These 3 Rockford-area baseball players have raised their profile by starring this summer

Caden Considine is known mostly for football. He was the leading rusher and tackler this fall on a Byron team that was the most dominant state champion in Illinois history. He would like to play in college, like his Super Bowl champion dad did at Iowa.

But, like his uncle, who played college baseball at Iowa, Caden has other options.

“I am getting more recruited for football, but I want to keep baseball in my back pocket and see where it takes me,” said Considine, who has over 2,000 yards rushing after his sophomore year. “I am going to keep working hard and see what doors open. I’ll see where the winds take me.”

The winds have taken Considine to Atlanta and all around the Midwest. He has been one of the three biggest summer stars for Rockford-area baseball players this season. Here is a look at each of the three:

Caden Considine, Byron junior

Considine was a starting infielder the past two years on a Byron team that won sectionals his freshman year and the Big Northern title this spring. This summer, he is playing centerfield for the GRB Rays Green out of Madison, Wisconsin. He bats second and is hitting over .350 when he can play, but has missed some games because of commitments for football and basketball — he also played on Byron’s third-place state basketball team.

“It was cool going down to Atlanta; the competition down there is crazy,” Considine said of GRB’s most recent tournament. “You are seeing NCAA Division I pitchers every other game with velocity you have never seen before.

“This is getting me better for this high school season by leaps and bounds. We are playing in front of a lot of college coaches, too. They all basically come to watch our shortstop (Cottage Grove, Wisconsin’s Calvin Moreau), but I get my shot in front of them, too. It’s awesome to be able to play in front of all of those eyes.”

Jackson Heidemann, Harlem

Heidemann and Considine play together as the only Rockford-area players on the GRB Rays Green. Heidemann has been playing with them since he joined their 13-14-under team while Considine started last year on the 15-U team.

“It’s an hour to an hour and a half drive for us,” Heidemann said. “We have built a strong bond through baseball, traveling to these tournaments.”

They have played 25 games so far, playing in Iowa, Indianapolis, Kenosha and Joliet as well as Atlanta. They still have 10 to 12 games left to play in two final tournaments. Heidemann, a first-team all-NIC-10 pitcher as a sophomore right-hander this spring, has a 0.25 ERA with 28 strikeouts, seven walks and only seven hits allowed in 26 innings pitched. In his last game, he gave up one hit in the final inning to keep him from a perfect game in a 9-0, five-inning win in Atlanta to help GRB go 4-2 in the Atlanta tournament.

“Going from high school to travel ball, I thought I would be hit a little bit more, but I have started to pitch better,” Heidemann said. “Every time I pitch good, I think about next year and how good our Harlem team could be.”

Heidemann threw the first full seven-inning perfect game in Harlem history this year. He also had another perfect game in one shortened to five innings by the 10-run rule. He also held Freeport, which finished third in the NIC-10, to two hits in 6 ⅓ shut-out innings.

“Starting this year, I got a lot more focused on the mound,” Heidemann said. “And when my defense plays well, it is easier to throw. That plays a big part in it. But I have also had a lot more focus on the mound.

“Playing all this competition from everywhere and getting national exposure gives me more confidence coming back to high school ball.”

Grant Statler, Hononegah

Hoping to dethrone five-time defending NIC-10 baseball champion Hononegah next spring? Good luck. And if you do, plan on winning a low-scoring game.

Hononegah won this year despite Jackson Stahl, the ace of a sectional championship team his freshman season, missing his entire sophomore season after having Tommy John surgery. That also caused Stahl to miss playing with Heidemann and Considine this summer as the only other local player on GRB Academy Green. But when he comes back, Hononegah has another young star to go with him.

Grant Statler, who will be a sophomore next year, was the only local player singled out from the nearly 50 players who attended the Northwest Suburban Summer ID pro-style workouts hosted by the Prep Illinois Baseball staff July 9 at Wintrust Field in Schaumburg.

Statler was clocked with the fifth-fastest fastball (82.3 mph) — the fastest by any left-hander — and had the ninth-best spin rate (2080 rpm). He was also fifth in strike zone rate with his fastball (62 percent). He also ranked fifth in horizontal movement on his curveball and vertical break on his change-up and he ranked No. 1 on throwing his change-up for strikes (80 percent).