Chicago North MSBL Inducted into Skyway Conference Sports Hall of Fame

Submitted by Max Reising, League President Chicago North MSBL

Last week the Chicago North MSBL was inducted into the Skyway Conference Sports Hall of Fame in the “Friends of” category for our 25 year relationship with Oakton College in Des Plains, Illinois. This was for our contributions to academic scholarship, their athletic department, their baseball team and maintenance of the baseball facilities. Oakton has been a member of the conference since the late 1960s and there are only 77 inductees to the Hall of Fame.

On a side note, the Oakton Owls recently won the DIII NJCAA World Series in Greeneville, Tennessee earlier this month. They defeated Tyler, Texas, which had won the last four years. It was Oakton’s first National Championship. Oakton head coach Bill Fratto, an alum and former University of Georgia pitcher, was a CNMSBL former member and still umpires for the league. He was an assistant coach for Oakton and replaced Mike Pinto, founder of the CNMSBL, as head coach. His head assistant coach John Guarnaccia was on the CNSMBL Bluejays, one of my teams, and also played for me in Arizona at the MSBL World Series many times with my Cub teams. He was a nine year career minor leaguer spending the better part of seven years in the Phillies organization and two with the Reds.

Oakton coach Mickey Scala has played for Larry Kolcz’s Ravens teams in the MSBL Chicago Midwest Suburban League and was a two time invitee to the Pittsburgh Pirates spring training camps. Also on the Oakton Owls coaching staff were two former players from our 2012 teams, one who was drafted by the Giants after he played two years at West Virginia and then played two years in the Giants organization. Our pitching coach currently is in the starting rotation for the Gary Steelcats and last but not least I recently finished my tenth year as an Oakton volunteer coach with bench and bullpen duties, as well as batting practice pitcher.