Midlothian, Ill. – August 5, 2018 – Cole Blatchford (Air Force Academy/Highlands Ranch, Colo.) had a season to remember, and his efforts were rewarded with a spot on the MCL All-League Team.  

Batting Stats: .338 AVG, 2 HR, 8 RBIs, 8 Runs, .431 SLG, .857 OPS, 17 Games

Pitching Stats: 6 Games Pitched, 7.1 Innings Pitched, 0-2 W-L, 1.28 ERA, 9 K, 1 BB, 2 Saves   In his short three weeks with the Crestwood Panthers, Blatchford became a staple in the middle of the batting order and the back-end of the bullpen.  He led the team in batting average (.337), home runs (2), and OPS (.857), as well as saves (2) where he ranked 2nd in the entire Midwest Collegiate League.  His 1.78 ERA would have led the team if he had thrown enough innings to qualify for that statistic.  He was also named to the All-Star game, but could not play due to his participation in the Air Force Academy's summer training program.

Blatchford’s most memorable performance came on June 9th against the Southland Vikings where he went 2-4 at the plate with a run scored and recorded the save in the team’s first win of the season.  

The rest of the MCL Awards and the All-League Team is as follows:

Most Valuable Player – Nate Montgomery, Northwest Indiana Oilmen

Pitcher of the Year – Quinn Gudaitis, Bloomington Bobcats

Manager of the Year – Ben Caple, DuPage County Hounds

2018 MCL All-League Team

C – Nate Montgomery, NWI

1B – Brett Stratinsky, Joliet 

2B – Dane Toppel, DuPage County

SS – Billy Mote, Bloomington

3B – Cole Blatchford, Crestwood

OF – Zaid Walker, NWI

OF – David Giuliano, DuPage County

OF – Stephen Mogged, DuPage County

UTL – Nick Figus, NWI  

P – Quinn Gudaitis, Bloomington

P – Anthony Rogers, Southland

P – Zach Frey, Bloomington

P – Ryan Czajowski, Joliet

P – Christian Howell, NWI