Editor’s note: The Northern Star sports section will feature former Huskie athletes in a weekly story entitled, “Where are they now?”

Jeremy Busch was chasing fly balls in centerfield for NIU’s baseball team in June.

Now he’s running them down for the Rockford RiverHawks of the Frontier League, an Independent League affiliate that consists of teams mainly in the Midwest.

Busch said the league is similar to the MAC, as it’s split into East and West divisions, and their travel destinations are about the same.

The RiverHawks lead the West with a 41-37 mark, but the road has been long and rugged.

For example, Busch and the team left Pennsylvania at 9:30 p.m. Sunday after a game against Washington.

They rode straight back to Rockford, arriving around 11 a.m. Monday only to have to be on the field at 3:30 p.m. to get ready for a game against Kalamazoo at 7:05 p.m.

All this for $300 a week.

Not to mention the players only get $15 a day for breakfast and lunch. They’re provided dinner after games.

“If you budget well you can usually have a good meal before the game,” Busch said.

“Usually I try to make it to the hotel’s continental breakfast and then eat at the nearest steakhouse for a pre-game meal.”

Busch could have made more money working as a general contractor for his brother-in-law in Atlanta, but his desire to play was too much to quell.

After this season, Busch plans on returning to Atlanta, but his plans may change.

Busch was on the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox draft boards June 7 and 8, but they all passed on the Genoa-Kingston native.

“I think it had to do with his age as he was a fifth-year senior when he left,” NIU baseball coach Ed Mathey said. “He’s not blessed with outstanding baseball tools. He can hit with decent power, but for a center fielder at the next level he lacks speed. At the corner positions in the outfield, teams want more power.”

But Busch still hopes for a chance to prove them all wrong.

Busch received a call from the San Diego Padres and has a tryout Sept. 13 and 14, after his current season is over.

“I ran into a scout the other day and he just told me to go out and do my thing and good things will happen,” Busch said.

Busch has every reason to take his advice, as he is batting .309 with two home runs, 20 RBIs, 8 doubles, a .416 slugging percentage and .388 on-base percentage.

But Busch’s success wasn’t immediate.

He started as a reserve outfielder for RiverHawks’ coach Jason Ciarrachi, who was a senior second baseman for the Huskies when Busch came to NIU as a pitcher.

Busch has now worked his way into the starting centerfielder role.

Then again, Busch said his fight for playing time wasn’t the hardest part of his transition.

“The team had to release a player in order to sign me to the team,” Busch said.

“Whenever that happens it’s hard to get a read on the guys, but they’ve all been real supportive of me.”

If anything, Busch’s emergence into the minor league scene may have done more for his hometown of Genoa-Kingston.

Friend of the family and athletics director at G-K High School, Jim Hughes, has known Busch since the day he was running around the family living room in Huggies.

“He’s the ultimate competitor,” Hughes said. “It’s great for our kids to see that if they work hard enough they can make it, too.”

As for now, Busch will have to put his economics degree on hold as he chases down his dream of becoming a major league baseball player.

That is, as long as he can cope with living with his parents for the first time in five years after having moved out of his DeKalb apartment Aug. 15.