That's three more Division I Stars

The St. Charles North baseball program can officially add three more future Division I players to the list.

Mike Corrigan (St. Louis University) and Jeff Holm (Michigan State University) made school history last year by being the first two D-I signees.

Seniors Jake Thornton, Brian De la Torriente and Sam Weinberg are D-I signees three, four and five in the history of the program.

Thornton is heading to Illinois State while De la Torriente is going to another fellow Missouri Valley Conference school, Northern Iowa. Weinberg almost chose an MVC school, but ended up choosing Western Michigan over the University of Evansville.

"It's a huge, huge thing for the program," St. Charles North coach Todd Genke said. "I'm very fortunate to be around kids with this kind of potential. It speaks volumes for the kind of program we are trying to build here at St. Charles North.

"It's a hard thing to do, to try to get kids to play D-I baseball, more difficult than most sport, simply because of the numbers … but I think we have the program in the right direction. I'm very honored to have these players on our team."

Thornton was one of two juniors last year to make the all-state team. He's a center fielder who played most of last year's postseason injured after taking a line drive to the face in practice. He led the North Stars in batting average (.465), slugging percentage (.636) to go with his 34 runs scored, 12 doubles and 30 stolen bases.

"I'm excited to go (to ISU)," Thornton said. "I like the coaches … the Missouri Valley is a great conference and I'm gong to get the chance to play freshman year. I'm just really excited."

De la Torriente is a pitcher who went 5-1 last year with an ERA of 1.59 in 39 ¿ innings pitched. He gave up 26 hits with 41 strikeouts and 11 walks. Weinberg, a pitcher/outfielder, earned 2 wins and 2 saves in relief work.

So far, five total North Stars know where they are going to college next year. Senior pitcher/outfielder Mike Mastalski is heading to Division III's Carthage College and Danny Jimenez is planning on playing at a junior college, John A. Logan College, in Carterville.

Andrekus to Western Kentucky:ŒThe baseball team isn't the only team at St. Charles North to celebrate future Division-I athletes.

Austin Andrekus, a midfielder on the St. Charles North boys soccer team, is heading to Western Kentucky next year.

The three-year varsity starter, who earned all-Upstate Eight Conference and all-sectional honors, capped his final year with the North Stars with 5 goals and 8 assists. He was a big reason St. Charles North won its fourth consecutive regional title, as he scored 2 goals in regional play.

"It's great for him," St. Charles North coach Eric Willson said. "(Western Kentucky) is an excellent fit for him. I thought he was (a Division-I-caliber player) since I met him."