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Published On: November 8th, 2016

 

Mequon, WI – After a dominant summer in 2016 with the Lakeshore Chinooks, pitcher Keenan Bartlett of the Richmond Spiders was tabbed by Perfect Game as the top pro prospect in the Northwoods League, marking the second consecutive season when a Chinook pitcher was named as the top prospect. UW-Whitewater’s Lake Bachar was rated by Baseball America as the top selection in 2015 and went on to be selected in the 5th round by the San Diego Padres.  Bartlett, a native of Phoenix, AZ, spent his first two years with the Spiders as a two-way player but took to the mound for the majority of his time at Lakeshore in 2016, finishing the season with a stellar 2.23 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 56-plus innings of work.

In addition, D1 Baseball rated Bartlett, who participated in the Northwoods League All-Star Game, as one of the top ten prospects in all of summer collegiate baseball. Scouts were impressed as the right-hander transitioned to a starter for the Chinooks and routinely sat in the 93-96 mph range. With room to add strength to his 6’0 and 175 pound frame, Bartlett projects well with a good slider in the low 80’s and a developing changeup. While one might think this type of selection adds pressure to a developing pitcher, Bartlett has taken it in stride, saying “It’s certainly a confidence booster, but I’m going to just keep doing things the way I always have. I continue to work on locating my pitches and working on my off-speed.”

Bartlett was joined in the Chinooks’ rotation by Northwoods League Pitcher of the Year Marshall Kasowski (West Texas A & M) and continues a strong pitching tradition at Lakeshore. Perfect Game also rated right-hander Liam Jenkins (Wabash Valley) in their 2016 top ten NWL prospects, after rating Kasowski and southpaw Zac Lowther (Xavier) as top ten prospects in the league for 2015. Bartlett projects to be a weekend starter for Richmond this season. For now, that’s where Bartlett’s attention will be saying, “It’s always been the goal to play professionally, but I want to help Richmond win a conference championship and continue to progress to the NCAA Regionals and possibly a Super-Regional.”

The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 23-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 160 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 (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.