ONE STEP CLOSER: Will Headean

Mequon, WI – After joining the Lakeshore Chinooks midway through the Championship season of 2014 and becoming a key cog in the team’s starting rotation, Illinois State’s Will Headean resigned to return to Mequon with the understanding that he just possibly might get a call during draft week. On June 10 Headean received that call from the San Diego Padres (387^th overall pick in the 13^th Round of the MLB Draft). The hard-throwing lefty who throws in the low 90’s and has touched 95 mph had a good feeling he would be getting that call and was prepared to forego his final collegiate season for the opportunity to jump to the pros.

Making fifteen starts in his junior season, Headean posted a 5-5 record with a 3.99 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 94.2 innings of work. With a high number of innings, the Morton, IL native was assigned to the Padres Arizona League rookie team where he would receive extra instruction and a no-frills start to his professional career. After showing promise there with a 3.12 ERA in 14 appearances and 26 innings, including 34 strikeouts, Headean was promoted to the Padres’ Class A short season affiliate in Pasco, WA, the Tri-City Dust Devils, where Headean pitching objectives remained clear. “I really need to attack the strike zone. With me it’s about throwing strikes,” Headean said. “When I throw strikes to both sides of the plate, I have a lot of success.”

Headean had these comments about his experiences thus far:

1. The next step for me is to head to Spring Training in March and work for a spot in Low A or High A. This is done by continuing to progress through my offseason lifting and throwing programs.

2. My favorite minor league moment so far is making it to the championship series in the Northwest League with the Dust Devils.

3. Wearing throwback jerseys are always a good time. I love it when we get to do that.

4. The most difficult part is showing up every day and continuing to work hard and not worrying about getting a promotion or demotion. Just get better each and every day and let the chips fall where they may.

Chinook fans can follow Headean’s progress at:

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=621364#/gamelogs/R/pitching/2015/MINORS

The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 22-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 140 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (KC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com.