Ryan Fitzgerald and Tom Concklin graduated from different high schools in separate years, but the Burr Ridge and Hinsdale residents found something in common this summer as teammates for the DuPage County Hounds.
Fitzgerald and Concklin have led the Hounds into first place in the six-team Midwest Collegiate League, a wood-bat baseball circuit for college players during the summer. The Hounds provide Fitzgerald of Burr Ridge and Concklin of Hinsdale a place to play close to home after they completed their collegiate seasons in the spring.
Fitzgerald, a 2012 graduate of Fenwick, capped his junior season as an infielder at Creighton. Concklin, a 2013 Hinsdale Central graduate, was a sophomore starting pitcher at Division III Washington & Lee in Lexington, Virginia.
The players are teammates for the first time this summer with the Hounds.
“I met him for the first time when I came to the Hounds,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s the man. I love to watch him play.”
Concklin was named to the North Division team for the July 7 Midwest Collegiate League All-Star Game and is 2-0 as a starter with a 1.30 ERA and 21 strikeouts in six games. Fitzgerald ranks second for the Hounds (24-10) in RBI (17) and runs (21) and owns a .317 average.
Concklin is the second former Hinsdale Central pitcher to join the Hounds in as many years. Right-hander Adam Dressler was with the Hounds last summer but joined their MCL rival, the Michigan City Lakers, following his junior year at Purdue.
After playing the past few seasons at Benedictine in Lisle, the Hounds moved to a new home this season at the Lemont Sports Complex.
For Fitzgerald and Concklin, the location is ideal, even though the DuPage County team is playing its home games in Cook County. Last summer, Concklin played for a Texas Rangers scout team in the south suburbs.
“It’s been great. You miss the stadium atmosphere of Benedictine University, but Lemont is one of the best high school fields I’ve ever played at,” Concklin said.
The Hounds give Concklin the similar experience of playing in a professional minor league, with nearly eight-hour days on the field. The longest road trip is downstate Lexington, about 100 miles one way.
At 21, Fitzgerald is one of the oldest Hounds players and is on his fourth collegiate summer league team. He has played previously for teams in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New York.
“That’s what definitely brought me here, being close to home,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s been great. The players are unbelievable. I love playing with them even if I am the old dog.”
Two former members of the Hounds were selected in the Major League Baseball first-year player draft in June. Infielder Paul DeJong (Illinois State) of Antioch was picked in the fourth round by the Cardinals and pitcher Ryan Hinchley (Illinois-Chicago) of York was taken in the ninth round by the White Sox. DeJong played for the Hounds in 2013 and Hinchley played from 2013-14.
At the beach
Hinsdale resident and 2014 Montini graduate Austin Kline ended his first summer collegiate season two weeks ago with the Windy Hill Whales of the Beach Collegiate League in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Kline played third base and second base after finishing his freshman season with Brunswick J.C. in North Carolina. He is set to return to Brunswick in early August.
Kline batted .322 and led the Whales in hits and was second in RBI.
“I played with a great group of guys,” said Kline, who said he played with a few college teammates on the Whales. “The wood bat was a different transition than playing with metal in the spring. I was able to pick it up.”
On the bus
Former Lyons infielder Stewart Nelson of La Grange is getting a sample of the minor-league experience of long bus rides while competing in the eight-team M.I.N.K. (Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas) League this summer. Stewart is in his first season playing third base and shortstop for the Sedalia (Missouri) Bombers after joining the DuPage County Hounds last season.
Nelson, a redshirt sophomore at Evansville, is staying with a host family and rooms with Evansville catcher Travis Tokarek. Nelson is batting .246 with 22 runs and 15 RBI and has 13 errors.
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Two other members of the Aces are also playing for Sedalia.
“My [college] coaches said I would enjoy it there,” Nelson said. “They wanted me to go. They thought there would be better competition and hopefully it would accelerate my game.”
* Illinois State rising senior outfielder Sean Beesley of Hinsdale South is on pace to surpass 25 stolen bases for the second consecutive season with the Willmar (Minnesota) Stingers of the Northwoods League. Beesley has 22 stolen bases while batting .295 with a home run and nine RBI.
Beesley was named player of the game July 9 when Willmar lost to Madison 5-2 before a record crowd of 1,893.
Willmar won the first-half title in the North Division.
* Western Springs resident and former Lyons first baseman Brian Rodemoyer is batting .206 as an outfielder with one home run and seven RBI for Madison (Wisconsin) in the Northwoods League. He will be a senior at Illinois State.
* Pioneer Press 2012 player of the year Zach Weigel is an outfielder for the Kenosha (Wisconsin) Kingfish of the Northwoods League and is playing for manager Duffy Dyer, a former major-league catcher. Weigel, who led Oak Park-River Forest to the Class 4A state championship as a senior, will be a senior at Seton Hall next season.
He ranks second on the Kingfish in runs scored (29) and is batting .280 with 22 RBI and 13 stolen bases.
* Former Nazareth shortstop Tim DalPorto of La Grange, an incoming sophomore at Kent State, is batting .198 with eight RBI in his first season as a starting catcher with the Springfield (Illinois) Sliders of the Prospect League.
Twitter: @geomwilcox