Midwest League 2002

Season Highlights

Batting Leaders

• Batting: Jason Stokes (Kane County/Marlins) .341
• Home Runs: Jason Stokes (Kane County/Marlins) 27
• Runs Batted In: Juan Tejeda (West Michigan/Tigers) 106
• Stolen Bases: Juan Francia (West Michigan/Tigers) 53

Pitching Leaders

• Wins: Tyler Johnson (Peoria/Cardinals) & Chad Petty (West Michigan/Tigers) 15
• Won/Lost: Dontrelle Willis (Kane County/Marlins) 10-2, .833 & Tyler Johnson (Peoria/Cardinals) 15-3, .833
• Saves: Nate Cotton (Dayton/Reds) 34
• Earned Run Average: Dontrelle Willis (Kane County/Marlins) 1.83
• Strikeouts: J.D. Durbin (Quad City/Twins) 163

Post-Season All-Star Team

Catcher                 Joe Mauer          Quad City
First Base              Jason Stokes       Kane County
Second Base             Scott Hairston     South Bend
Third Base              Edwin Encarnacion  Dayton
Shortstop               John Nelson        Peoria
Outfield                Noochie Varner     Dayton/West Michigan
                        Shin-Soo Choo      Wisconsin
                        Jason Kubel        Quad City
Designated Hitter       Steve Checksfield  Michigan
Left Handed Pitcher     Dontrelle Willis   Kane County
Right Handed Pitcher    Don Levinski       Clinton
Left Handed Reliever    Rusty Tucker       Fort Wayne
Right Handed Reliever   Nate Cotton        Dayton

2002 Individual Leaders

Batting

Games           Rick Asadoorian, PEO   137
                Juan Tejeda, WMI       137
At Bats         Josh Barfield, FTW     536
Runs            Brooks Conrad, MIC      94
                Mike Rodriguez, MIC     94
                Juan Francia, WMI       94
Hits            Josh Barfield, FTW     164
Home Runs       Jason Stokes, KNC       27
Runs Batted In  Juan Tejeda, WMI       106
Stolen Bases    Juan Francia, WMI       53
On Base Pct     Scott Hairston, SBD   .426
Slugging Pct    Jason Stokes, KNC     .645
Batting Avg     Jason Stokes, KNC     .341

Pitching

Games           John Birtwell, WMI      58
Complete Games  Edgar Gonzalez, SBD      4
                Bobby Basham, DTN        4
Shutouts        Bobby Basham, DTN        3
Innings Pitched Mike Burns, MIC        181
Strikeouts      J.D. Durbin, QC        163
Saves           Nate Cotton, DTN        34
Won             Tyler Johnson, PEO      15
                Chad Petty, WMI         15
Earned Run Avg  Dontrelle Willis, KNC 1.83

Accomplishments

Players

• John Knott (Fort Wayne)
  • Fifteen game hitting streak, April 17-May 4

Teams

• Quad City
  • 10 game winning streak (last win May 7).

Notable Games

• April 5
  • Quad City 4, Cedar Rapids 3 (16 innings)
    • Game time: 5:03
• April 7
  • Lansing 12, West Michigan 3
    • Lansing scored 10 in the first inning.
• April 12
  • West Michigan 2, South Bend 1 (16 innings)
    • WM Pitchers: 17 strikeouts
    • SB Pitchers: 21 strikeouts
• April 14
  • Edgar Gonzalez (South Bend): No Hitter (West Michigan; 5-0)
    • Faced 27 batters; 1 error, 1 pickoff
  • Four Peoria pitchers struck out 19 Burlington hitters.
    • Tyler Johnson: 11 Ks in 5 innings
• April 16
  • Burlington 15, Beloit 13
    • Dan Boyd (Beloit): 3 for 4, 4 runs batted in.
    • Florian Villanueva (Beloit): double, triple.
    • Chris Fallon (Burlington): 5 runs batted in.
    • Jon Guzman (Burlington): 3 for 4, 4 runs batted in
    • Stranded runners: Burlington 11, Beloit 13.
• April 27
  • Five Fort Wayne pitchers struck out 21 South Bend hitters. (10 innings.)
    • Cory Stewart struck out 12 batters in 5 innings.
• April 28
  • West Michigan (6) and Fort Wayne (4) combined to hit 10 doubles in a 7-inning game.
• May 1
  • Dontrelle Willis, Tyler Banks, & Kevin Cave (Kane County): No Hitter (Beloit, 8-0)
• May 2
  • Tim Lemon (Peoria): 3 for 5; 2 doubles, home run; 3 runs scored, 5 runs batted in.
• May 3
  • Tyler Johnson (Peoria): One-hitter.
    • Sole Michigan hit of the game: Brooks Conrad was credited with a single on the third out in the eighth when baserunner Kerry Hodges was hit by a batted ball.
• May 5
  • Cedar Rapids 18, Beloit 9
    • Jeff Mathis (Cedar Rapids): 5 for 6; 3 runs batted in.
    • Dallas McPherson (Cedar Rapids): 3 for 5; 3 runs, 4 runs batted in.
    • Justin Turner (Cedar Rapids): 3 for 4; 4 runs batted in.
• May 8
  • Garrett Stephenson and Tyler Johnson (Peoria): combined to hold Fort Wayne to one hit while striking out 15 Wizard batters.
    • Stephenson, on a rehab assignment from St. Louis, allowed no baserunners in his four inning stint; six of his seven strikeouts were consecutive.
    • Johnson allowed 1 hit and walked 1 batter, striking out 8.
• August 1
  • Wisconsin 14, Beloit 4
    • 35 hits
    • 20 Wisconsin hits; 15 Beloit hits
• August 5
  • Kane County: triple play vs. South Bend
• August 6
  • Cedar Rapids 7, West Michigan 6
    • win #6,000 for Cedar Rapids in professional baseball