Luke Raley – Chattanooga Lookouts
Since the team’s founding in 2012, the Lakeshore Chinooks have produced 82 MLB Draft picks or free agent signings. Of the 13 players selected or signed in 2016, eight have continued in minor league baseball and head into the 2019 spring training season, including three who have been invited to major league camps. Here is a recap of where each of them stands:
Jake Noll/2B/Florida Gulf Coast/Lakeshore 2014/2016 WAS Nationals – 7th Round
After making some swing adjustments to produce more power, Noll has started to display the potential Chinook fans saw during the team’s championship run in 2014. And for his efforts in 2018, Noll was invited as a Non-Roster Invitee to the Nationals’ spring camp where he got off to a 5 for 5 start in his first two games. After earning South Atlantic League All-Star honors for the Class A Hagerstown Suns in 2017 when he hit 16 home runs and knocked 67 RBI, Noll moved on to AA Potomac where he was selected to the 2018 Carolina League All-Star Game. Noll was selected as an Organization All-Star for the Nationals in 2016 and 2018 and played in the 2018 Arizona Fall League. While he expects to start the season in Double A, look for Noll to climb quickly if his power numbers continue to improve.
Luke Raley/OF/Lake Erie/Lakeshore 2015/2016 LA Dodgers – 7th Round
A mid-summer trade from the Dodgers to the Twins in the Brian Dozier deal seemed to give Luke Raley a better shot in his quest to climb to the majors. The power hitting outfielder was named a Texas League All-Star as he had hit 17 home runs and 17 doubles in 93 games for the AA Tulsa Drillers prior to the trade and posted a .275 batting average, but the roster ahead of him with the Dodgers seemed to be log-jammed. After the trade, Raley continued to hit with average and knocked three more home runs, as well as three triples in 27 games for AA Chattanooga in the Twins’ system. This season, Minnesota will get an early look at their acquisition, as the hustling Raley heads to the major league camp as a Non-Roster Invitee. In his first three games of the spring, Raley had two hits in his first four at-bats.
Jack Sundberg/OF/Connecticut/Lakeshore 2013/2016 WAS Nationals – 26th Round
The speedy outfielder continues to toil in A and Advanced A competition in the National’s system. After batting .277 with 24 stolen bases in 110 games for the Advanced A Potomac Nationals in 2017, Sundberg split time in 2018 between Potomac and Class A Hagerstown. His numbers dropped in 2018, as he hit .261 with only nine stolen bases, but knocked a career high 38 RBI between the two stops.
Cam Vieaux/P/Michigan St./Lakeshore 2014/2016 PIT Pirates – 6th Round
Vieaux’s workload continued to rise in 2018 as he made the jump from the Advanced A Bradenton Marauders to AA Altoona. He threw a combined 144.2 innings between the two, posting 13-6 record in 25 starts with 124 strikeouts against only 35 walks. Those totals came on the heels of 2017 campaign in which he threw 141 in lower levels of the Pirate system. With his solid numbers for the Altoona Curve, Vieaux was tabbed as the winner of the team’s Top Pitcher Award and will look to build momentum as he begins 2019.
To follow the progress of any of the Lakeshore alums who are playing professional baseball, click on the Alumni tab under the Team section at the top of this page. Click on a specific player’s name to open a link to view their MiLB bio page.
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.
