MARIST GRADUATE J.T. RESTKO SIGNS WITH THUNDERBOLTS
Crestwood, IL – The Windy City ThunderBolts professional baseball team, 2007 and 2008 Frontier League Champions, have announced the signing of first baseman/outfielder J.T. Restko for the 2009 season. J.T. is a graduate of Marist High School, from where he was an All-State selection and 10th round draft pick of the Florida Marlins in 2003.
J.T. spent five seasons in the Marlins organization before being traded to the Texas Rangers prior to the 2008 season. J.T. opened last year with the Bakersfield Blaze of the California League, hitting .293 with 10 doubles, five home runs, and 25 RBI in 38 games. He was then promoted to the Rangers’ double-A affiliate, the Frisco Roughriders of the Texas League, where he hit .193 with one home run in 27 games.
J.T.’s best season came in 2005 with the Greensboro Grasshoppers, when he finished fifth in the South Atlantic League with a .313 batting average to go along with 22 doubles, 15 home runs, and 70 RBI. Over his six minor league seasons, J.T. has a .266 batting average with 81 doubles, 44 home runs, and 243 RBI in 502 games.
“Adding J.T. is a huge boost to our offense for this season,” commented ThunderBolts’ general manager Steve Tahsler. “We knew that replacing the reigning Frontier League Most Valuable Player in Phil Hawke would be tough and feel that J.T. can bring the same punch to the lineup that Phil did.”
In other moves, the ThunderBolts announced that catcher Justin Tellam has been traded to the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association for a player to be named later and infielder Patrick Brooks has been released.
The Windy City ThunderBolts open the 2009 season on Thursday, May 21 at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood. For more information, please visit us online at www.wcthunderbolts.com or contact the ThunderBolts at 708-489-BALL or [email protected]