DuPage Drones to be Lisle's new baseball team

The name of the new baseball team coming to Lisle this summer melds popular technology with America's pastime into ... the DuPage Drones.

The summer collegiate team will play at Benedictine University opening May 28 with a game against the Danville Dans from east-central Illinois.

Team owner Joshua Schaub said the name Drones was chosen by a community contest from among six finalists, including the Woodsmen and the Mighty Oaks.

"We may be the first team in sports to have a technology name that you can latch onto. This is an extremely viral, popular thing going on right now," Schaub said about drones of the small, flying variety. "This is totally different. And we need to be different. We need to be different to get people's attention. We need to be relevant. We need something that kids can grab onto and say that makes sense to me. Being the 'tigers' to a kid, it doesn't grab a hold of their imagination the way drones does."

Schaub and general managers Evan Gersonde and Mitch Kukay unveiled the name Tuesday evening to Lisle Chamber of Commerce members and community leaders at the Country House restaurant just down the road from their future home field. Ingraining themselves into the Lisle community will be a major goal of the Drones as they prepare for their first season.

"You're going to see us out in the community a lot," said Schaub, an attorney and former CEO and owner of the Joliet Slammers. "We need to give the fans what they want and to do that we need to ask what they want."

The Drones will play in the 12-team Prospect League, a wooden-bat league featuring collegiate players during their summer break.

Players are already signed from schools such as the University of Illinois, University of Alabama and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and they will stay with host families in the Lisle area being recruited by Drones management.

"You are going to see some future big-leaguers," Schaub said.

The Drones' home field will be the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex on Benedictine Drive near the intersection of Yackley/College Road and Maple Avenue.

"It's exciting for the village of Lisle to have a new team," Broda said.

The Drones follow the DuPage County Hounds, a wooden bat team that played at Benedictine in 2012, and the DuPage Dragons, who played there for several seasons beginning in 2005.

But team leaders said fans can expect more in terms of unusual between-inning entertainment, kids promotions and business marketing partnerships than past Lisle teams brought.

"This is taking it a step up," said Naperville attorney Gerry Cassioppi, the team's director of community relations.

For one thing, "the drone will be integrated into the show," Schaub said.

And the stadium will be updated to include a kids' zone, an area for tailgating or picnics and a special home plate club seating area.

Rich Janor of Naperville, founder of Game Day USA, which hosts weekend athletic events in baseball, softball and running, said he envisions suburbanites snapping up seats to see the Drones in action.

"For a lot of people, going to a Cubs game or a Sox game is too expensive for a family of four when you factor in food and parking and everything," Janor said.

"I think there's a lot of suburban families who would be interested in this product, especially because it's something new," he said.

The team's official logo will be introduced Jan. 21 during Broda's annual state of the village address to chamber members beginning at 11:30 a.m. at the Hilton Lisle, 3003 Corporate Drive West.