Huntley on deck for new ballclub?

After a plan that would have brought minor league baseball to Crystal Lake struck out last week, Huntley officials are hoping the proposal's next at bat will be in the village.

The village of Huntley has contacted the Frontier League, the minor-league baseball group that partnered with McHenry Community College, to express interest in serving as the home of a new ball club.

"By no means do we want to take it away (from Crystal Lake) … but if something didn't work out, Huntley would be interested in talking and seeing what comes up," Huntley Village President Chuck Sass said.

There has also been speculation that Algonquin and Carpentersville are on the list of possible sites for a new stadium, but officials from both villages denied those rumors Tuesday.

"We're not considering hosting a minor-league team at this point," Algonquin's assistant village manager, Jeff Mihelich, said. That' s "not to say we may not consider it in the future."

Last week, a plan that would house a new minor-league team in a baseball stadium at McHenry Community College did not muster enough votes to win the Crystal Lake City Council's approval.

While the MCC plan is not dead yet, Huntley officials will pitch the village to the Frontier League on Friday at a meeting with league representatives.

"Huntley's a great location," Village Manager Carl Tomaso said. "We're located right off the tollway."

Sass said the village also has plenty of vacant land, including parcels north of Huntley High School and plots north and south of the Northwest Tollway, that could house a new baseball stadium.

Building a stadium in Huntley would offer at least one benefit over Crystal Lake: The village is not bound by the same guidelines that Crystal Lake put in place to protect its watershed.

As far as the other concerns -- viability, financing, traffic, noise -- village officials say it's too early to weigh these.

"It's just very premature at this point at time," Tomaso said. "Let's get to step one. Are they interested in Huntley?"

This is not the first time Huntley has tried to woo minor-league baseball. Several years ago, the village was in discussions with another league, but the plans fell through.

"From their end it didn't work out -- the timing, the logistics, the availability of land," Tomaso said.