Baseball professionals

Major League Pitchers
Pitcher	High School	Years	W	L	S	G	IP	BB	So	ERA
Hal Carlson	Rockford	1917-30	114	120	19	377	2,002	498	590	3.97
Rodney Myers	East	1996-04	7	5	1	167	239.2	110	161	5.07
Jason Pearson	Freeport	2002-03	0	0	0	4	2.2	3	4	23.63

Major League Hitters
Player	High School	Years	G	AB	H	HR	RBI	SB	AVG.	SLG.
Fred Schulte*	Belvidere	1927-37	1,179	4,259	1,241	47	593	56	.291	.408
Jake Smolinski	Boylan	2014-18	234	608	143	16	67	3	.235	.363
* Belvidere didn't have a baseball program when Schulte went to high school. Also, the Bucs didn't join the Big 8/NIC-10 until the 1960s.

Minor League Pitchers
Player	High School	Years	W	L	S	G	IP	So	ERA	Highest Level
Don Bakkelund	Rockford	1939-48	65	65		185	1,128		3.58	AAA
Hal Carlson	Rockford	1914-30	64	50		130	966		2.95	Majors
Drew Dickinson	Freeport	2002-08	42	51	0	142	739.2	398	4.92	AA
William Estes	Boylan	1973-74	9	14	3	53	184	139	3.57	A
Tom Foust	Harlem	1967-71	12	25	2	69	238	156	3.82	A
Craig Hopson	Boylan	1997-98	5	6	0	44	64	50	7.59	Rookie
Jake Lanning	Hononegah	2016-17	4	9	9	50	105.2	78	5.45	Independent
Chris Luttig	Hononegah	1997-98	3	5	7	54	73.2	80	3.79	A
Craig Mattson	Belvidere	1993-03	26	28	37	292	386.1	290	4.33	AAA (Mexico)
Rodney Myers	East	1990-05	74	58	30	364	1,038	739	3.56	Majors
Jason Pearson	Freeport	1998-10	40	33	25	458	677.2	546	3.19	Majors
William Reinold*	St. Thomas	1939	6	13	0	32	212		5.77	D
Drake Robison	Harlem	2017	2	2	0	8	27	21	7.00	Independent
Chris Salberg	Guilford	2007-11	27	21	0	108	451.1	339	4.49	A
Brett Scarpetta	Hononegah	2008-12	31	18	1	80	431	263	4.16	Independent
Cody Scarpetta	Guilford	2008-16	32	53	0	156	659.1	664	4.38	AA
Dan Scarpetta	Auburn	1982-89	69	53	0	181	945.1	680	4.29	AAA
Dennis Scarpetta	Auburn	1982-83	4	3	0	22	96	64	6.09	A
Lucas Shearrow	Boylan	2014-16	5	5	2	36	98	74	3.58	Rookie
Tyler Statler	Hononegah	2019	0	2	0	10	10.2	12	5.91	Rookie
Mark Tunison	East	1984-86	14	21	2	74	298.2	186	4.58	A
Ziggie VanderWall	Guilford	2012	7	6	0	18	87	65	5.69	Independent
Matt Vorwald	Freeport	2001-03	14	5	10	84	127.1	150	2.26	A
Matt Weber	Boylan	2003-06	14	19	2	67	299.2	177	4.47	A
Nick Zachery	Boylan	1998	0	0	0	1	0.2	0	0.00	Rookie

Minor League Hitters
Player	High School	Years	G	AB	H	HR	RBI	SB	Avg.	Highest Level
Vic Anucauskas	East	1942	18	60	9	0			.150	D
Daytona Bryden	Hononegah	2019	15	38	6	0	5	1	.158	Independent
Frank DeCastris*	St. Thomas	1961-73	1,290	4,401	1,056	89	467	83	.240	AAA
Gabe DeMarco	Boylan	2010-13	69	192	52	0	20	1	.271	Independent
George Feeley	West	1971-72	94	297	58	3	40	10	.195	Rookie
Josh Hauser	Belvidere	2017-18	89	220	41	0	14	4	.186	Independent
Jake Lanning	Hononegah	2015	40	132	36	0	16	0	.273	Rookie
Gerry Lundin	West	1971-73	184	602	154	15	84	16	.256	AA
Dwain Mintz	West	1947-50	118	382	91	3			.238	D
Joe Saporito	St. Thomas	1937-40	246	921	270	12			.293	B
Fred Schulte	Belvidere	1924-44	589	2,105	671	35			.319	Majors
Nick Shields	Harlem	2002-03	68	212	56	3	25	2	.264	A
Turk Skurski	Rockford	1936-54	1,371	4,609	1,297	107			.281	AAA
Jake Smolinski	Boylan	2007-19	1,011	3,632	954	99	466	77	.263	Majors
Zach Stoner	Boylan	2012-15	97	303	67	3	21	1	.221	Rookie
* St. Thomas was closed when Boylan opened.

NIC-10 Olympians

Kenny Gould, Auburn
Games	Age	City	Sport	Event	Rank	Medal
1988 Summer	21	Seoul	Boxing	Men’s Welterweight	3 (tied)	Bronze

 

Carl Cain, Freeport
Games	Age	City	Sport	Event	Rank	Medal
1956 Summer	22	Melbourne	Basketball	Men’s Basketball	1	Gold

 

Janet Lynn, Guilford
Games	Age	City	Sport	Event	Rank	Medal
1968 Winter	14	Grenoble	Figure Skating	Women’s Singles	9
1972 Winter	18	Sapporo	Figure Skating	Women’s Singles	3	Bronze

 

Jenny Spangler, Guilford
Games	Age	City	Sport	Event	Rank	Medal
1996 Summer	33	Atlanta	Running	Women’s marathon	DNF

 

Bob Packard, Rockford
Games	Age	City	Sport	Event	Rank	Medal
1936 Summer	20	Berlin	Track	Men’s 200 meters	Semi-finals

 

Ron Merriott, West
Games	Age	City	Sport	Event	Rank	Medal
1984 Summer	24	Los Angeles	Diving	Men’s Springboard	3	Bronze

 

Soccer professionals

MLS statistics
Player	High school	Years	G	Goals	Asts.	Shots	Teams
Peri Marosevic	Guilford	2009-11	11	2	0	13	Toronto/Dallas
R.T. Moore	Boylan	1998-99	19	0	0	7	Tampa Bay
Bryan Namoff	Boylan	2001-10	195	4	16	56	D.C. United
Brad Ring	Guilford	2010-13	38	0	1	3	Portland/San Jose
Justin Sells	Hononegah	1998					San Jose

 

International statistics
Player	High school	Years	G	Goals	Asts.	Shots	Teams
Tara Hurless	Boylan	2006					AIK (Sweden)

 

 

Boxing/MMA

Professional boxers
Name	High School	Years Pro	W	L	D	KO
Patrick Coleman	East	1990-2010	29	17	0	20
Kenny Gould	Auburn	1988-1993	26	2	0	15
Talmadge Griffis	Boylan	1998-2008	24	8	3	16
Antwon Leach	Auburn	1994-2000	11	0	3	7
Sammy Mandell	Rockford	1919-1934	88	22	10	32
Joe Mandell	Rockford	1919-1932	3	10	0	2
Tony Mandell	Rockford	1929-1937	14	6	0	4
Gerald McClellan	Freeport	1988-1995	31	3	0	29
Bob Sandberg	Rockford	1947-1951	38	4	2	18
Earl Suddeth	Rockford	1950-1951	4	3	0	2
Skylar Thompson	Guilford	2005-2015	12	16	0	10

·         Gould was IBO World Welterweight Champion in 1993.

·         Sammy Mandell was World Lightweight Champion from 1926-1929.

·         McClellan was WBO, WBC World Middleweight Champion from 1991-1995.

Professional MMA
Name	High School	Years Pro	W	L	D	KO
Corey Anderson	Hononegah	2013-2018	10	4	0	4
Dan Hart	Hononegah	2001-2010	9	9	0	5
Justin Wieman	Hononegah	2000-2008	19	9	0	14

 

Other professional boxers
Name	High School	Years Pro	W	L	D	KO
Billy Celebron	Rockford?	1933-1939	51	10	1	26
Tony Capone	Freeport?	1939-1943	12	5	5	2
Joey Mandell	Rockford?	1934-1946	14	4	1	4

Note: It is likely there have been other Rockford-area professional boxers or mixed martial artists. If you know of people who should be on this list, email Alex Gary at alexgary87@gmail.com

The list of “Other professional boxers” includes those who were identified as Rockford residents by www.boxrec.com, but I have been unable yet to figure out if they went to high school at a NIC-10 school.

“Bad” Brad Hefton of Rockford was a kickboxing champion. I haven’t been able to find his record or what school he graduated from.