Press Release from the Chicago Cubs

CHICAGO, IL – The Chicago Cubs today placed infielder Addison Russell on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to August 2) with a right foot strain and recalled left-handed pitcher Rob Zastryzny from Triple-A Iowa.

Zastryzny will available for the Cubs this afternoon as they begin their three-game series against the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field.

The 25-year-old Zastryzny joins the Cubs for the second time this season as he made one appearance during a brief stint with the club in May (4.0 IP, 3 ER). He is 1-2 with one save and a 6.67 ERA (20 ER/27.0 IP) in 10 appearances, three as a starter, with Iowa this season. Zastryzny spent two months on the disabled list due to a lat injury and has made two starts with Iowa since being activated on July 25. He made his big league debut with the Cubs last season, going 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA (2 ER/16.0 IP) in eight appearances, one as a starter. He struck out 17 batters in the 16.0 innings pitched while limiting opponents to a .207 batting average and posting a 1.06 WHIP.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Zastryzny was originally selected by the Cubs in the second round of the 2013 Draft out of the University of Missouri. He is 18-18 with a 4.67 ERA (192 ER/370.0 IP) in 86 minor league appearances, including 74 starts, in five minor league campaigns.
Russell, 23, is batting .241 (77-for-319) with 20 doubles, 10 homers and 36 RBI in 97 games with the Cubs this season.

From the Southern Illinois Miners

The Southern Illinois Miners announce that Harrisburg baseball coach Jay Thompson and former Du Quoin head football coach Bob Karnes will be the next two coaches to join the Southern Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame, presented by Southern Illinois Healthcare, in a pregame on-field ceremony on Tuesday, August 8th before the Miners take on the Normal CornBelters at 7:05 p.m.

Thompson, who has coached Harrisburg High School baseball for 30 seasons, is the first high school baseball coach to join the ranks of the Southern Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame. He took over the head coaching job in the 1981-82 school year, and seven years later led the Bulldogs to the Class AA State Championship in 1989. Thompson’s first stint in the dugout would last until 1992 and include back-to-back second-place state tournament finishes in 1991 and 1992, but he returned to the school in 1994 and would coach for another ten consecutive seasons, helping the Bulldogs to another second-place finish at the state tournament in 2003 as well as a fourth-place finish in 1995.

Thompson would also coach the baseball team at Harrisburg in 2006, sandwiched between five seasons that were coached by his brother, Joe, and he then returned to the dugout as head coach in 2010, where he has remained up until the present day. Overall, Thompson has amassed over 700 career wins, ranking inside the state’s top-15 all-time, and at the close of the 2016 season owned a record of 720 wins and 211 losses for a win percentage of .773, winning 20 IHSA Regional titles and eight Sectional championships. He was also inducted into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1997, with Harrisburg’s home baseball field named after him last year.
For Karnes, he becomes the second Du Quoin football coach to be inducted into the Southern Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame, joining his successor Al Martin who was honored on July 25th. Karnes himself had a 20-year run at Du Quoin beginning in 1968, and his first team ran the table, going 10-0 to start what would be one of the region’s all-time great careers. In his 20 seasons, Karnes’ teams finished with a winning record 17 times, winning five conference championships and finishing unbeaten twice. His teams qualified for the state playoffs in his final four seasons from 1984-87 and were state quarterfinalists in 1987, semifinalists in 1985 and state runners-up in 1986. Overall, Karnes went 136-59-4 as head coach of the Indians for a .683 winning percentage, and was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1988.
Tickets for Tuesday night’s game can be purchased online at southernillinoisminers.com, over the phone at (618) 998-8499 or at the Rent One Park box office.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2016 Frontier League West Division Champions, the 2014 and 2015 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at (618) 998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.

From the Southern Illinois Miners

FLORENCE, KY – 

The Southern Illinois Miners led for the whole game on Friday night against the Florence Freedom, scoring three runs in the first inning to back Chris Washington in a 6-4 triumph on the road at UC Health Stadium, securing the club’s third straight win and fourth in their last five games overall.

Before a single out was recorded in the first inning by Florence starter Tony Vocca (6-5), the Miners pounced on him as Craig Massey led off with a double. Romeo Cortina then singled him home for a 1-0 Miners lead, and three pitches later, Nolan Earley smacked a two-run home run into the Florence bullpen in right field to make the score 3-0.

Florence would get a run back in the bottom of the first to make it 3-1, but Washington (2-3) kept Southern Illinois in the lead. He would settle down for two scoreless frames in the second and third innings before the Miners got two more runs in the fourth. Ryan Lashley and Anthony Critelli singled and doubled, respectively, to put runners at second and third base with no one out. Ryan Sluder‘s sacrifice fly made the score 4-1, and Massey’s RBI groundout increased the lead to 5-1. Again, Florence would score a run to answer in the bottom half, but on an RBI double by Garrett Vail to score that run, Keivan Berges tried scoring from first base as well, and was thrown out at the plate by Massey and Sluder to make it 5-2 after four innings.

Florence would get within two runs at 5-3 in the seventh inning on a solo homer by Daniel Fraga, but in the ninth, the Miners added on again as Sluder led off with a double and was sacrificed to third base. After an intentional walk to Massey, Cortina’s second RBI single of the game pushed the lead out to 6-3. Yet again, Florence scored a run in their half of the ninth on a two-out bloop double by Jose Brizuela to make the score 6-4, but John Werner shut the door after that for his 15th save of the season as the Miners won the series opener

Washington would pitch five innings, scattering ten hits but permitting just two runs to score with one walk and four strikeouts to get the win on the mound. Offensively, Cortina and Earley drove in two runs apiece, while six different Miners scored one run in the contest. Sluder’s double in the ninth inning also extended his hit streak to six games in a row, while Massey’s double in the first pushed his streak out to ten games. With his 15th save, Werner also moved into second place on the Miners’ all-time career saves list, breaking a tie with Travis Hope (2007).

Southern Illinois will look for a fourth-straight win on Saturday in the second game of the series against the Freedom at 5:05 p.m.

The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2016 Frontier League West Division Champions, the 2014 and 2015 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at (618) 998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.