Grafton, WI – Former Lakeshore Chinooks infielder, Jake Noll, has made the Washington Nationals opening day roster. In doing so, Noll has become the sixth Chinooks alumni to make it to the MLB. He joins for other former Chinooks on big league rosters as the 2019 season kicks off today: Harrison Bader (Cardinals), Brian Anderson (Marlins), and now fellow teammate Andrew Stevenson (Nationals). Zack Granite, who debuted in 2017, and Eric Hanhold, who got called up last September, will start the season in the minors.
The Punta Gorda native attended Florida Gulf Coast as a baseball walk-on where he drew the attention of former Chinooks GM, Dean Rennicke, during a family trip to the area. Soon after, Noll was ready to head to Mequon for a summer with the Chinooks. That summer would end up being 2014 in which the Chinooks won their first Northwoods League Championship. Noll appeared in 54 games for the Chinooks and lead the team in hitting with a .316 average which resulted in being the Kapco Steel Slugger for the season. Jake had 77 hits on the season, good for second best in the Chinooks record books. He also ranks second for most steals in a Chinooks season with 23.
In 2016, Noll was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 7th round. He would hit the ground running during his first season after he started his minor league career with a short stint with the Nationals rookie ball team before spending 18 games with the Single A squad, the Auburn Doubledays. He would finish his first minor league season with the Nats other Single A team, the Hagerstown Suns. He would finish his first minor league season with a .275 batting average.
He would spend a majority of 2017 back with the Suns where his bat and defensive play would stay strong throughout the season. He would end 2017 with the High A, Potomac Nationals. Noll would stick with Potomac for the first half of 2018 but an impressive .302 batting average earned him a promotion to Double A Harrisburg Senators where he would finish his season strong.
Jake’s 2018 season helped him get a non-roster invite to the Nationals spring training. With the help of his bat, Noll survived multiple cuts, making the Nationals opening day roster. He will be the team’s backup third basemen. Although, he did not see action in the home opener, Noll will get his first big league at bat in the very near future.
The Lakeshore Chinooks look forward to watching Jake Noll’s career in the MLB get underway. Congrats again to Chinooks alumni, Jake Noll.
The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.lakeshorechinooks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Chinooks as your favorite team.
