{"id":1194,"date":"2017-01-26T22:16:51","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T22:16:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/rockford-rivets\/?p=1194"},"modified":"2017-01-26T22:16:51","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T22:16:51","slug":"red-sox-pick-among-illinois-state-trio-to-join-rivets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/rockford-rivets\/2017\/01\/26\/red-sox-pick-among-illinois-state-trio-to-join-rivets\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox pick among Illinois State trio to join Rivets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\t<strong>LOVES PARK, Ill. &ndash;<\/strong> Three Illinois State University Redbirds, one of them already a Major League Baseball draft pick, plan to stay in the state when they play baseball this summer.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe Rockford Rivets announced today that they have signed ISU third baseman Ryan Hutchinson, center fielder John Rave and pitcher Jeff Barton for the Northwoods League season.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&ldquo;Ryan was the everyday third baseman at Illinois State last spring, as a freshman,&rdquo; Rivets manager Brian Smith said. &ldquo;He started the All-Star Game in the Prospect League last summer.&nbsp;I feel it is the natural progression, as a ballplayer, that he comes to Rockford and makes an immediate impact to our ball club. He is a big-bodied third baseman.&nbsp;His ability to provide a little power and baserunning awareness should help us build a unique lineup every day.&rdquo;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tHutchinson hit .253 with a home run and 17 RBI in 52 games for the Cardinals last spring. The Mattoon native is a sophomore majoring in finance.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Illinois State third baseman Ryan Hutchinson. \" class=\"lazyload aligncenter size-full wp-image-1197\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-orig-src=\"http:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/rockford-rivets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/01\/Ryan_Hutchinson.jpg\" \/>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tRave, a freshman majoring in international business, picked the Cardinals over the Boston Red Sox, who drafted him in the 35<sup>th<\/sup> round last year. Approximately one out of every six players in each of the last two drafts were athletes with Northwoods League experience.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&ldquo;John was a highly-regarded recruit coming out of Bloomington,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;He has the ability to be extremely productive at the top of our lineup.&nbsp;The coaching staff at Illinois State believes that he is a difference maker defensively and has a chance to see a lot of time this spring.&rdquo;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tRave hit .429 with three home runs his senior season at Bloomington Central Catholic High School.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBarton is a junior from Libertyville is a major in business administration. Last spring, Barton was 0-1 with a 7.98 ERA and a save in 18 appearances, 15 from the bullpen. He struck out 27 and walked 13 in 29 1\/3 innings. The 6-foot-4 righthander walked more than two batters in only one appearance.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&ldquo;Jeff has a background of challenging hitters in and around the strike zone,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;His long frame will create a difficult downward angle, when he stays on top of the baseball, for hitters to square up.&nbsp;We are hoping that Jeff can come into the summer healthy and ready to help lead this pitching staff to its first playoff appearance in franchise history.&rdquo;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Illinois State pitcher Jeff Barton\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter size-full wp-image-1196\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-orig-src=\"http:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/rockford-rivets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/01\/Jeffrey_Barton.jpg\" \/>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe Rivets&rsquo; season begins May 30 at Kalamazoo. The home opener is at 6:35 p.m. June 2 against the Wisconsin Woodchucks. The Rivets are offering a $50 four-game pack that includes a replica Rivets jersey, tickets to four select games and all-you-can-eat food (burgers, brats, hot dogs, grilled chicken, popcorn and fountain soda) for the following dates: Friday, June 2; Saturday, June 24; Friday, July 14; Friday, July 28. The four-pack can be purchased only by calling the Rivets at 815.240.4159 or in person at the Rivets Stadium box office. There are a limited number of jerseys available, so don&rsquo;t wait to order this four-pack.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<em>The Rockford Rivets are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League, which will play its 24<sup>th<\/sup> season of summer collegiate baseball in 2017. The Northwoods 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, 160&nbsp;Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals), two-time World Champion Ben Zobrist (Chicago Cubs) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox), Jordan Zimmermann (Detroit Tigers), Curtis Granderson (New York Mets) and Lucas Duda (Mets). All league games are viewable live via the <a href=\"http:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/\">Northwoods League Website, NorthwoodsLeague.com.<\/a>&nbsp; <\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOVES PARK, Ill. &ndash; Three Illinois State University Redbirds, one of them already a Major League Baseball draft pick, plan  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,11],"tags":[93,22],"class_list":["post-1194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-players-signings","category-team-news","category-update-ticker","tag-illinois-state","tag-rivets"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - 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