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Why Play Hitmen Baseball?
Hitmen Grad Pitches Davenport Assumption
to 2008 State Title
(7/27/08) - Jake Kent (see below), a graduate of the Quad
City Hitmen, pitched the Davenport Assumption Knights to a
4-2 victory over Cherokee High School, earning Assumption
the 2008 Iowa State Title. Several former Hitmen are currently
playing baseball for Assumption. Congratulations, guys!
Jake Kent - 2004
Former Hitmen Players taken in 2008
MLB Draft
(6/7/08) - The Quad City Hitmen would like to congratulate
both Cody Adams (below) and Willie
Argo on being drafted in the 2008 Major League Baseball
First-Year Player Draft. Cody was taken by the Milwaukee Brewers
with the 62nd pick (2nd round). Cody just completed his Junior
year at Southern Illinois University. Willie Argo was taken
by the Arizona Diamondbacks with pick number 1473. Willie
just completed his Senior year at Davenport Assumption High
School and has received a scholarship to play baseball at
the University of Illinois. Both Cody and Willie played multiple
seasons with the Hitmen. Way to go guys!
Former Hitmen Willie Argo Starts College Career of with a Bang!
March 7, 2009, From the U of Illinois Baseball website - Freshman
right fielder Willie Argo homered in his three official at-bats,
scored four times and drove in five, but it wasn't enough
as Illinois (6-2) fell to No. 1 LSU (10-1), 22-10. After holding
the Tigers to only one run in last night's victory, Illinois
couldn't keep the Bayou bats at bay in a game that featured
3 grand slams, 11 pitchers, 32 runs and 32 hits combined.
"Willie had a tremendous day," head coach Dan Hartleb said. "I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone start off their college career like that. He's a great athlete and swings the bat well, so I'm looking forward to seeing him in the lineup more often. It was fun to watch."
Former Hitmen Players Receives Special
Recognition
Keelan Prince, a former Quad City Hitmen
player who recently completed his Sophomore year at Alleman
High School, has been recognized by Prep Baseball Report as
the State's 9th best prospect, and it's 4th best Pitcher.
Congratulations Keelan!
Also, Nathan
Gray, currently a sophomore at Rock Island High
School and another former Hitmen player, is the 2nd rated
outfielder and 18th rated prospect overall for class of 2011.
Keep up the good work Nathan!
Wilton Captures 2005 Iowa 2A State Title!
Pictured below are (former Hitmen players) Jeremy Weih, Wes
Freie & Eric
Holmes, all members of the 2005 Wilton Beavers who won the
Class 2A Iowa State Baseball
Championship, being the first team since 1973 to finish the
season undefeated, going 42-0.
"It certainly pays to play Hitmen baseball. When parents ask if the
travel, time & money
are worth it, all you have to do is look at the photo."
A former Hitmen Parent
Hitmen Grads Make Their Mark
The Quad City Hitmen have enjoyed a very prosperous 2005 season. This is true not only of their current teams but it has also been a banner year for former Hitmen players. Three former players were named All-State players by the Illinois baseball coaches. For Cody
Adams, Jeremy Hauer and Tyson Blaser their award winning years started by being elected into the Quad
City Hitmen Hall of Fame. They capped their season by being named All-State. The former Hitmen accomplishments continued as Hall of Fame member Wes
Freie led his Wilton high school team to the Iowa State Championship. Wes captured the win in both the Semi-Final game and Championship game! He finished the year undefeated on the mound!
In Illinois, Hitmen players dominated area action and All-Star
teams. In the Illinois High School playoffs, four of the
top seeded teams (Alleman, Rockridge, Sherrard and Orion) had a total of
23 former Hitmen
players on their teams! In the sectional final, Sherrard
and Alleman squared off with 12 former Hitmen players in their starting
lineups! As for post-season
All-Star teams, the media honored two former Hitmen players; Cody
Adams was selected the Area Player Of The Year, and Jeremy
Hauer was selected the Metro Player Of The Year. The All-Star Teams
were full of Hitmen players as well! The area team had fifteen
former players and the metro had twelve. Despite theories that state otherwise,
Hitmen
players received all star accolades from every Quad City
high school. Moline, UTHS, Alleman and Rock Island were all represented
on the All-Metro Team
by former Hitmen, as were Sherrard, Orion, Rockridge and
Aledo on the All Area Team! Congratulations to all the former Hitmen players.
We wish you
continued success and thank you for the examples you set
for our current players to aspire to!
Excerpts From Our Local Media
Thursday, May 6, 2004 - The Rock Island Argus:
From Sherrard High School Coach Neal Gauley, regarding Pacesetter
Cody Adams, pitcher/shortstop for SHS:
"Cody's the real deal. Anybody who's seen him
knows that. He's an ex-Hitmen (Quad City Hitmen youth baseball)
player, he's played a lot of baseball, and he's going to own most every
record by the time he leaves Sherrard."
Thursday, May 13, 2004 - The Rock Island Argus:
From Rockridge High School Coach Glen Cook, regarding Pacesetter
Ryan Murdock, shortstop for RHS:
"Ryan's not someone who catches your eye
unless you're really watching the game. Then he's fun to watch.
He came through the Quad City Hitmen program
and he knows how to play. He's always in the right position...you
never have to worry about anything with Ryan..."
(Tragically, Ryan Murdock passed away in the summer of 2005. The Hitmen organization would like to extend their condolences to the Murdock family.)
Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - The Rock Island Argus:
From Pacesetter article by Terry Duckett on Jeff Gauley, Senior baseball standout for Sherrard High School:
"Gauley tops many Tiger offensive categories, including his 15 hits and .417
average. He has 10 stolen bases in 11 attempts, another team best, and his 14 RBIs, 11 runs and .583
slugging percentage are also team highs."
When asked who his role model would be, Jeff responded, "Me and Tyson Blaser have been friends since we were
little kids, we played together on the Quad City Hitmen, and I strive to be as good as him. I don't know
if I'd say he's a role model; it's more of a competitive thing."
During my five years as a manager for the Quad City Hitmen, I have seen a lot of great players come through this organization. I've seen a lot of great games and great kids who pour their souls into the game of baseball.
 Recently
a fan of the Hitmen asked me, "How do you guys do it over
there?" Meaning, produce such great quality baseball players
and prepare them so well for high school. After sitting and
thinking about it for a few moments I couldn't really answer
it; maybe it's the dream of the late Brian
Rangel - who knows?
But when you look at the quality of players that have come
through this organization over the years and what they are
doing at the high school level, it is unbelievable.
From my memory, a few years ago in Kansas City I witnessed on of the best 14&U baseball games I've ever seen between the Hitmen and team called the White Sox from Kansas. That night I witnessed something special and it made me realize why my son plays here. I also knew when I got in my car to go back to the hotel that I'd just watched a special group of players.
 That
group was one of the best teams to pass through this long-standing
organization. Those boys are all juniors now: Cody Adams,
Jeremy Hauer, Wes Freie and Torry Leffel to name a few. Adams
is playing high school baseball for the Sherrard Tigers and
was most recently named Pacesetter of the Week. In that article
it listed the great schools that are vying for Adams' services:
Stanford, Southern Illinois and Illinois to name a few. Hauer,
who attends Alleman High School, was named All Western Big
Six as a sophomore. Wes Freie is turning heads all over the
nation - Notre Dame, Iowa and Stanford to his credit. Freie
is listed as one of the nation's top prospects, not only in
Iowa but the country. Leffel was the catcher for that group
and he also attends Sherrard High School. He just so happens
to lead the Tigers in batting with a .421 average.
Looking at the current group of freshman that played Hitmen baseball, two are starters on Alleman's Sophomore team and are two of the top pitchers for the Pioneers: Tanner Holgate and Caleb Rangel. Manager Andy Gray said, "You sure can tell those kids played Hitmen baseball." Holgate currently leads his team in batting as a freshman.
 This
year (2004) the Hitmen also have a nice group of 14&U year
olds that I've had the pleasure to see play many times and
they too have a group of players that high school coaches
are drooling over: Cal DePorter, Elliott Kelso, Jake Kent,
Ryan Duyck, Brandon VanBlaricome and Willie Argo are a few
that come to mind. Look for all those kids to keep the Hitmen
name going strong as they enter high school next year. You
can bet we will read about those kids in our local paper for
excelling at their prospective schools. This group has been
battle-tested and won many wars, which is one of the many
things high school coaches love about Hitmen players.
Please forgive me if I've left off a few names, but sometimes we wonder why do we do this for our kids. I hope after reading this that coaches, managers and board members remember - the players are why we are here.
Kedric Prince
12 Year Old Hitmen Manager (2004)
Quad City
Hitmen Hall of Fame Page
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