Top Tier Alumni in the MLB

Tanner Roark

Former Top Tier pitcher Tanner Roark is now a constant staple in the rotation for the Washington Nationals. After being called up in August of 2013, Roark posted a 7-1 record with a 1.51 ERA in 53.2 innings pitched. In 2014, Roark had a 15-10 record with a 2.85 ERA. He pitched his first Complete Game Shutout on April 26, 2014. Roark had 1 4-7 record with a 4.38 ERA in long relief in the 2015 season. He had his best year in 2016 when he went 16-10 as a starter with a 2.38 ERA. In the beginning of the 2017 season, he was selected to represent Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, where he helped USA win the Gold for the 1st time. His 2017 season, Roark went 13-11 with a 4.67 ERA to help the Nationals earn the best record in the NL East. Roark was part of the Top Tier Class of 2005.

Casey Crosby

Former Top Tier LHP Casey Crosby was part of the Top Tier class of 2007. Crosby was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 5th round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of Kaneland (Ill.) High School. In 2012, Crosby made his MLB debut throwing 12.1 innings. In October of 2017, Crosby signed a minor league deal with the Minnesota Twins.

Michael Bowden

Bowden former RHP for Top Tier's 18u team in 2005, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 1st round. Bowden got called up in 2008 and pitched in the big leagues for the Red Sox for four seasons before being traded to the Cubs. In 2012 with the Cubs, Bowden pitched 36.2 innings out of relief with a 2.95 ERA. In 2013 with the Cubs he pitcher 37.2 innings out of relief with a 4.30 ERA. Bowden was part of the Class of 2005 Top Tier team that had 12 players drafted. In April of 2015 he was traded from the Cincinnati Reds to the Baltimore Orioles where he played Triple A most of the year. The last two years he signed a professional contract in the Korean Baseball Organization for the Doosan Bears where he helped them win the Korean League Championship in 2016 and Runner-up in 2017. In 2020-21 season, Bowden made another go of it pitching in the American Association of Independent baseball for the Chicago Dogs.

John Ely

Ely pitched with Top Tier on the Class of 2004 team. Ely in 2010, pitched 100 innings and posted a 5.49 ERA. In 2011 he appeared in 12.2 innings and held a 4.26 ERA. Ely was one of five players drafted off of Top Tier's 2004 team. Ely was drafted out of the University of Miami Ohio by the Chicago White Sox in the 3rd round. In 2012, Ely was named the "Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the Dodgers and later threw in 2 games with them. Currently, Ely joined the Chicago White Sox organization as the minor league pitching coach for the Great Falls Voyagers of the Pioneer League.

Joe Benson

Former Top Tier outfielder Joe Benson was a high school star at Joliet Catholic as a two sport athlete in baseball and football. Out of high school Joe signed at Purdue University but opted to forgo college after he was picked in the 2nd round of the 2006 first year player MLB Draft. Benson played with Top Tier in 2005 & 2006 and was one of 7 players drafted off that 2006 Top Tier team. Joe played with the Twins in 2011 and was listed as a top 10 prospect in their minor league system. In 2014, Benson was picked up by the Miami Marlins from the Twins and played a that year in Double A, Jacksonville Suns. In 2015, Benson picked up a minor league deal by the Atlanta Braves and then later in July of 2015 was picked up for a minor league deal by the New York Mets. In the winter of the 2015 season he picked up a minor league deal with the team the drafted him the Minnesota Twins but was released after spring training.

Rob Scahill

Scahill was one of 12 players drafted off Top Tier's 2005 team. Scahill pitched at Bradley from 2006-09, compiling a 10-15 career record with a 4.70 earned run average. The 6-foot-3 right-hander originally was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 48th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball First- Year Player Draft, but opted to return to Bradley for his junior season. He later was picked up by the Colorado rockies in the 8th round of the 2009 MLB Draft. In 2012, Scahill made his MLB debut with the Colorado Rockies our of the bullpen, pitching 8.2 innings with a 1.04 ERA. Scahill in 2013 pitched 33.1 innings out of the bullpen for the Colorado Rockies with a 5.13 ERA. In 2014, Scahill pitched 15 innings of relief with a 4.80 ERA. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015, where Scahill threw 30.2 innings out of the bullpen with a 2.64 ERA. In 2016, Scahill started the season off with the Pirates and then was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers where threw 18.1 innings of relief with a 2.45 ERA. In 2017, Scahill threw 22.1 innings out of the bullpen with 4.43 ERA before being sent down to the Triple A, Colorado Springs Sky Sox.

Tyler Ladendorf

Ladendorf, part of the 2006 Top Tier class as an infielder and outfielder, was drafted out of Maine South High School by the New York Yankees in the 34th round. Ladendorf decided not to sign and attend Howard Junior College in Texas. From there, Ladendorf was drafted again in 2007 by the San Francisco Giants, where he once again decided not to sign and finish his second year at Howard Junior College. After his sophomore season at Howard in 2008 he got drafted in the 2nd round 60th pick by the Minnesota Twins. In 2009, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics, where he worked his way up the minor league system. In 2014, Ladendorf made the 40-man roster. At the start of the 2015 season, Ladendorf made the opening day roster for the Oakland Athletics and made his MLB debut hitting a triple and a single on April 8th. The following year in 2016, he played in 44 games for the Oakland Athletics. In 2017, Ladendorf was traded to the Chicago White Sox for a minor league deal, where he spent the season in Triple A. Ladendorf was picked up in 2020-21 as a free agent and played the whole season with Triple A affiliate Iowa Cubs.

Paul Dejong

DeJong was an infielder on the 2011 Top Tier class team, and went to Illinois State out of Antioch High School. DeJong was drafted in 2014 out of ISU by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 38th round. He decided to turn it down to play another year at ISU. In 2015 at Illinois State he batted .333 leading the team in hits with 70, runs scored with 47, doubles with 14, home runs with 14 and RBI's with 48. DeJong was selected as All-Missouri Valley League First Team and Baseball America ranked him as the 108th best prospect for the 2015 MLB Draft. The St. Louis Cardinals took DeJong in the 4th round of the MLB Draft that year. DeJong ran through the minor league system in the next few years, getting the call up to the big leagues on May 28th, 2017. In his 1st MLB at bat with the Cardinals on his 1st swing, he hit a home run. DeJong finished the 2017 season as the everyday shortstop for the Cardinals hitting .285 with 25 home runs and 65 RBI's, leading all NL shortstops in home runs. DeJong won NL Rookie of the Month in July for hitting .298 with 8 home runs and 16 RBI's. DeJong finished second in the Rookie of the Year ballots for his remarkable 2017 MLB season. DeJong finished the year with the 2nd most home runs as a Rookie for the St. Louis Cardinals behind only Albert Pujols. DeJong was an All-Star selection in the 2019 season and is still currently the starting shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ryan borucki

Borucki was a LHP on the 2012 class of Top Tier, and played his High School ball at Mundelein High School. Borucki was drafted out of High School in the 15th Round by the Toronto Blue Jays. Borucki made his Big League Debut in 2018, as he got called up in June making his debut vs. the Defending World Series Champs the Houston Astros. Borucki finished the 2018 MLB season with a 4-6 record as a starter and a 3.87 ERA in 97.2 innings pitched with 67 strikeouts in 17 starts. Of those 17 starts, 11 were quality starts, which was the most by an American League Rookie that year. Borucki looks to be a young staple in the starting rotation for the Blue Jays in the 2019 Season. Due to some injuries, Borucki has been in and out of the Blue Jays big league roster and is working his way to be back on the pitching staff this upcoming 2022 season.

Sean hjelle

Hjelle is a 2015 grad out of Mahtomedi, MN. He was drafted in 2018 MLB Amateur Draft in the second round.