Cougars: How Batavia native Ben Allison jumpstarted his baseball career with a tryout in California

GENEVA – The future and weight of Ben Allison’s professional baseball career at one time largely hinged on a two-week tryout in the California Winter League.

And, simply betting on himself.

Allison, the Batavia native and Kane County Cougars starting pitcher, was amid finishing his fifth season of eligibility at Belhaven University, a small Christian school in Jackson, Mississippi in 2017.

“Basically, you pay a pretty penny and go out and play in front of a bunch of independent league managers,” Allison said before the Cougars’ game on Aug 2. “I didn’t know anybody there; didn’t have any connections.”

The Cougars (32-27) fell, 8-4, to the Milwaukee Milkmen (45-23).

“My [showcase] team was managed by the manager [Dennis Pelfrey] of the Florence Freedom in the Frontier League [at the time],” Allison continued. “As soon as I got there, I was like, ‘This is an opportunity to not only show who I am as an athlete, but also to show who I am as a person.’”

Allison made it a point to shake hands and sit next to Pelfrey as much as he could.

“The league was for a full month,” Allison said. “My attitude was:, ‘Look, if you can’t tell me whether or not I can play at the next level within two weeks, I’m paying way too much money and I’m wasting everybody else’s time.”

“My only opportunity was for two weeks, and if I went for two weeks, I had to go to every class for the rest of the semester without getting dropped. I made the decision to go and I was like, ‘It’s either going to work or it’s not.’”

Out of approximately 300 attendees, Allison eventually impressed enough to be one of 14 to earn a contract with the now-defunct Normal CornBelters, an independent franchise.

“I wasn’t in any sort of position to get drafted…for me, that’s what [that ‘getting drafted’ moment] was,” Allison said. “I still look back on that and that was probably one of the best days of my career.”

After brief stops with Florence and the East Side Diamond Hoppers in 2016 and 2017, Allison pitched two seasons for the Chicago Dogs before signing with Kane County for their inaugural season in the American Association.

“2019, to me, that was the year I was going to ‘do it’. Big things were going to happen for me,” Allison reflected. “I just didn’t have the mental maturity; I didn’t understand things I was doing wrong, so after 2019, it was really difficult for me.

“I made the conscious decision I wasn’t going to play baseball anymore. That was hard for me to do; a lot of things in my life were moving around. It seemed like it was the right time to stop.”

But, once it was announced the Cougars were joining the AA, Allison “couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

After consulting his family and girlfriend, who said “[I’d] be foolish not to do it.”

To date, Allison has a 3-1 win-loss record in six starts with 33 strikeouts in 38 innings pitched.

While Allison balances his pitching career with the Cougars, he actually still works another full-time job in the aviation industry by selling aircraft parts.

Allison, scheduled to start on Aug. 3, will work his first job before coming to Northwestern Medicine Field for it.

“They’ve been so gracious; they’ve been so supportive of me,” Allison said of his aviation job. “I can’t tell you how much that means…I can’t ask for anything more.”

Oswego native Andrew Stout finding groove with new changeup

Cougars relief pitcher Andrew Stout never could find consistency with his changeup.

A brief observation during batting practice from former MLB and Cougars pitcher Vance Worley has made all the difference.

”He taught me a changeup grip,” Stout said. “[The one I had] it was never good, but the grip he taught me, it’s solid.

“It was the only pitch grip that made the changeup do what I wanted it to. You know how you want it to have that arm-side run to it, down and away to lefties? That’s what I wanted it to do. When I threw it with the grip he showed me, that’s what [it was] doing. I never had that before.”

Stout’s changeup usage has since increased, but he still relies on his fastball and other off-speed options.

“I never really got swings and misses on changeups, but this year, I actually have,” Stout said.