RAILCATS COMPLETE DEAL WITH WINDY CITY BY ACQUIRING THREE PLAYERS
January 7, 2008 Contact: Tom Nichols at (219) 882-2255
Gary, Ind.—The 2007 Northern League Champion Gary SouthShore RailCats Professional Baseball club announced today the completion of a trade with the Windy City ThunderBolts of the Frontier League. The RailCats have acquired right-handed pitcher Billy Phillips and outfielders Rob Marconi and John McCarthy as the players to be named later in two deals prior to the 2007 season in which the RailCats sent outfielder Mike Coles and pitcher Ryan Brandt to Windy City.
Phillips, 25, went 8-5 with a 3.09 earned run average (eighth best in the league) as a starting pitcher for Windy City in 2007. He walked just 33 batters in 116 innings and finished strong, going 8-3 with a 2.45 ERA over his the last 14 of his 19 starts. He went 6-0 as a relief pitcher for Windy City in 2006 after spending one season in the Boston Red Sox organization in 2005. He played at Florida Gulf Coast University and is a Trinity, Florida native.
Marconi, 25, is rated by RailCats manager Greg Tagert as a gold glove caliber defensive center fielder. He batted .263 with nine home runs, 38 runs batted in, and 24 stolen bases with Windy City in 2007 and finished third in the league in runs scored. He hit .290 with a homer in eight playoff games. Marconi had his best game on May 28th, going 4 for 4 with two home runs, a double, a triple, and five runs batted in. He spent three years in the Baltimore Orioles organization from 2004-'06. Marconi is a native of LaGrange, Illinois and played at Northern Illinois University, where he is the school's career leader in home runs and runs scored.
McCarthy, 23, is a left-handed batter with potential. As a Frontier League rookie in 2007, he batted .233 with one home run and 20 stolen bases, posting 44 walks while striking out only 22 times. He is a native of Palos Park, Illinois and played college baseball for the University of Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, where he batted .322 in two years at the school in 2005-'06.
Pictured, left to right: Billy Phillips,
Rob Marconi,
John McCarthy.
(Photos coutesty of Windy City ThunderBolts)
More Info: The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a Professional Minor League Baseball Team serving Northwest Indiana and Chicago's south suburbs. The RailCats won the Northern League championship in 2005 and 2007 and for each of the last four years, they have been chosen "Best Local Spectator Sport" by Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly. Their 96 game schedule includes 48 home games at beautiful U. S. Steel Yard, an award-winning 6,000 seat state-of-the-art facility located next to the Indiana Toll Road (I-90) with easy access to I-65
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