News

June 30, 2008 - Madison, Wisconsin

Evansville steps into the spotlight
By Brian Carriveau, Home Talent Baseball Blog

About the author: Brian Carriveau is writing a book about the Home Talent League this summer. He can be contacted at carriveau@uwalumni.com

Photo credit Brian Carriveau, Home Talent Baseball Blog

"I'm a promoter," said Jon Frey during the annual Evansville Home Talent League bowling fundraiser back in February. "I have this mindset of promotion and marketing and sales."

Plans were in place, even back then, to have the Evansville Jays take on the Lake Mills Grays at Warner Park following a Madison Mallards game. The time had finally come on Sunday when those plans came to fruition. The Jays beat the Grays 9-0 on one of the nicest ball fields in southern Wisconsin this side of Miller Park.

According to Frey, the game had been a year and a half in the works. He had wanted his team to play there last year, but things just didn't work out. This year, he was prepared to put that P.T. Barnum-esque brain of his to work.

"I want to first promote my community, Evansville" said Frey back in February. "And then I want to promote the Evansville community festival, the Fourth of July. And then I want to promote my team, and then I want promote my league because all these people in Madison are going to be exposed to an amateur league at this game."

His team needs no self-promotion. They've let their actions on the field do the talking this season. As the team's general manager/center fielder, Frey deserves a lot of credit after building this team from scratch.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Frey received a job offer to work in Beloit. With his wife working in Madison, they bought a house about halfway in between, settling in Evansville.

Frey commuted all the way to his hometown, Marshall, to play baseball for several years before attempting to build a franchise in Evansville in 2005. He did all the dirty work including player recruitment, fundraising, and a myriad of other duties it takes to get a team off the ground.

In their first year, the Jays won all of three games. In 2006 and 2007, they improved to win four, but still lost three quarters of their Sunday League schedule.

Finally in 2008, the hard work has started to pay off. The Jays are now in sole possession of first place in the Western division of the Southeastern section of the Home Talent League with a six and one record.
"It's a lot more fun to go out and expect to win instead of, 'How we going to win this one? How are we going to go out and play this one?'" said right fielder Jeremy Rasmussen. "The last couple of years we've gone out, we didn't know which was going to come out. Were we going to make 10 errors or are we going to have 10 hits?"

Surprisingly, it's a lot of the same players on the team back from that inaugural 2005 season when they barely won. Back then, players maybe hadn't played in a long time. With a couple years of practice and seasoning, they're playing some of the best baseball of their careers.

"I think people weren't used to hitting," said shortstop Nick Manion, "so you can tell we're more relaxed hitting. That's what hitting is about, being relaxed. You can tell that people are relaxed and people are throwing strikes. That's a huge thing. Our pitchers are throwing strikes."

With Frey at the helm, the Jays are winning baseball games, and amateur baseball is being promoted to a larger audience. In fact, in just a few weeks, the Home Talent League All-Stars will be playing the U.S. Military All-Stars in the All-American Challenge at Warner Park on Sunday July 13.

The game is part of the Northwoods League All-Star game festivities being hosted by the Mallards. Rasmussen will be Evansville's representative, and he's just glad he's been given that chance thanks to guys like Jon Frey.

"I thank him every day, having the opportunity to come out and keep playing," said Rasmussen. "Otherwise I'd be playing co-ed softball."

Next weekend's Home Talent League road trip: Marshall at Waterloo on Friday for the annual Waterloo Fourth of July Festival.

Evansville watches the Madison Mallards take on the Green Bay Bullfrogs at Warner Park from the vantage of the adjacent practice field bleachers as they wait for the game to end, and they can take the field. Photo credit Brian Carriveau, Home Talent Baseball Blog.

June 20, 2008 - Evansville, Wisconsin

EVANSVILLE COMMUNITY NIGHT AT THE MALLARDS

Sunday, June 29 is Evansville Community Night at the Madison Mallards baseball game at Warner Park in Madison. Evansville residents will receive a discount on game tickets. The Mallards game starts at 3:05 pm. After the Mallards game, the Evansville Jays will play a Home Talent League game against Lake Mills. If you have plans to watch the Mallards play some time this summer and watch your local Evansville Home Talent Team play, here is your chance to watch both teams in action on the same day. It is baseball "the way it ought to be." The Mallards have other promotions in place for this game. The first 500 kids and the first 500 seniors will receive a replica Madison Blues hat. Also, every Sunday this summer, kids 14 and under will receive a free hot dog, pop and a bag of chips.

Sunday, June 29 game tickets are available to purchase from players of the Evansville Jays. For contact information for the Evansville Jays, see www.evansville.hometalent.org or call Jon Frey at 608-575-4359. To purchase discounted tickets on the day of the game residents will need to show a valid driver's license. For more information on the game and tickets, see www.mallardsbaseball.com or call 608-246-4277.

The Madison Mallards are a member of the Northwoods League, a summer collegiate league. The Evansville Jays are a franchised team of the Home Talent Baseball League since 2005. The Home Talent League is an amateur baseball league that started in 1929 that is currently made up of 43 teams in the south-central Wisconsin area.

Coming up in mid-July the Mallards will be hosting the Northwoods League All-Star Game in Madison July 13-14. As part of a full day of celebration on Sunday, July 13, a game will be played between the Home Talent League All-Stars and the U.S. Military All-Stars. The Evansville Jays will be represented by Jeremy Rasmussen of Evansville. Jeremy was voted by his teammates to represent Evansville in this All-Star game. The Northwoods League All-Star game will be Monday, July 14.

May 21, 2008, Evansville - Printed in The Evansville Review.

An All "American" Weekend: Baseball and Hot Dogs
By Tammy T. Pomplun

What could be more All "American" for Memorial Day weekend than hot dogs and baseball? The Andrew Peart American Family Insurance Agency is sponsoring Evansville Jays Home Talent baseball game as they play against Deerfield on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26 at 1 p.m. at the EHS Stan Sperry baseball field. Local Veterans will be providing the color guard and a DJ will be announcing the game. Not only is admission free, but Andy Peart's Agency is providing free hot dogs and soda to the first 500 fans through the gate as well as many free prizes throughout the game. Later, during the seventh inning stretch, a free raffle will be held for a chance to win six Brewers tickets donated by American Family Insurance. (You must be present to win.) "We hope the community comes out to the ball park to enjoy a fun afternoon with family and friends and show their support for our local baseball team," said Andy. "This team has excellent local talent and we're happy to sponsor this event."

Evansville Jays Home Talent Baseball Team
Evansville's Home Talent Team (EHT), part of the Southeast Section of the Home Talent Baseball League (HTL), was revived in 2005, after a hiatus since their last game in 1980. Evansville has had Home Talent Teams dating back to the 1930s. Now, over 20 Evansville men play on our team, providing free entertainment on Sunday afternoons at the High School baseball field and Thursday evenings at Lake Leota/Leonard Park. The team's organizational leadership includes general manager Jon Frey, assistant manager Jeremy Rasmussen, field manager Bob Kurtz and public relations coordinator Davis Pryce.

The team has been practicing indoors since January and had seven scrimmage games before playing their first actual league game of the season. The Evansville Jay's Home Opener was on May 18 against Albion. (See related game report and box score article in this issue of The Evansville Review.) Upcoming games include a game at Stoughton on May 25 and a home game on May 29 against Verona at Lake Leota/Leonard Park starting at 7:30 p.m.

Watch the Jays play at the Evansville Community Night at the Mallards on Sunday, June 29 at Warner Park in Madison following the 3 p.m. Mallards Game. Discounted tickets to the Mallards game are available by contacting any EHT player or Jon Frey at 882-4626, cell 575-4359, or email jonfrey@charter.net.

Here in Evansville, stop by to cheer on the Evansville Jays at Lake Leota/ Leonard Park after the Fourth of July parade for some summer food and baseball. The Jays will host Stoughton with a noon game time start. There will be a DJ announcing the game and color guard will again be provided by local area Veterans. Another event not to be missed is Sunday, July 13 Appreciation Game Day, a day when the Jays thank their sponsors, families and fans for supporting the team in 2008 with a free picnic with the team after the game. Another popular game is Youth Baseball Night. On Thursday, July 17 young kids are invited to enjoy a night at the Lake Leota ball park by obtaining autographs from the Home Talent players, chasing down free foul balls, running the score board, and even playing catch or warming up with the players.

Concessions are available at each of the home games with proceeds going back to the team. Check out the Evansville Jays' website at www.evansville.hometalent.org for a complete schedule, results, sponsor list, roster and great action pictures.

In addition to the community's cheering support, financial support is always welcome to help cover the costs of yearly league fees, umpires, baseballs and other operating expenses. Volunteers are also needed to help operate and manage the concession stand. Contact Jon Frey to volunteer.

The Evansville Jays have been supportive of our community as well. In addition to providing a source of recreation for area men of all ages and free entertainment for the community, the Evansville Jays have donated toward the construction of the outdoor batting cage at EHS and a new commercial quality freezer and refrigerator in the upper ball diamond concession stand at Lake Leota/Leonard Park.

American Family Insurance/Andrew Peart Strong Community Supporters
"Baseball is a great American past time and we're proud to support such a dedicated and talented team," says Andy Peart, who has been Evansville's American Family Insurance Agent in Evansville since taking over the agency from Gene Bass in January 2006. Andy's wife, Heidi, who is also a licensed representative, joins him in the agency. The Pearts are Evansville residents and are raising their three daughters here, Maddie, 14, Lydia, 7, and Claudia, 6.

As a licensed office manager, Abbey (Tomlin) Tway stayed on board with Andy after he took over the business. Abbey has been with American Family Insurance for four years, is a lifelong Evansville resident and was recently wed to Beau Tway.

American Family offers a variety of insurance: auto, home, farm, business, life, health, variable products, as well as annuities.

Stop in to the American Family Insurance office at 150 E. Main Street, Suite 16, and thank our American Family agents for sponsoring our Community Baseball Team, the Evansville Jays, and while you're there, ask Andy about your insurance coverage.

May 14, 2008, Evansville - Printed in The Evansville Review. Article by Jon Frey.

Evansville Home Talent Baseball - 2008 Season Pre-View

The Evansville Home Talent (EHT) baseball team (as known as the "Jays") has been busy organizing and practicing for the upcoming 2008 season. Evansville's own amateur adult baseball team will be competing in the Southeast Section of the Home Talent League (HTL). The 2008 season marks the fourth year of the franchise's existence after rejoining the league in 2005. Prior to 2005, the last year Evansville had a team in the HTL was 1981 with many of those players still in the area and are willing to share their experiences and stories with you.

Spring Training
During the months of January, February and March, the Jays have been practicing indoors playing catch and hitting in batting cages. Once the weather warmed up, practice was moved outside, along with playing practice scrimmage game with other HTL teams. This spring the Jays have played a total of seven scrimmage games before playing a single league game.

Opening Day for the Southeast Section of the HTL was on Sunday, May 4. Evansville was scheduled to play Oregon. Unfortunately, Oregon was unable to organize and/or field a team for the 2008 season, so Evansville received a bye. The Jays played Waunakee in a practice scrimmage game that day. Waunakee also had a bye in the Northern Section of the league.

The Season Starts
Well, not quite yet. Mother Nature had a little something to say about that on Mother's Day. The team was scheduled to play their first league game on Sunday at Jefferson, but the game was cancelled due to the wet weather.

The Jays will start Night League play on Thursday, May 15 at Monona. The team's Home Opener will be this Sunday, May 18 against Albion at the High School field. There will be concessions available, so stop by and have a hot dog or brat. Come and check out your local baseball team.

EHT Game Schedule
Around town you will see the team's sponsor poster schedules hanging up at local businesses, so be sure to check those out. Also, the team prints colorful pocket schedules for your wallet, purse or refrigerator. The smaller schedules are also located at local area business counters. And as always, you can find the Jays' schedule and results on the Internet at www.evansville.hometalent.org.

The Jays have a few marquee games this season that is worth mentioning.

Memorial Day & American Family Insurance Day Game - Monday, May 26 Evansville will host Deerfield at the High School field starting at 1:00 pm. There will be a DJ announcing the game and color guard will be provided by local area Veterans. Also, courtesy of Evansville's Andrew Peart Agency, free hot dogs and soda will be available for the first 500 fans, and while at the game sign up for a free raffle to win Brewers tickets.

Evansville Community Night at Warner Park - Evansville has once again teamed up with the Mallards to promote the community and community events. This year the Home Talent team will play one of their league games after the Mallards game on Sunday, June 29. As Evansville Community Night, residents receive a discount at the gate for Mallard game bleacher tickets. The Mallards game starts at 3:05 pm with the Jays game to follow around 6:00 pm. The Jays have tickets available for sale; contact one of the players for more info and/or tickets.

Fourth of July Game - After the parade come on down to Lake Leota Park for some summer food and baseball. The Jays will host Stoughton with a noon game time start. There will be a DJ announcing the game and color guard will be provided by local area Veterans.

Appreciation Day Game - The Jays would like to thank their sponsors, families and fans for supporting the team in 2008. After the Sunday, July 13 game at Lake Leota Park enjoy a free picnic with the team.

Youth Baseball Night - This has been a popular night with the kids for the past couple of years. On Thursday, July 17 young kids are invited to enjoy a night at the Lake Leota ball park by obtaining autographs from the Home Talent players, chase down free foul balls, run the score board, and even play catch or warm up with the players.

EHT Sponsors
The Evansville Home Talent Baseball team would like to recognize their 2008 sponsors to date: Gold Sponsors: Allen Realty, Allen Custom Flatwork; Silver Sponsors: Midwest Dental, VFW Post 6905, Roger Roth CPA & Associates; American Legion; Subway of Evansville, The Night Owl, Hoffy's House of Tunes, American Family Andrew Peart Agency; Bronze Sponsors: M&I Bank, State Farm Jeff Farnsworth, Shannon & DeMarb Law Office, EZ Financial Group, Buttchen Electric, TDS Home Improvement, Union Bank & Trust, AG Manion Drywall; Web Sponsors: Dairyland Real Estate, RE/MAX Preferred.

For more information on Evansville Home Talent Baseball, surf over to the team's website at www.evansville.hometalent.org.

June 11, 2007, Evansville - Evansville Home Talent Baseball Team donates to the Evansville High School Baseball Program for the construction of the outdoor batting cage. Thank you letter from Athletic Director, Brian Cashore.

May 9, 2007, Evansville - Appliance Works, Evansville Community Partnership (ECP) and Evansville Home Talent Baseball partnered together to purchase and install a new commercial quality freezer and refrigerator in the upper ball diamond concession stand at Lake Leota Park. The large upright units will be used for an park activities when the concession stand is open. Local volunteer, Gene Bass reflected, "the old ones were warn-out and hardly ever worked." Text provided by ECP Coordinator Robin Lopez-Grignon that originally printed in the May 9, 2007 issue of The Evansville Review.

Pictured with the donated refrigerator and freezer units are (L to R) Brian Fick (Appliance Works), Gene Bass (ECP) and Jon Frey (Home Talent Baseball). All three helped in the donation of these items to the park. Photo taken and provided by Kelly Gildner.

2005, JACK O' DIAMONDS AWARDS - www.wiab.org

These awards are from the teams, and players of whom I've seen play in some 63 games in the 2005 season. At each game I kept a box score, along with making notes on player defense, and their effort to play the game. - Jack Sprecher, www.wiab.org

"JACK O' DIAMONDS" GENERAL MANAGER'S of the 2005 season. These two men are true professionals in the game of Wisconsin Amateur Baseball. They both have promoted their teams and leagues. No! they didn't win any championships on the field, but with their websites, and their sponsorship from their communities they are winners.

JON FREY
Evansville "Jays"
Home Talent Baseball League
&
GRAIG STONE
Two Rivers "Polar Bears"
Shoreland Baseball League

"2005, Jack O' Diamonds" SILVER Glove Awards

1st Base: Steve Ihlenfeldt, Kewaunee "Chiefs"
2nd Base: Ryan Ebert, Clintonville "A's"
3rd Base: Ben Jewson, Two Rivers "Polar Bears"
Shortstop: Ryan Tanck, West Jacksonport "Ports"
Catcher: Bobb Mineau, Casco "Athletics"
Outfield: Micah Bootz, Kewaunee "Chiefs"
Outfield: Jon Frey, Evansville "Jays"
Outfield: Mike O'Rourke, Neosho "Rockets"
Pitcher: Mike Finnegan, Madison "Senators"

Evansville gets back into area baseball league after leaving it 25 years ago

Published in the Janesville Gazette on Friday, June 3, 2005
By Todd Mishler
Special to the Gazette

Related Story - League provides many memories

EVANSVILLE-The standings show their record is 1-5. However, Jon Frey said the simple fact that they're playing means they're already big winners.

Frey is the general manager and an outfielder for the new Evansville Jays, the first local baseball entrant affiliated with the Home Talent League since 1980.

"I consider it a major success, a milestone to have played our first scrimmage and games," Frey said. "We had bad weather on Opening Day and not as many people showed up as I would have hoped, but I'm excited for our players.

"This gives many of them an opportunity to play baseball when they probably thought they wouldn't get that chance again."

Although this diving attempt at a ball resulted only in infield sand, 41-year-old Tony Manion has welcomed the chance to manage and play for Evansville in its return to the Home Talent League. Evansville had not fielded a team in the area league since 1980. Al Hoch/Gazette Staff

That includes Frey, who played and was a behind-the-scenes guy from 1996-2004 with the league's organization from his native Marshall. The University of Wisconsin graduate got a job in Beloit, so he and his wife moved to Evansville in 2001 as a halfway point.

Frey has played every summer since T-ball, so the 28-year-old knew he wanted to be involved in his favorite sport in any way possible.

"In Marshall, we had built a winning team, had made the playoffs and had beaten Cottage Grove for the first time in eight years last season," said Frey, who also tired of the draining traveling schedule. "They were in good shape because they had about 20 guys, so I decided to step aside."

Frey attended high school and American Legion games, talked to the coaches and started getting to know more folks in Evansville, feeling them out for talent and interest levels in the community.

"Some have relatives or friends who own businesses, which have responded positively to our efforts,'' he said. "It started with a couple of names and snowballed from there.

"Word of mouth has been the key. People seem genuinely excited about having a team in town, and we couldn't do it without their support."

The Jays participate in the Home Talent's Sunday afternoon and Thursday night leagues, and Frey said it'll be a building process.

"We play to win on Sundays, and we use Thursdays to get everybody as much playing time as possible," he said. "We either practice or play scrimmages Tuesday nights.''

Manion, 41, said having fun is the most important factor, and the wins and losses will take care of themselves.

"Baseball is my passion, which is why I've been volunteering with the high school to improve that program in any way I can," Manion said. "Hopefully, we'll get some of these younger guys each year to keep things going, and maybe littler kids will see us and provide us with players down the road."

Manion's 19-year-old son, Nick, played college ball in Minnesota and has joined the team, while Alex, 17, is a future prospect.

"Most of our guys haven't played in three to eight years, so it's going to take time," Manion said. "We all knew from the beginning that it might be rocky at first, but Jon asked everybody to make a five-year commitment to the program.

"The hitting will come around, and I can see that we're getting better and gaining confidence. The guys are having a blast."

Text taken from Gazette website on June 6, 2005

Home Talent League baseball: Evansville returns
By Jason McMahon - Capital Times - April 30, 2005
Link to Story

It's been nearly 25 years since Evansville fielded a team in the Home Talent League, but the memories of amateur baseball in town are still alive and well.

Jon Frey found this out in his attempt to revive the program, as he stumped for support throughout the community, visiting with local businesses and organizations.

"People reminisced about the Home Talent team in Evansville. ... I heard a few stories on that, saying 'Oh yeah, I used to go down to the park and watch those guys,' " Frey said. "When I went to the VFW, there were some old-timers who said 'Yeah, I played on that team back in the '60s.' "

Evansville's HTL team lasted from 1962 until 1981, and all has been quiet between the lines since. But that will change Sunday, when Evansville makes its return to Wisconsin's largest adult amateur baseball league.

The new team, the Evansville Jays, will host Stoughton at 1 p.m. at the high school as the HTL opens its 77th season.

"I'm probably more nervous than anything," said Frey, the team's general manager. "This is our first chance to provide a first impression to the community."

Frey ran Marshall's HTL team for eight years, and moved to Evansville in 2001. Since then, he has quietly tried to build support for a local franchise, before stepping up his efforts this past offseason.

He got a strong response from the community - several businesses and even one set of parents contributed $1,000 toward the team's start-up costs - and at one point had a roster of 30 players, which has since been whittled to 22.

The team includes three high school seniors and four players currently on college baseball teams.

Contenders aplenty: Frey knows it's a stretch to hope for an HTL playoff appearance. But several other clubs have postseason aspirations.

After racing through the 2004 season with a perfect 22-0 record - the first undefeated HTL season in 13 years - Wiota hopes to join Cottage Grove as the only repeat champions in the last two decades. Cottage Grove won back-to-back titles in 2000-01, and won three straight from 1996-98.

"It's awful hard to repeat as champion. Cottage Grove somehow found a way to do it," Reilly said. "From the first game to the last game, it ought to be an exciting year."

New big man in blue: The HTL also has a new umpire coordinator, as David Thom takes the reins after being elected at the league's March meeting to serve in the position.

Thom, who has umpired HTL games for eight years and has 30 years of experience calling games, takes over for Tim McIntyre, who decided not to pursue the job again after 10 years as coordinator.

One of Thom's first duties was to tackle the seemingly annual umpire shortage, exacerbated by the change in leadership. Looking for umps with some experience, he sought help from the WIAA.

"We tapped into the WIAA list of umpires and e-mailed them with the opportunity to work in the Home Talent League," Thom said. "We got quite a few returns."

HTL PRIMER

Defending champion: Wiota.

2004 Section champions: Cross Plains (Northern, East Division); Sauk Prairie (Northern, West Division); Ridgeway (Western, North Division); Wiota (Western, South Division); Cottage Grove (Eastern); Jefferson (Southeast, East Division); Albion (Southeast, West Division).

Changes: Evansville is back in the HTL after a 23-year absence, and will play in the Southeast Section's West Division. McFarland moves from the Southeast Section to the Eastern Section. The Western Section lost two teams, as Monroe and Muscoda will not play this season.

Sunday's big games: Cottage Grove at Monona, Sauk Prairie at Waunakee, Albion at Utica, Jefferson at Lake Mills, Ridgeway at Hollandale.

Get connected: Schedules, standings and more are available at the HTL Web site (www.hometalent.org). The Home Talent Umpires Association has its own Web site (www.htua.org), which includes directions to all area diamonds.

Text taken from Capital Times website on April 30, 2005