Pitched a scoreless inning Saturday, July 10 versus Quincy, striking out one.
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| Kevin Tokarski | DuPage Dragons | Prospect League |
.000, 1 RBI, 0 H, 1 R
- Hit a sacrifice RBI Wednesday, July 15 versus DeKalb.
- Went 0-1 with one run scored Friday, July 9 versus Quincy.
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.245, 3 RBI, 12 H, 7 R, 3 2B
 - Went 2-3 with two runs scored Wednesday, July 14 versus Springfield.
- Went 1-4 with a double, one run scored and one stolen base Tuesday, July 13 versus Dubois.
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Former Illinois State Baseball Players in the Pros - Stats Updated Friday, July 16 |
Jeremy Accardo | Las Vegas 51s - Toronto Blue Jays | Triple-A Pacific Coast League |
2-0, 2.96 ERA, 27.1 IP, 15 SV, 13 SO, 8 BB, 30 H
 - Earned his 15th save of the season Thursday, July 15 versus Fresno, pitching one scoreless inning, striking out one.
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Neal Cotts | Indianapolis Indians - Pittsburgh Pirates | Triple-A International League |
0-0
 - Recovering from Tommy John surgery and hip surgery.
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| Matt Herges | Omaha Royals - Kansas City Royals | Triple-A Pacific Coast League |
4-3, 4.86 ERA, 46.1 IP, 25 SO, 25 BB, 57 H
 - Earned his fourth win of the season Friday, July 9 versus Albuquerque, pitching 2.2 scoreless innings, striking out three.
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| Tyler Cox | Bradenton Marauders - Pittsburgh Pirates | Class A Advanced Florida State League |
4-1, 3.25 ERA, 44.1 IP, 1 SV, 49 SO, 15 BB, 33 H
 - Pitched two scoreless innings Monday, July 12 versus Palm Beach.
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| Kevin Dubler | Kannapolis Intimidators - Chicago White Sox | Class A South Atlantic League |
.187, 5 RBI, 20 H, 19 R, 4 2B
 - Went 1-4 with one run scored Friday, July 9 versus Augusta.
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| Ryan Copeland | Johnson City Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals | Rookie Appalachian League |
2-0, .920 ERA, 19.2 IP, 17 SO, 3 BB, 12 H, 3 R
 - Pitched five innings Monday, July 12 versus Kingsport, allowing two runs, striking out four.
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