HISTORY 2010
Like any year, the Rebels’ 2010 season had its share of ups and downs, twists and turns, good times and bad times. There were some positive surprises, as well as some disappointments.
Chris Olson rapid development: We honestly didn’t think we put Olson on this list. Reason being, I had really high expectations for our young rookie (even higher than most) and wouldn’t have been surprised at all to see him have a very productive year. With that said, he found a way to exceed even my expectations.
Twenty year old phenom Justin Yonke made his debut earlier this year, and has continued to improve each time out, showing flashes of why he’s such a highly regarding prospect. Fellow prospect Noah Sullivan finally appeared in August and has looked pretty good in his few starts. Other guys like Mike Peavey and Joe Yonke also made significant contributions to the team over the course of the year.
Outfielders Rick Garza, who batted .541Avg / 1.514 OPS, 12 XB, 33 RBIs, and Kevin Simmons who batted .532Avg / 1.278 OPS, 7 XB, 23 RBIs, came out of nowhere and proved capable of carrying the Rebels during the season.
Simmons spent his early years in the Gurnee leagues when he was called up in August 2008 and he has made the most of his opportunity.
With the loss of all-stars Nestor Toro and Nate Alden, the Rebels found themselves in need at the positions all season. The front office put all their chips in when they dipped into free agency and sign infielders Ray Quinones and James Yonke.
Quinones and Yonke both played terrifically in the infield disproving that they lacked defensive skills and he also brought a big bat. Yonke homered in his third game as a Rebel and hit 13 XB in 27 games with the team.
The Rebel Softball Club knew they were going to see an impressive season from infielder Noah Sullivan as soon as his rookie year. They were counting on him to come in and make an impact on the starting lineup in a positive way and he sure did. Sullivan managed to have 19 base hits and 11 runs scored. He slashed .514 / .526 / .541 over the course of 12 Fall league games played.
Those numbers didn’t start off so hot as Sullivan was clearly adapting to Lake County pitching when he first started. Pitchers were attacking him with the off-speed low junk early and often. Once Noah Sullivan figured out how to avoid swinging at it he really started to get hot.
In July, the Rebels played a crucial series for first place with the Havoc club while trying to stay within a game in the standing.
After winning the first game 6 to 5, with four runs coming in the last two innings, the Rebels lost Gm 2 in extra inning.
Over the next three games, the Rebels would win all three series against Peterson & Patch club, Bird on a Wire club and Fighting Aardvarks with late-inning heroics. Against the Fighting Aardvarks club Rick Garza would hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to win the series.
The Rebels were just two wins away from capturing a third consecutive Monday Night division title. After falling in a second crucial series with first place Havoc club the Rebels ended up in second place (16-4 record).
So, did the Rebels do enough to win that 3rd Monday night championship title in a row?
Talk to any Rebel fan, and they likely won’t be happy for quite some time. A 16 win regular season and a second round playoff exit will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of players and fans alike. Fans won’t care to hear this now, but they have a roster capable of winning it all next summer.
They were better than most clubs all year long.
There was a stretch this summer where some argued if the Rebels were the best team in softball! That was before the organization brought Izzy Solis and Chris Minor back to complete what they thought would be the last pieces of the puzzle. Unfortunately, Solis and Minor imploded in the playoffs and then retired from softball the following season.
At the end of 2010 season, the Rebels had call-up outfielders Tyler Shepard, Brandon Wedyck and infielders Mike Peavey, Noah Sullivan to fill in the Fall league roster. There wasn’t too many areas on the roster that needed to be addressed or changed.