Butler Set for Summer Season with Oilmen Whiting, Ind. – May 24, 2018 – Upper Iowa University infielder Brenden Butler is poised to spend the summer as part of the middle infield for the Northwest Indiana Oilmen. Butler is a native of Oak Lawn, Ill. and earned all-conference recognition during his tenure at Oak Lawn High School. He’ll use the summer to get as much work in as possible as he furthers his development following his freshman season. “My goal is to get as many at-bats as I can leading up to my sophomore year at Upper Iowa,” he said. “My coach told me the Oilmen would be a good place to play. I’ve heard that the Oilmen are the top dogs in the MCL, so I’m excited to be a part of a solid team in my first year in the league. Butler appeared in 18 games and made 16 starts during his rookie campaign for the Peacocks, a Division II team in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. “My goal is to be a solid player who my coach doesn’t have to think about when he puts my name in the lineup – he just writes my name down and has no worries,” Butler said. “I plan to use the summer to work toward that goal. I’m also working on plate discipline. I want to be able to swing at the right pitches and avoid getting myself in bad counts.” Butler lists his senior season at Oak Lawn as the favorite campaign of his baseball career thus far. “That was my most fun year of baseball,” Butler said. “I don’t remember too many bad things happening; it was a great year for us.” In his spare time, like many college students, Butler enjoys playing fortnight. He’ll give the Oilmen infield another right-handed batter on a team stacked with quality players. The Oilmen countdown to Opening Day is reaching its stretch run as the team get set to visit Crestwood for a 6 p.m. season opener on Monday, May 28. The home opener is slated for Tuesday, June 5 at 7:10 p.m. against the DuPage County Hounds. |