Yellowjacket Baseball Signs Former Scarlet (May 24, 2005)

BILLINGS, MT – Montana State-Billings baseball coach Chris Brown announced Tuesday that Chris Stinson will transfer from University of Illinois-Chicago to play for the Yellowjackets next season.  Stinson is a 2002 graduate of Billings West High School and played two seasons for the Billings Scarlets.

The 6-foot-2, 240-pound infielder used a redshirt season last year at Illinois-Chicago after playing two seasons at Columbia Basin College in Washington.  He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining for the Yellowjackets.  At Columbia Basin, Stinson batted .350 as a sophomore in a league that used wood bats.  He drove in a team-best 25 RBI and scored 20 runs.  Columbia Bason won two NWAACC Eastern Region Conference Championships while Stinson played there, compiling a 42-7 mark in his sophomore season.  He was named to the Eastern Region All Star Second Team as a sophomore.

At Billings West HS, Stinson lettered three years in football, earning first team all-conference and first team all-state honors as a junior.  He was an all-conference honorable mention selection as a senior despite almost missing half the year with an injury.  For the Billings Scarlets he was a .400 hitter and led the team in RBI in 2000 and 2001.  Stinson hit a team-best .493 in 2001 and also led the Scarlets with 85 RBI and 26 doubles.  He helped the Scarlets to the 2001 Rawlings/UAS Tournament championship by batting .727 at the tourney.

In 2002 Stinson played for the Triple Play Select Team in Seattle, WA.  He batted .411 with 38 RBI, 12 doubles and five home runs.  On the mound he went 6-0 with a 1.87 ERA.  He struck out 45 in 33 2/3 innings and also earned four saves.  He helped Triple Play to the 2002 USABA World Series title in Carson City, NV and was selected as the MVP in two of the World Series games.

“We are very excited to have a player of Chris’s caliber join the Yellowjacket Baseball program,” said Brown.  “He is a big and strong kid that will provide us with a big stick in the middle of the lineup.  He is a versatile player that can play the corner positions, pitch, and DH.  Chris has experienced success at every level and will be an immediate impact player on both sides of the ball.”