Will County CrackerJacks Will Play Home Games in Romeoville

The Will County CrackerJacks collegiate baseball team will kick off its second season right here in Romeoville after landing a deal to make ’s Brennan Field its home base.

General Manager Jamie Toole said the team has entered into a rental agreement to play its 23 home games at Lewis, beginning on Friday, June 15.

“We actually wanted to play [at Lewis] last season,” Toole said. But because the team got off to a late start for its inaugural season, the field was already booked for the summer.

"As a resource to the region, Lewis University is proud to open our facilities to various organizations. Our latest addition is the rental of Brennan Baseball Field to the Will County CrackerJacks for the summer of 2012," Lewis Media Relations Director Kathrynne Skonicki said via email.

The team is part of the three-year-old Midwest Collegiate League, a wooden-bat league open to Division I players from around the country. Toole said the league hopes to help standout college players make the move into the major league.

“It’s kind of like minor-league baseball with college students,” he said, adding the league gives recruiters the chance to see players in a pro setting. “Most of the spring leagues use aluminum bats. The scouts like to see them in a true professional environment — so when you hear the crack of the bat, it’s just like a minor-league game.”

This June, the CrackerJacks will make the move to Lewis from their previous home at Joliet Junior College, where a new team will take their place.

“The league itself has grown,” expanding from four to eight teams, Toole said.

“The Romeoville area was exciting for us, because it puts us in the northern part of Will County,” Toole added. “It's such a unique setting for summer college baseball ... and Romeoville is certainly a community that embraces things like this.”

Fans don’t have to wait until summer to learn more about the CrackerJacks or the Midwest Collegiate League. The team will host its annual at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 16 at Plainfield Village Hall, 24401 W. Lockport St. The keynote speaker will be Chicago Cubs broadcaster Pat Hughes.

The league is also looking for families to host some of its players.

“Since we recruit players from all over the country, we’re looking for host families,” Toole said. This year’s CrackJacks roster includes players from as far away as Hawaii, Alabama and New York, as well as home-grown talent.

For information on becoming a host family, call 815-704-BALL (2255).

This year’s schedule will be released on Feb. 13. For games and ticket information, visit www.crackerjacksbaseball.com.

A professional sports venue?

The CrackerJacks may not be the only Chicago-area team to rent space at the Romeoville university.

once its contract with Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais expires. That’s scheduled to happen in 2013.

Lewis University officials have been mum on possible plans to bring the Bears to Romeoville, repeatedly declining to comment on reports that a $20 million professional athletic complex is in the works.