Ladendorf moves up and closer to home

Linda Ladendorf thought she would have to give her son Tyler a little pick-me-up when he called to tell her he wasn't playing for the Rookie League Elizabethton Twins in Friday night's game. Turned out Ladendorf, a former Maine West star, was letting her know he would be picking up and moving on up to the Twins' Class A affiliate in Beloit.
Ladendorf, a shortstop who was a second-round pick in last year's draft, was tearing it up at Elizabethton at .410 with 4 homers and 17 RBI in 17 games. He was cleated in the calf while turning a double play on Wednesday and didn't need stitches, but he was limited to pinch-hitting duty Thursday. Beloit is at home on Sunday and Monday against West Michigan and then returns home for six games with Cedar Rapids and Lansing (July 22-27).
Ladendorf was one of the most exciting athletes I've seen in the Northwest Suburbs the last two decades. The ball just jumped off his bat in high school and he could go from home to third in a big hurry. Usually he got himself out rather than pitchers actually getting him out and he rebounded from missing his entire junior year with a disintegrated labrum. He was also electrifying on the football field and could do almost anything - and did one Saturday afternoon in a show he put on at Deerfield.