The Southern Illinois Miners announce that all-star shortstop Niko Vasquez will also participate in the 2015 Frontier League Home Run Derby in addition to starting for the East Division at shortstop this week at Schaumburg Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg at the 2015 Frontier League All-Star Game.
Vasquez leads the Miners with nine homers and 41 RBIs, with his 41 runs batted in tied for first place in the Frontier League entering play on July 11th. He had a memorable hot streak from June 18th through June 24th in which he hit five home runs in the span of six games against Washington and Traverse City, with 14 RBIs in that span.
Frontier League commissioner Bill Lee and deputy commissioner Steve Tahsler in conjunction with the All-Star managers have named four players each from the East and West divisions. In addition to Vasquez, East Division all-stars Reggie Lawson from the Traverse City Beach Bums, Brandon Tierney from the Frontier Greys and Shayne Houck from the Evansville Otters will take part in the derby; the West Division participants are Jordan Dean from the Schaumburg Boomers, Taylor Ard from the River City Rascals, Michael Hur from the Rockford Aviators, and Patrick McKenna from the Normal CornBelters.
As in past seasons, each player will get 10 outs in the first round of the derby. The top four home run hitters will advance to the second round. In the second round each player will get a second 10 outs. From there, the top two players in terms of first and second round combine homers will advance to the finals. In the finals the home run totals will reset and each player will get five more outs.
The Miners continue their weekend series in Joliet tonight at 6:05 p.m.
Jason Guerette is the Grizzlies' Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations and the "Voice of the Grizzlies." 2023 will be his second season with the organization, handling lead broadcasting duties on the Grizzlies Media Network as well as being in charge of all team press releases and game-day media materials.
2023 will also be Jason's ninth season in the Frontier League after spending 2014-21 in the same role with the Southern Illinois Miners. Overall, he has broadcasted close to 800 games in the league, including playoffs. During the baseball offseason, he serves as a play-by-play broadcaster for Manhattan College and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with games being seen on ESPN+ among other platforms.
In addition to broadcasting, Jason works as a public address announcer for Seton Hall University women's basketball as well as Columbia University men's and women's basketball. He also spent nine years working "behind the scenes" as a freelance board operator and highlight editor at Westwood One for their coverage of the NFL, NCAA football, and NCAA basketball.
Jason graduated from Seton Hall in 2012 with B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Broadcasting & Visual Media.
