Schaumburg Flyers - 2009 Season

2009 Season

February 18, 2009: Flyers hold Grand Reopening of The Schaumburg Club to a record off-season crowd of over 300 fans. Mayor Larson was on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony and local band 7th Heaven entertained fans and community partners until late in the evening.

May 21, 2009: Flyers prepare to unveil their new logo, accompanied by a new black jersey to be worn for all Friday night home games. Along with this new look, the Flyers teamed up with Rainbow Play Systems and Finish Stong Sports Academy to expand their Kidz Zone, located along the left field line.

May 22, 2009: Flyers starter Dustin Glant goes the distance, allowing just two runs en route to a 6-2 Flyers home-opener victory over the JackHammers in front of 5,288 fans.

May 24, 2009: Glant earns season’s first Northern League Pitcher of the Week honor, going 2-0 with a sparkling 1.13 ERA in his first two starts of the campaign.

May 25, 2009: Flyers turn second triple play in franchise history. With runners on first and second and in motion, Joliet’s Wally Backman Jr. lined out to 2B Jose Valdez. Valdez threw to first for the second out, and 1B Jason Colson completed the play by firing to SS Travis Brown behind the lead runner at second.

June 6, 2009: Richard Mercado blasts season’s first walk-off homer at Alexian to top Kansas City 7-5, extending the Flyers win-streak to a season-best eight games.

June 7, 2009: Flyers players sweep Northern League weekly awards, with Jeff Dunbar taking NL Player of the Week and Craig James earning NL Pitcher of the Week.

June 28, 2009: 43 year-old former big-leaguer and Flyers DH Felix Jose improves OBP to season-high .457, a .050 lead over the Northern League’s second best.

June 30, 2009: A Northern League-best nine Flyers are named to the Great Lakes All-Star roster. Honorees are DH Felix Jose, 3B Vince Harrison, OF Jeff Dunbar, 2B Jose Valdez, OF Victor Ferrante, and pitchers Dustin Glant, Cephas Howard, Ed Almonte, and Craig James.

July 16, 2009: Hundreds storm the infield at Alexian for the first Richard Allen Jewelers Diamond Dig. Participants are given Popsicle sticks to dig the infield dirt in search of a $1,500 diamond gold ring, which becomes the property of the lucky finder, no strings attached.

July 27, 2009: An Alexian Field record crowd of 8,918 witnesses the much-anticipated Battle of the Sexes, as the National Pro Fast-Pitch Softball’s Chicago Bandits defeats the Flyers 4-2 in a game governed by official softball rules.

July 30, 2009: Mayor proclaims Rotary Night. Rotarians and their guests account for 5,000 of the 5,596 people at the game.

August 8, 2009: Flyers ride Dustin Glant to 7-2 win over Winnipeg, sealing their first series win at CanWest Park since 2006 and notching back-to-back victories for the first time in nearly a month.

August 25, 2009: Flyers RF Victor Ferrante named Northern League Player of the Week, leading the league during the seven-day stretch in total bases (23), RBI (9) and slugging percentage (.920), while batting .440 (11-for-25) with seven runs scored, four doubles, a triple, and two home runs in the week.

August 31, 2009: Flyers lead the Northern league in win increase from 2008 to 2009 as well as highest attendance increase from 2008 to 2009.

September 16, 2009: Cephas Howard named Northern League Rookie Pitcher of the Year, and shortstop Travis Brown named Northern League Defensive Player of the Year for the 2009 campaign.