Baseball

Joliet, Ill. – Aug. 18, 2021 – After completing its 12th season of showcasing young stars and aiding collegiate ballplayers in their development, the Midwest Collegiate League announced its annual postseason honors on Wednesday.

After guiding a turnaround that saw the Joliet Generals finish the regular season with a 24-14 record after going 8-24 in 2020, Joe Silva was named the MCL Manager of the Year. Silva, also an assistant coach at Benedictine University, led the Generals to the first MCL Championship in franchise history in his first season at the helm, going 4-0 in elimination games in postseason play. The team finished second in the regular-season standings, earning the No. 2 seed for the MCL Playoffs. Silva is the first Generals manager to earn this distinction and first Joliet skipper to do so since Tom Barry of the Joliet Admirals in 2016.

Generals infielder Bryce Vincent (St. Ambrose / Algonquin, Ill.) was named the MCL’s Most Valuable Player after threatening the league’s batting average record by finishing at .452 in his 23 games. He belted four doubles, three triples and a home run while accruing 21 RBIs and scoring 19 times. Vincent posted an on-base percentage of .490 while slugging .591 for the Generals. He also stole six bases and enjoyed 14 multi-hit performances including a season-high four hits on June 9 at Northwest Indiana. Vincent’s lone home run of the year came in his first game of the summer on June 7 at Southland. He became the first Joliet player to win the MCL MVP Award. Vincent edged Tre’ Hondras (College of Central Florida / Flossmoor, Ill.) of the Chicago American Giants and Jacob Ferry (Morehead State / Aurora, Ill.) of the Northwest Indiana Oilmen in one of the closest MVP votes in league history.

2021 MCL All-League Team

P – Michael Laudondo, Crestwood Panthers

P – Jack Guzek, NWI Oilmen (unanimous)

P – Billy Lepretre, Chicago American Giants

P – Nolan Vlcek, Southland Vikings

P – Jake Paymaster, Southland Vikings

OF – Ronald Applewhite, Crestwood Panthers

OF – Tre' Hondras, Chicago American Giants

OF – Jacob Ferry, NWI Oilmen

C – Gannon Andrews, Crestwood Panthers

1B – Patrick Doran, Southland Vikings

2B – Kevin McCormick, NWI Oilmen

SS – Bryce Vincent, Joliet Generals

3B – Casey Kmet, NWI Oilmen

UTL – AJ Wright, NWI Oilmen

MCL Manager of the Year History

2021 – Joe Silva, Joliet Generals

2020 – Isaac Valdez, Crestwood Panthers

2019 – Jake Wegner, Bloomington Bobcats

2018 – Ben Caple, DuPage County Hounds

2017 – Kevin Franchetti, Southland Vikings

2016 – Tom Barry, Joliet Admirals

2015 – Sean Osborne, DuPage County Hounds

MCL MVP History

2021 – Bryce Vincent, Joliet Generals

2020 – Ray Hilbrich, Crestwood Panthers

2019 – Nick Santoro, DuPage County Hounds

2018 – Nate Montgomery, NWI Oilmen

2017 – Jack Butler, Bloomington Bobcats

2016 – Tyler Sroczynski, NWI Oilmen

2015 – Tyler Sroczynski, NWI Oilmen

2014 – Bobby Sheppard & Jeff Boehm, Southland Vikings

MCL Pitcher of the Year History

2021 – Jack Guzek, NWI Oilmen

2020 – Jordan Smevoll, DuPage County Hounds

2019 – Justin Rios, Southland Vikings

2018 – Quinn Gudaitis, Bloomington Bobcats

2017 – Kevin Glynn, Southland Vikings

2016 – Mitch Weis, Bloomington Bobcats

2015 – Tom Concklin, DuPage County Hounds