ROAD TRIP: Ten area baseball players traveled to Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic in August as part of Team USA's Athletes in Action. Team USA played five games during the trip, and in the gold-medal game, the Netherlands beat Team USA 13-8. Robert Nettles, the assistant baseball coach at Brooks, coached the team. The local players were: David Atwood, Oswego; Matt Balducci, Kaylan Middleton, William Smith and Marcus Luster, Brooks; Tyler Rubio, Ryan Schwartz and Ryan Wille, Palatine; Albert McCormick, Hyde Park; and Justin Ramos, Holy Cross.

 

I got to Brooks college prep and I am close friends of Matt, Kaylan, Will, and Marcus. All 3 are great players and all have futures in baseball. Matt is an OF/P, Kaylan is an LF/RF/1B, Will is a Catcher, and Marcus plays OF and pitches. All 3 are seniors and I have had the "honor" of knowing and playing with them. I also know Coach Nettles, our assistant coach and THE best hitting coach I know. His son Marcus plays for the Harrisburg Senators, AA team of the Nationals. I'm not saying they should be picked 15th but they deserve a shot and all 3 could be taken in later rounds.

 

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_...09/ai_n12558130

 

Here's his line against Payton earlier this year....no hitter:

 

Brooks 3, Payton 2

Brooks (7-3): WP Marcus Luster (3-1) CG, 0 H, 16 K

Palatine f***ing blows.