The Northern Elite League (NEL) was created in 1992, as a way of giving Northern Ontario baseball players a competitive league of their own. This task was spearheaded by North Bay's Peter Topolie, who is the current president of Baseball Ontario.
Contents
The NEL originally had 6 teams competing for the Blue Jay Cup. They were:
This league features teams playing in a Showcase Tournament, a 15-game regular season, and playoffs at the home of the 1st place team.
The 2006 season has four teams:
Professional Alumni
The NEL has produced 2 professional players. Aaron Fera, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., was a 32nd round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1999 out of a college in Georgia. He made it to High A with the St. Louis Cardinals Organization and finished off by playing a few seasons of Independent baseball. He was a power hitting outfielder for the Soo Black Sox during his time in the NEL.
The second professional player produced was James Pidutti, who was signed by the Blue Jays in 2002 as a free agent. The left-handed reliever pitched in 44 1⁄3 innings over 2 seasons at the Rookie Ball level. James was known for his sinking fastball that topped out at 90 mph with movement. He was also a bruising power hitter for the Sudbury Lakers during his NEL days. He had a career 5.68 ERA in 30 affiliated professional games. Pidutti was signed to a 2005 contract to Calgary of the Northern Independent League before finishing up in Rimini of the Italian Series A, Division 1 League.
2006 saw Soo Native, Tyler Binkley get drafted in the 40th round out of high-school to the New York Mets but elected to play at powerhouse Seward Community College in Kansas where he posted a 4.73 ERA. in 78 innings before playing briefly at a South Dakota university.
2007. Soo native Kai Tuomi, drafted in the 40th round to the Washington Nationals after a long and successful 4 seasons at the University of Evansville. 24-10 and career 3.79 ERA. The LHP did not fare well in his brief stint in the minors but held his own rounding off is his career in independent ball.
2013. Garson native, 6'9 RHP Dylan Rheault was drafted in the 19th round to the Orioles out of Central Michigan. He had a bright start in his minor league career and cruised to High A but in 2015 posted a 6.39 ERA. walking 40 batters while fanning only 26, in 69 innings. Rheault never played in the NEL like the above 4 players mentioned but he grew up playing in the Sudbury area. Rheault signed on with Winnipeg, an independent minor league baseball team for 2016.
Northern Elite League Career Records
Note: Records compiled 1996–2006