Prospect product Butkus makes Div. I grade

There were no major college offers for Andrew Butkus as a senior at Prospect.

So Butkus hoped the successful Oakton College baseball program would be a bridge to something bigger.

Butkus received his wish Monday when the catcher made a verbal commitment to play Division I baseball at Western Michigan.

"The main reason I went to Oakton was to get something better," Butkus said.

Butkus said he got some light Division I interest during a season where he hit .343 with 21 RBI overall and .503 in the Skyway Conference en route to first-team all-conference honors.

Western Michigan entered the picture late in the season and Butkus took his campus visit this weekend.

Butkus said he has a chance to at least split time and possibly do the bulk of the catching since returnee Kevan Hess is coming off arm surgery.

"It's a good program and a winning program," Butkus said of the Mid-American Conference school that was 29-23 this season. "I really liked the facilities."

After helping Prospect reach the Class AA sectional final as a senior, Butkus hit .402 as and was a second-team all-Skyway pick as a freshman at Oakton. Butkus said his hitting was where he made his biggest strides.

"When I came to Oakton I knew the competition would be pretty good," Butkus said of playing schools such as Elgin and Florida powers Miami-Dade and Broward County. "The competition really got me ready and really got me thinking I could play with these kids."

Butkus only had 4 errors and threw out 39 percent of attempted basestealers. But the Oakton captain also played another vital role.

Early in the season, the NJCAA put Oakton on probation because of a clerical error regarding the eligibility of a couple of players. The sanctions included a ban on playing in the postseason.

"It was one of the toughest situations I've ever had to go through," Butkus said. "I'm a team-oriented guy and a team captain and I tried to keep people motivated. It definitely wasn't easy."

But Butkus succeeded as Oakton finished 28-23.

"Andrew kind of took charge and kept things going and we won 15 of 18 after the ruling," said Oakton coach Bill Fratto. "That showed the character of our team and Andrew played a big part in that.

"I said (to Western Michigan coach Randy Ford) you're getting a player who showed a lot of leadership and does a great job behind the plate."

And patience paid off for Butkus, who had a 3.33 grade-point average at Oakton and plans to study business at Western Michigan.

"I could have gone to a Division II out of high school but I figured if I waited I might find something," Butkus said. "It turned out I did. That was nice."

Butkus' former Oakton and Prospect teammate, pitcher Vince Saisi, is headed to Division II University of Indianapolis. Saisi went 6-2 with 51 strikeouts in 54½ innings.

Wheeling graduate and catcher-infielder-pitcher John Leu is headed to North Central College. Fratto also expects former Prospect pitcher Brian Lattner to continue playing at a four-year school.

Mueller MVP at Harper: Harper College second baseman-shortstop Jon Mueller was voted team MVP after hitting a team-high .416. Mueller started on Elk Grove's Class AA Elite Eight qualifier in 2006.