Lakeshore Chinooks VP/GM Dean Rennicke has announced that 2014 Northwoods League All-Stars, Brett Siddall (Canisius) and Jake Tuttle (UW-Milwaukee) will return in 2015 to lead the team’s quest for a second NWL Championship. The duo helped lead the Chinooks to their first Summer Collegiate World Series in just its third year of existence. Both bring leadership and experience to this year’s edition of the Lakeshore squad.
Brett Siddall, a junior outfielder from Windsor, Ontario in Canada has been a mainstay in the Canisius College Golden Griffins’ line-up for the past three years. He heads into his junior season with a .324 career batting average, 71 RBIs, and a slugging percentage of .459. He was named to the 2015 preseason All-MAAC team after earning First Team All-MAAC in 2014. Siddall has also been tabbed as one of the top young players in Canada and was selected to the 15th annual CBN All-Canadian Team.
The 6’2, 205-pounder was a key cog in the Chinooks’ drive to the 2014 NWL crown as he led the team with 43 RBIs and was second in batting average at .313. Siddall also posted team highs with a .518 slugging percentage and OPS of .927, along with a team high nine homeruns, and established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the Northwoods. For his efforts, Siddall was selected as a Post-Season All-Star and was selected to play in the 2014 Northwoods League All-Star Game at Kapco Park. Representing the South All-Stars, Siddall thrilled the hometown crowd by winning the NWL Home Run competition with a monstrous blast over the right field fence in an extra inning face-off with Mankato’s Levi Scott (UT-Arlington).
Siddall heads into the 2015 summer season as the Chinooks’ 2014 MVP and is poised to take over several Lakeshore career records as he currently sits in second for career batting average (.298), third in home runs (9), tied for fourth in games played (63), fifth in RBIs (46), and tied for sixth in walks (36). And after the summer he had, Siddall is eager to be back, saying, “Lakeshore is awesome and the organization is run by great people with a welcoming atmosphere. I hoped to get drafted and this team helped me develop into a better player and a better person.”
Jake Tuttle returns for his third season with the Chinooks. Signed as a late season replacement in 2013, Tuttle was nearly perfect in 2014. The 6’3 local product, who hails from Mukwonago, has shown steady improvement over his career for the UW-Milwaukee Panthers. After red-shirting his freshman season, the former 2nd team All-State lefty led the Panthers in relief with a 1.64 ERA in 11 appearances in 2013 and earned a spot in the starting rotation for 2014 when he went 2-2 with a 4.09 ERA and started seven games. That set him up for his summer of excellence with the Chinooks.
Tuttle joined Siddall as a Post-Season All-Star after posting a perfect 0.00 ERA and allowing just six hits over 26 innings of work in 18 appearances in the regular season. Tuttle teamed with fellow Chinooks All-Star closer Andrew Elliott (Wright State) to make Lakeshore tough to beat in close late-inning situations. When needed most during the 2014 NWL Playoffs, Tuttle anchored a depleted bullpen that proved to be a key factor in delivering the championship. Tuttle gave up his only run of the summer in Game One of the South Division series against the Wisconsin Woodchucks, but picked up the win in the team’s 9-4 victory, and then pitched in both games of the Summer Collegiate World Series. In Mankato, Tuttle contributed a scoreless inning in the team’s exciting 5-4 Game One win and when the Chinooks returned home to Kapco Park, Tuttle combined with new Milwaukee Panthers teammate Joe Pavlovich on a 3-0 shutout to seal the deal. Tuttle pitched five innings in the playoffs, striking out six and posting a 1.80 ERA. For his efforts, Tuttle shared the team’s Pitcher of the Year honors with Shaun Anderson (Florida). Tuttle was excited to sign for another summer, saying, “There’s something about Kapco Park and pitching for the Chinooks that has really strengthened my confidence. It’s a ‘mojo’ thing. It will be awesome to chase another title.”
Nobody is more excited to welcome the All-Stars back than Chinooks Manager Eddy Morgan: “I am ecstatic to have Brett Siddall and Jake Tuttle back. They both are high character young men who have a passion for the game. Siddall will bring much-needed power to the middle of our lineup and will give us a lot of professional at-bats. Tuttle has been rock solid out of our bullpen the last two years and has been a key ingredient to the success of our pitching staff. They both understand what we are trying accomplish and we are committed to helping them reach their goals.”
The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods 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 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visit lakeshorechinooks.com.
