The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

Whiting, Ind. – June 13, 2017 – Just one year after becoming the first former Northwest Indiana Oilmen player to be selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, Munster High School and Indiana University product Craig Dedelow took it a giant step further.

Dedelow was picked in the ninth round of the 2017 MLB Draft on Tuesday following his senior season with the Hoosiers. He was previously selected in the 34th round by the Pirates last June and elected to return to Bloomington for his final collegiate campaign.

Dedelow played for the Oilmen in 2014 and led the team in batting average at .319 and RBIs with 24. His summer as a Midwest Collegiate League All-Star was part of his transformation from a college walk-on to a Day 2 MLB Draft selection.

“I remember it being a nice facility and nice everything,” Dedelow said when asked about his experience with the Oilmen in an interview last summer. “The people and the management really tried to do all they could for the players and the coaching staff was all about getting us better.”

A member of that coaching staff was Adam Enright, then an assistant coach and now in his third season as the manager of the Oilmen.

“Craig was a guy who had a really good attitude and a good work ethic,” Enright said in an interview last summer. “He worked really hard, but didn’t take bad at-bats into the next at-bat or on defense. He was good in the outfield, even if he didn’t have any hits that day. He was a guy with good tools.”

This spring at Indiana, Dedelow hit 19 home runs, second in the Big Ten and tied for 16th nationally. That home run total placed him in a deadlock for fifth on Indiana’s all-time single-season home run list. He drove in 54 runs this year, fifth in the Big Ten. Dedelow finished his Hoosier career as a .289 hitter with 224 hits, 43 doubles, 31 home runs and 135 RBIs.

Dedelow and Enrique Zamora (2016 Dodgers) are the two former Oilmen who have gone on to be selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft after their time with the club. The Oilmen have also had three players who played for the team after being drafted out of high school – Brandon Murray, Larry Crisler and Marshawn Taylor.

Numerous other Oilmen have gone on to play professionally in both independent and affiliated ball. In addition, the Midwest Collegiate League has had great success in aiding the development of the game’s rising stars. Former Southland Viking Corey Ray was selected No. 5 overall by the Brewers in 2016. Two former MCL players have gone on to reach the big leagues – Tony Cingrani (Cincinnati Reds) and Paul DeJong, who made his Major League debut with the Cardinals this season.

To view Dedelow's stats from the 2014 season with the Oilmen, click on "Download Attachment"