Phil returns to Rochester this summer looking to improve on his impressive 2008 Northwoods League season in which he went 5-3 with a 2.49 ERA and finished the year tied for the Honkers team lead in wins with Peter Burg. One of two Minnesotans playing for Rochester this summer, he is fresh off a very strong sophomore season at Illinois in which he led the team in starts (15) and innings (75.1), and finished tied for the team lead in wins with 6. He played high school baseball for Henry Sibley and helped the team to a fourth-place finish in the state tournament in 2005. But Phil is much more of an athlete than just a pitcher. He earned 4 varsity letters before reaching ninth grade, and finished with 14 total. He was All-Classic Suburban Conference in baseball, football, basketball, tennis and wrestling.