Normal Cornbelters – There's No Place Like Home

KCL Weekly Update 5: Standings Hold Same Entering Longest Break of Season

June 30, 2022

Standings 1. Ground Sloths (13-7, – GB); Week: 3-1, W3 Schedule: 4-9 L vs Bobcats, 5-0 W vs Merchants, 8-4 W vs BlueCaps, 10-6 W vs Bobcats Description: Another strong week for the Ground Sloths as they extend their lead on the second-place Merchants to two games. The week started rough with a 9-4 loss…

KCL Weekly Update 4: Ground Sloths Lead at Season Midpoint

June 22, 2022

Standings 1. Ground Sloths (10-6, – GB); Week: 3-2, W1 Description: The Ground Sloths have continued to ride their hot streak straight up to number one in the standings after a 3-2 week. The Ground Sloths took over the number one spot from the Merchants on Wednesday after beating the Merchants 4-2 and then beat…

KCL Weekly Update 3: Merchants Slide, Ground Sloths Surge, Leading to Tie at the Top

June 14, 2022

Standings 1. Merchants (7-4, – GB); Week: 0-3, L3; Tiebreaker: 2-1 vs. Ground Sloths Description: After a hot start, jumping out to 7-1 throughout the first few weeks of the season, they have hit a rough patch, going 0-3 with a blowout loss to the Ground Sloths, shootout loss to the Bobcats, and then a…

Creation of the FPCT+ Statistic

June 8, 2022

Author: Cade Nelson, Exercise Science Major at University of Kansas, Normal Cornbelters Baseball Analytics Intern What is FPCT+? Fielding Percentage Plus (FPCT+) is inspired by stats like OPS+ and ERA+, which takes the player’s ERA or OPS and normalizes and compares it to the entire league. For example, the average FPCT+ is 100, and an…

KCL Weekly Update #2: Merchants Remain Top Team, but Bobcats’ Rasmussen Tops League

June 6, 2022

Standings 1. Merchants (7-1, – GB); Week: 4-0, W4 Description: The Merchants have not looked back since a heartbreaking walk-off 4-3 loss to the BlueCaps on Friday, May 26, the only time this season they scored less than 4 runs. Since then, the Merchants have won six straight, sweeping two rotations through the rest of…

KCL Weekly Update #1: Opening Weekend Complete

May 31, 2022

Standings 1. Merchants (3-1, – GB); Tiebreaker: 1-0 vs. Ground Sloths Description: The Merchants have found a way to win in almost every game in their first week of play with three come-from-behind wins. Their offense is undoubtedly the best in the league, having two players in the top 5 in OPS, RBIs, and SLG.;…

KCL Weekly Update #0: Season Preview

May 26, 2022

Power Rankings 1. Merchants (New Team), 23 Points Description: The Merchants seem to be set up to perform very well in their first year in the KCL. They have the most experienced pitching staff, averaging 28.14 college innings pitched per pitcher this season (which excludes players coming out of high school). While nobody jumps off…

Education Day Returns to the Corn Crib

May 6, 2022

By Hunter Dysert, Dolapo Oyenuga, Federico Guardigli The Corn Crib wrapped up a successful education day on Tuesday, May 3rd. For the first time since 2019, Education Day was brought back and it was well worth the wait. Education Day is an event where schools in the community are invited out to the Corn Crib…

The First Bushel of 2022 Theme Nights

May 6, 2022

By Nigel Walton and Marcus Thomas The Corn Crib is excited for the first pitch this season. With the season around the corner we are excited to provide more details about our first seven theme nights. The first seven theme nights will begin on May 27 with Find Bigfoot Night. The first theme night we…

2022 CornBelters Coaching Staff Named

March 8, 2022

Andy Turner and Chris Hawkins hired in Normal The Normal CornBelters are excited to announce Andy Turner as the Field Manager and Chris Hawkins as the Assistant Field Manager and Bench Coach for the 2022 season. Andy Turner has helped develop high school athletic programs since 1999 as the athletic director at Maine South High…