Crestwood, IL – The Windy City ThunderBolts professional baseball team, 2007 and 2008 Frontier League Champions, is proud to announce that left-handed pitcher Isaac Hess has been named to Baseball America’s Top 10 Prospect List for Independent Baseball players. Hess is the lone Frontier League representative on the 2008 list.
Isaac Hess recently completed his second season in Windy City with a 7-6 record and 3.91 ERA, striking out 110 batters in 89.2 innings. His strikeouts and batting average against (.217) both ranked second on the Windy City staff. Hess helped lead the ThunderBolts back into the playoffs when he held the opposition to four earned runs over four starts (30.2 innings) in August, including the first no-hitter in team history over the Midwest Sliders on August 5.
Hess completed his rookie season of 2007 with a 10-2 record, one save, and a 3.28 ERA, striking out 60 batters in 57.2 innings over 32 appearances. Hess pitched a scoreless inning in the Frontier League All-Star Game and was the MVP of the Frontier League Championship Series. Hess appeared in four of the five Championship Series games in 2007, holding the Washington Wild Things scoreless in each outing.
“Isaac was a tremendous boost to our pitching staff down the stretch and has evolved to one of the top pitchers in the Frontier League,” commented ThunderBolts field manager Mike Kashirsky. “We received several inquiries from Major League Baseball teams on Isaac, and believe that he can continue his success at the next level.”
