It’s not an insult when players on the Windy City ThunderBolts say they want to leave the team as early as possible.
The Frontier League has hundreds of players in their early- to mid-20s itching to join one of the 30 MLB organizations. The Crestwood-based Thunderbolts have two area players who fit that category: former Mount Carmel infielder Tony Livermore and ex-Morton pitcher Dante Maietta.
“The next goal is always to get signed by an affiliated team,” the 24-year-old Livermore said. “I want to see where the game can take me. I know there are leagues everywhere. The goal is to keep moving up in the ladder of the leagues.”
Maietta, 23, is trying to make up for lost time. He felt his recruiting was stalled because his senior year in high school was waxed because of COVID-19.
“I love baseball and I don’t see myself stopping,” Maietta said. “I have a dream and I feel like I’m in a good position to achieve that dream.
“You see stories of guys who grind it out in the minor leagues for 10-plus years and they finally get that call up. I’m not necessarily saying I want that for my career, but I feel I can compete and go on to that next level.”
Livermore played 168 games for Northwestern and is considered an outstanding defensive player.
In 55 games with Schaumburg and Tri-City the past two seasons, he hit .217. But since leaving Schaumburg and joining Windy City in July, Livermore was hitting .348 in his first 30 plate appearances.
The change of scenery helped, but so did sticking to his game plan after working hard in the winter.
“I think it’s just a lot of offseason work and what I have done,” Livermore said. “I’ve changed a few things.
“I got off to a good start in Schaumburg. And I got injured and tried to play through that injury, and it didn’t help me too much.”
But now he is in a groove.
“I’m sticking to what I was doing, and I knew that it was going to come back around,” he said. “So I’m not surprised with the results.”
Despite the ups and downs he’s had in baseball, the former Caravan standout still enjoys the game.
“The game is fun,” he said. “The perspective is different. But it’s still a kid’s game and you have to remind yourself of that sometimes.”
Maietta, who played college baseball at Waubonsee and Clarke, was 1-2 with a 4.37 ERA with 40 walks and 56 strikeouts in his first 59 2/3 innings this season.
He was on the club last year and then-manager Toby Hall told him what pro scouts are looking for.
“He told me I have to cut down on walking guys and getting behind in counts,” Maietta said of Hall. “That’s taking me out of games early.
“But I’m right there. I see light at the end of the tunnel. I know my stuff plays. I have good stuff.”