Casey Crosby, easily the highest touted prospect to come out of Kaneland High School, was the top ranked prospect in the state of Illinois for the class of 2007. The 26th nationally ranked baseball prospect turned in an impressive senior season with a 0.88 earned run average (ERA), 92 strikeouts and a 6-2 record in 63 2/3 innings of work (as reported by Shaw Local). Crosby was then named the Daily Chronicle’s Male Prep Athlete of the Year. These days, Crosby is back to pitching professionally for the first time in five years. It has been quite a journey for Crosby, and Kaneland has always played a role in it.
Crosby’s senior season got off to a very unexpected start, as his coach for the first three seasons in high school, Kip Rogers, stepped down from the head coaching role in January of 2007, two months before the start of the season. Current head baseball coach and 2011 State champion Brian Aversa was tasked with managing the attention that came with having a legitimate Major League Baseball (MLB) prospect as the team’s ace.
“The biggest thing about Casey was he made the season not about himself, but about the team,” Aversa said. “That showed a lot of maturity on his part. When I got the job, I met with him and his mom, and he talked about the season and some of his goals, and he reassured me that it wasn’t even about him.”
Those talks Aversa had with Crosby translated into practices and games.
“The team would be having batting practice, and he’d be diving for balls in the outfield,” Aversa said. “I would have to tell him, ‘Hey, you can’t get hurt doing stuff like this. It’s practice.’ But he knew one speed, and he didn’t know how to turn it off. And that’s what made him so good. He just did everything 100% all the time. Those qualities aren’t something you coach or teach. He was born that way and raised that way.”
Aversa’s work did not go unnoticed, as Crosby praises how he set him up to succeed.
“He was able to coordinate with the scouts, and he did an incredible job doing that,” Crosby said. “I was able to get the right eyes on me and get thoroughly scouted so that I could get drafted. Coming in as a rookie head coach, it was pretty incredible.”
The hard work from both coach and player paid off, as Crobsy was drafted in the fifth round of the 2007 MLB draft by the Detroit Tigers.
“It was quite a roller coaster of emotions that day,” Crosby said. “I was predicted to go in the second round or so, but after the second round ended, then the third and fourth rounds ended. You’re bummed. But then you’re drafted with one of the last picks of the day, and it went from total Debbie Downer to total joy and excitement. I even got thrown in the pool.”
Crosby decided to forgo his commitment to the University of Illinois and headed straight for the Tigers minor league system. But Crosby would have to wait a whole year to get his career started, as he underwent Tommy John surgery and didn’t pitch in 2008. Crosby gradually climbed the ranks of the Detroit farm system, finally making his MLB debut in June of 2012. Crosby started three games and went 1-1 with a 9.49 ERA in 12.1 innings, according to Baseball Reference. These three starts would be the only action of his MLB career.
Crosby then bounced around organizations in the MLB, the American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) and the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) until he stepped away from the game in 2020 after MLB canceled their minor league season due to COVID-19. Crosby was in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization at the time.
But his story didn’t stop there. Crosby is now pitching for the Kane County Cougars of the AAPB after five years of not pitching professionally at all.
“Taking those five years off, I kind of said goodbye to the game, knowing I wasn’t going to come back to it,” Crosby said. “This time coming back, I was able to kind of just have more fun, treat it more like a hobby. I still love baseball. I still love playing it. I mean, I’m still able to do it at a high level and I can make it work with life, then why not do it?”
Crosby did indeed pitch at a high level, having the fourth most appearances out of the Cougars bullpen with 41 innings pitched, 55 strikeouts, a 3.03 ERA and three saves while throwing up to 97 MPH at age 37. Crosby had a perfect 0.00 ERA in the playoffs and was a key contributor to the Cougars winning back-to-back league championships. With that being the latest chapter in Crosby’s baseball career, what lies ahead is still uncertain.
“I’m just going to take everything as it comes,” Crosby said. “I’m not really setting any goals. I love baseball, and I can still do it. Whatever it leads to, I’m ready for it.”
What is clear is that Crosby loves competing at a high level, just like he loves the Kaneland community.
“Me and my wife got married in our early 20’s and never left Elburn,” Crosby said. “We both went to Kaneland, and both our families are here. Having a home base, you know, it’s awesome. You’re traveling around as a baseball player so much, just to have a home and come back to it is really important. Not only is your home the place where you live, but it’s the people that you’re around.”
