Joe Simokaitis (born December 27, 1982) is an American

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coach and former professional

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shortstop. After playing with the Cornhuskers, Simokaitis played for four years in the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

system. He retired in 2010 and returned to Nebraska.

High school

Simokaitis went to St. Mary's High School in St. Louis and earned 12

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(four each in football, basketball and baseball). He did better in his junior year than his senior year as he hit .420 with 7 homers and 43 RBIs. He led the team to a 3rd-place finish in the state tournament in his senior season. According to

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

, he was the top high school prospect in the state with a .386 average and 2 home runs, 19 RBIs, and 24 runs. He became an All-South Metro St. Louis and a first-team all-state selection both years. He selected Nebraska over St. Louis, Wichita State, Southwest Missouri State, Florida and Missouri. He also became a two-time all-district selection in football. In his senior year he had 1,200 all-purpose yards on offense and had 56 tackles and 6 interceptions on defense becoming the conference player of the year. He was recruited by Missouri and Illinois.

Nebraska

Simokaitis played for

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

all 4 years in his college career. In 2002, he was 1 of 2 freshman in the everyday lineup but played at shortstop in only 41 games. He hit a .236 average with 16 RBIs and led the team with 9

sacrifice bunt In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, and ...

s helping the huskers reach the

2002 College World Series The 2002 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 2002 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series ...

going 2-5 and 2 runs scored in Omaha. As a sophomore, Joe became the full starter at shortstop. He hit .293 with 39 RBIs, 70 hits, 53 runs and a homer. He led the team again in sac bunts with 16 and second with 9 stolen bases. He broke Nebraska's single season record with 194 assists. Simokaitis started in 56 of the Huskers' 59 games in 2004, hitting .278 with 33 RBIs, 31 runs and a home run. After the 2004 season, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the Bourne Braves of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. In his senior season Simokaitis hit .310 with 37 RBIs, 53 runs, 86 hits and 3 homers, helping the team to the

2005 College World Series The 2005 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was held from May 30 through June 26, . Sixty-four NCAA Division I college baseball teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament, to play in t ...

. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 10th round of the

2005 Major League Baseball Draft The 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best ...

Minor League

In 2006 Simokaitis played for the Class A Advanced Daytona Cubs in the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

, hitting .259 in 110 games with 83 hits, 32 RBIs and 47 runs. He was promoted to the AA Tennessee Smokies in the Southern League for the 2007 season and had a .257 average with 54 hits, 15 RBIs and 3 homers in 76 games. He was promoted to the AAA Cubs where he hit .253 in 19 games. On August 10, 2009, Simokaitis was released by the Chicago Cubs.

Awards

*2000 First-Team All-State *2001 First-Team All-State *2003 Dairy Queen Classic All-Tournament Team *2003 Honorable-Mention All-Big 12 *2004 Honorable-Mention All-Big 12 *2005 Second-Team All-Big 12

References

Sources

Simokaitis' leadership has been key to Nebraska's Big 12, NCAA success
''

Lincoln Journal Star The ''Lincoln Journal Star'' is an American daily newspaper that serves Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital and home of the University of Nebraska. It is the most widely read newspaper in Lincoln and has the second-largest circulation in N ...

'', June 8, 2005
Joe Simokaitis 2005 Baseball Bio
at University of Nebraska
Joe Simokaitis Stats, Highlights, Bio
at MiLB
Joe Simokaitis
at The Baseball Cube {{DEFAULTSORT:Simokaitis, Joe 1982 births Living people Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball players Bourne Braves players Baseball players from St. Louis Daytona Cubs players Tennessee Smokies players Peoria Chiefs players High Desert Mavericks players Arizona League Cubs players Boise Hawks players Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball coaches High school baseball coaches in the United States STLCC Archers baseball coaches Saint Louis Billikens baseball coaches