MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois baseball will play its annual inter-squad 'Purple & Gold World Series' this week, beginning on Wednesday (Oct. 24), and continuing Thursday and Friday. The Leathernecks were split into two teams, which will face each other in the best-of-three series.
Leatherneck assistants will be coaching the two teams for the series. 'Team Purple' will be coached by Dusty Napoleon and Dan Russell, while 'Team Gold' will be coached by Shane Davis and Matt Igara.
Each team features 17 players. 'Team Purple' consists of: Dan Dispensa, Mark Garton, John White, Travis Stafford, Brent Turner, Steve Kedroski, Brian Loconsole, Nate Ewing, Riley Perry, Joe White, Keelan Prince, Matt Risdon, Aaron Michel, Koshaun Mosley, Sam Welvaert,, JP Maestas and Nick Milligan.
"I think we have great senior leadership on our team." said first year assistant Dusty Napoleon, " We have five of the six seniors on our team so I anticipate great senior presence. We're going to be fighting this series. We have a lot of speed, so we should be able to put pressure on 'Team Gold'."
'Team Gold' consists of: Manny Reyes, Nick Smith, Jameson Henning, Neil DeCook, Mason Pingel, Jake Moore, Tanner Glore, Payton Jeffers, Tyler Willman, Erik Maki, Zack Burling, Nick Bakeris, Tom Constand, Robbie Nunn, Alex Doty, Tyler Farrell and Tyler Owings.
"I like my teams makeup. I feel we are really solid up the middle with Henning, Reyes and DeCook." said assistant coach Shane Davis, "DeCook will be a table-setter for the team. He and Jake Moore have been two of our better offensive players this fall. Our pitching will be anchored by Nick Smith, I expect a lot out of him this series. I sent out an inspirational video to my team last night, they're going to come out ready to go. I also have some injured guys who will play a key role; they will be a great dugout presence for us."
Game-one is set for 3:45 p.m. on
Wednesday at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium. The game is scheduled to go five innings.
Nick Smith will get the start for 'Team Purple' while John White will take the
hill for 'Team Gold'. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.
