Shows
2025-05-191h 02Diggle’s DiamondsEp. 20: Brothers Don’t Shake HandsDiggs reunites with a long lost fraternity brother whose son, Lake Park’s Gavin O’Neil, is having quite the season for the Lancers! Also joining us are Illinois Valley Central’s Gabe Perez and Max Gregory, who each started games that ended with the Grey Ghosts giving up just 1 hit in regulation. And somehow Gregory took a no-decision and Perez took a loss!
Join us!
2025-05-0648 minDiggle’s DiamondsEp. 19: Talking Turnarounds and 2-WaysWe are talking to 2 of the more surprising Class 2A teams in the state: Tremont and Farmington. Tremont was 13-12 a year ago. Now, under the leadership of HC Eddie Betson, the Turks are 19-4. Betson is joined by 2025 C Blaine Williams (No.77 in PBR’s ranks), 2025 SS/RHP Brady Booth (North Central College commit), 2026 IF/RHP Griffin Meeker (No. 142 in PBR’s ranks) and IF/RHP Andrew Dawson (No. 54 in PBR’s ranks).
Farmington was 14-15 a year ago and now, with largely the same roster, the Farmers are 16-4. Head Coach Justin Begner and 2025 P/OF’s Be...
2025-04-2855 minDiggle’s DiamondsEp. 17-Welcome to Duncheon’s Dungeon2026 LHP Jameson Rapichuk (Elgin Harvest Christian Academy; ranked No. 53 in the lates PBR-IL rankings) and 2026 Illinois State commit RJ Duncheon (East Peoria; No. 26 in PBR-IL 2026 ranks) join the show!
2025-04-1554 minDiggle’s DiamondsEp. 16: (T)winningThe Nolan teams — Caden & Nolan — join us as they have powered Tinley Park Andrew to a 10-0 start. And Morton’s Ryan Schaffnit has owned PBR’s Pitcher of the Week despite some high-level draft arms in the state. Plus we shout out some great early performances!
2025-04-0848 minDiggle’s DiamondsEp. 15-Looking back at Week 1 in IHSA BaseballDunlap Sr. OF/LHP Owen Shissler (an Illinois Wesleyan recruit) and Canton Soph. SS/RHP Kash VanHouten join us to talk about their exploits over the first week.
2025-03-2441 minDiggle’s DiamondsEp. 14-Happy St. Pat’s & Happy Opening DayBen Diggle and David Bentley couldn’t wait to see what the 2025 season holds so they jumped on the pod yesterday to make some fearless predictions!
2025-03-1749 minDiggle’s DiamondsEp. 13-Story Time with Bryan StortzBryan Stortz was a 3-sport athlete at Dunlap HS! On the baseball field he was a darn good CF, LHP, 2-hole hitter and — according to him — a pretty good left-handed catcher. He joins us to tell some stories about his time with the Eagles and how the tutelage of former Dunlap football and baseball coaches Tom Wooden and Jack Esterdahl helped him become one of the best football coaches in Illinois!
2025-03-1025 minDiggle’s DiamondsEp. 12-Telling stories with Jake SmithOur good friend — and great catcher — Jake Smith joins us to reminisce about…
His path from East Peoria HS to Illinois Central College to Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and pro ball
His wild entrance into pro ball (note: Jimmy Gonzales still very much alive. The man who sadly passed away was Brian Wilson)
Catching Pat Mahome Sr. in indy ball and babysitting his kid…whoever that is.
Hitting a ground-rule triple
Coaching youth baseball today.
2025-03-0519 minDiggle’s DiamondsEp. 11: Super Sophs To WatchDiggs & DB highlight more than a dozen names to know in Illinois’ Class of 2027, including:
Canton SS/RHP Kash VanHouten
Mt. Vernon SS/RHP Trevor McClure
Geneva SS/RHP Noah Hallahan
Du Quoin RHP Cy Craft
Freeburg RHP Liam Scaiefe
Mascoutah RHP Darren Klein
Lisle RHP/SS Hunter McGrath
St. Charles RHP Matt Ritchie
Prospect OF Matthew Donnelly
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley SS/RHP Graydon Leonard joins us to talk
Normal West LHP Chase Reinhart joins us to talk
Morton C/RHP Hudson Lovell joins us to talk
...
2025-02-241h 01Diggle’s DiamondsEp. 10: Pitchers & Catchers ReportWith MLB teams getting into the swing of Spring Training, we thought we should catch up with some pros headed to AZ & FL! Joining us are:
RHP Reid Birlingmair: graduate of Normal West HS; 28th round pick out of the University of Illinois-Chicago in the 2018 draft. Reached Triple A with the Rangers last season
RHP McCade Brown: graduate of Normal West HS; 3rd round pick out of Indiana University in 2021 by the Rockies, who he is still with
SS Mason McCoy: graduate of Washington Community HS; 6th round pick of the Orioles out of the University of Iowa in...
2025-02-171h 04
Diggle’s DiamondsEp. 9: Parental AdvisoryHosts Ben Diggle and David Bentley welcome their 1st HS player, Chicago Taft’s Joe Falkowski, this week.
Part 1: Diggs takes time to remember Illinois Pitching Coach Mark Allen
Part 2: DB & Diggs highlight Illinois’ representatives on the Baseball America Preseason All-American High School teams: LaGrange Park Nazareth’s Jaden Fauske (LSU commit) & Chatham Glenwood’s Cameron Appenzeller, a Tennessee commit
Part 3: #FJeff-Diggs goes in on former big leaguer Jeff Frye for being a miserable jerk and tearing down hard-working coaches and kids. There is an F bomb in here folks. I know this is going to...
2025-02-1049 minDiggle’s DiamondsEpisode 8: Drew Locascio of PBR-IllinoisDrew Locascio, the state director for PBR-Illinois — the flagship state in PBR’s armada of evaluators & events — joins the show to discuss…
His journey playing (& not playing) college baseball
His coaching time
Explains how PBR ranks players
When a kid should go to a PBR showcase and what to expect
He and Bentley discuss their sons entrances into youth sports & concerning parent behavior
The state of recruiting
Favorite PBR memories
2025-02-031h 132025-01-2758 minDiggle’s DiamondsEp. 6: Chatting with Diego Solares of ScoutConnectDiego Solares is an up-and-comer in the baseball world! He’s the go-to guy in the STL area for all things baseball! Check out ScoutConnect at https://scout-connect.org/ and follow Diego on X/Twitter at @DeegsBaseball
2025-01-2042 minDiggle’s DiamondsEp. 5: Diamonds in the RoughCo-hosts Ben Diggle & David Bentley discuss some of the more intriguing uncommitted baseball players in the Class of 2025 here in Illinois!
2025-01-1314 minDiggle’s DiamondsEp. 4: Been Caught StealingCo-hosts Ben Diggle & David Bentley break down who they think were the biggest steals at each collegiate level!
2025-01-0615 minDiggle’s DiamondsEpisode 3: ABCA Convention preview with ABCA’s Ryan BrownleeRyan Brownlee, the Assistant Executive Director, Coaching Outreach. High School, Youth & Travel Baseball Divison Liaison for the American Baseball Coaches Association jumps on the pod to preview the annual ABCA Convention taking place this week in Washington, D.C.
As a former D1 head coach and longtime assistant, he also gives some advice for players and parents in the process right now!
And if you can’t make it to DC, don’t forget you can attend virtually!
2024-12-3033 minDiggle’s DiamondsEp. 2: Talking recruiting classesDiggs & DB discuss the recruiting classes that featured players from around Illinois and piqued their interest!
2024-12-2743 minDiggle’s DiamondsEpisode 1: Common Sense & MLB Hot StoveCo-hosts Ben Diggle & David Bentley talk about catcher Kyle Teel joining the White Sox, Illinois natives Nathan Lavender & Mason McCoy find their MLB homes for 2025 and, finally, react on the fly to the Diego Pavia/junior college eligibility ruling and what might be in store.
2024-12-2722 min
Their StoryBen Diggle: Intrinsic Motivation, Coaching and Travel BaseballBen Diggle is a legend in the amateur baseball scene, especially in the state of Illinois. Ben is a former JUCO coach and former coach and recruiting coordinator with the Central Illinois Outlaws. He's helped countless of young men achieve their dreams of playing at the next level. Many, many players attribute a lot of their success to Ben.
Ben has started the program Diggle's Diamonds. This program promotes high school baseball players in the form of mentorship, advice, recruiting news and promotion via social media. You can find more on Diggle's Diamonds here...
2023-06-1959 min