Saturday, March 3, 2007

Wisconsin

The Woodchucks biggest addition for 2007 will be new manager and former Milwaukee Brewer great Jim Gantner. Having the sons of two former major league baseball players and an ambidextrous pitcher on the team should make for an interesting summer.

Joining Jim this summer will be his son Matt Gantner. Matt is an outfielder at High Point University in North Carolina.

RHP Brett Bochy is a freshman at Kansas, and is the son of San Fransisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy.

INF Daniel Descalso led the Woodchucks with 10 steals last year. He also pitched two innings without giving up a run. This spring he is hitting .273 with 1 hr and 2 sb at UC-Davis.

Descalso

INF Steve Gerstenberger led the Big Ten last year with 7 triples. Through three games for Michigan State this spring he is batting .333 .

INF Elliot Arrington led UNC-Asheville last year with a .349 average and 46 RBI.

P Pat Venditte was one of three known ambidextrous pitchers in college baseball in 2006. He led Creighton last year with 54 strikeouts in 62.2 innings. This spring he has struck out 16 in 12 innings.

OF Jordan Stine led UW-Whitewater in 06 with a .397 average and 12 steals. As a Merrill, WI native he will be playing very close to home this summer.

Friday, March 2, 2007

Alexandria

The Beetles so far have signed 3 freshman from UCLA and another from USC. They have also announced that Drew Saberhagen and Jonathan Greene will be returning in 07, and will be bringing Blake Murphy with them from Western Carolina.

  • C Keith Castillo has one start as a freshman at USC. He was a member of the National Honor Society in high school.

  • INF Casey Haerther was drafted last year in the 34th round by San Diego. Casey has 2 hits in 19 at-bats this spring at UCLA.

  • OF Gabe Cohen is hitting .300 with 2 HR this spring for UCLA.

  • LHP Matt Drummond was drafted last year in the 35th round by the Orioles. Matt is 0-1 in two starts this spring for UCLA.

  • C Blake Murphy is second on Western Carolina with a .407 average and has 2hr and been walked 8 times this spring.

  • LHP Drew Saberhagen was a mid-season All-Star for the Beetles last year. He is the son of 2-time Cy Young winner Bret Saberhagen. He is 1-1, 0.66 this spring for Western Carolina.

  • Jonathan Greene today extended his hitting streak to 21 games for Western Carolina. He leads the team with a .414 average and has 3 homeruns. Greene can play in the infield, outfield, and also catches.

Duluth

So far Duluth has announced five players that are returning from last years squad and four new additions.

  • RHP Mike Nihsen has yet to make an impact this spring for Nebraska after being a mid-season and postseason All-Star last year in the NWL.

  • OF Nick Sullivan has a triple and two steals this spring for Nebraska. Sullivan tied for the Duluth lead last summer with 3 HR.

  • RHP Mike Nesseth is a freshman at Nebraska and has not made an appearance this spring.

  • C Lars Davis is 3 for 10 after 3 games for Illinois. He played for Brainerd in 05 and Duluth in 06.

  • INF Joe Bonadonna will be back in Duluth for his third season. He is 2 for 6 this spring for Illinois.

  • INF Kevin Hansen is hitting .277 this spring for the University of San Diego. He was fourth on the Huskies last summer with a .283 average.

  • C Logan Gelbrich is second on San Diego with a .359 average. he also has 1 HR and one steal.

  • INF Chase Austin is hitting .240 as a freshman at Elon this spring.

  • OF Chris Dove is batting .452 with 7 steals for Elon this spring. He has not given up a run and has four strikeouts in 4 innings pitched. Last summer he was named as the number 10 prospect in the New York Collegiate Baseball League.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

St. Cloud

St. Cloud has announced five players that will be returning in 2007.

  • INF Bryan Cartie from McNeese State is only hitting .229 but his 13 walks have helped raise his OBP to .429. He tied a team record by walking four times in one game. Cartie also has stolen 4 bases in 5 tries.
  • RHP Luke Wertz did not give up a run in 5 appearances with St. Cloud last year. He was not as sharp in his first appearance this spring with Nebraska. He walked two, had two wild pitches, and gave up three earned runs in 1.2 innings.
  • INF/LHP James Leverton led the River Bats in homeruns and was second in steals last year. He had a couple multi-hit games last weekend for Texas Tech to raise his average to .233
  • LHP Trevor Fox is 1-2, 4.86 this spring for UC-Davis. He previously attended Santa Rosa JC.
  • RHP Chad Dawson struck out two and gave up two runs in his only start this spring for Indiana State. He was one of the most dependable River Bats last year, only giving up 9 runs in 37.2 innings of work.

Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay has so far only announced the signing of 5 native Canadians. Lefties Morgan Carlile and Chris Lemay will be making the trip along with OF Temple Macdonald from Campbellsville University. Neither Lemay or Carlile have given up a run yet this spring. Lemay is 2-0, 1 save and has 17 strikeouts in 14 innings. Carlile won his only start. Temple is hitting .375 with one homerun and one steal. Temple's brother Andrew Macdonald will be joining the Border Cat infield this year. Through four games for Niagara University he has a .214 average. RHP Cory Hall has yet to se action as a freshman at Gonzaga.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Eau Claire

Long Beach State OF Teddy Pattock will be back in the Express outfield this summer. He was selected as a mid-season and post-season All-Star last year, and also chosen as King of the Express.

Bryan Frew and Tim Huber will also be returning to Eau Claire after their junior seasons at Nebraska-Omaha. Huber was selected to the NWL mid-season and post-season teams last year. Tim has one start with no decision and 2 strikeouts this year and has also spent time at 1B and DH. Bryan was third on the Express last year with a .294 average and spent time all over the field. This spring he is hitting .280 and has one steal.

Ian Hollick will be back at third base for his third season with the Express. His season was cut short last summer when he broke a bone in his hand. He has been named to numerous preseason All-American teams this year including those by Rivals.com and Ping!Baseball.

Hollick

Nick Fellman has struck out 6 in 3 innings of work this spring out of the Minnesota State-Mankato bullpen. He will look to add to his Eau Claire team record 19 saves this summer.

Mike Laluna saw action in the infield and made a few relief appearances last summer for Eau Claire. His season at New York Tech starts on March 2 against Texas A&M Corpus Christi. It is possible that he may pitch more this summer for the Express.

OFJeff Rapoport and OF/LHPJustin Uribe, freshman teammates at UCLA, will be coming to Eau Claire. Rapoport has yet to see action this year for the Bruins, while Uribe is batting .348 with one homerun and has made one appearance as a pitcher.

Yavapai Junior College teammates LHP/OFKohl Calhoun and SS Daniel Duffy have signed to play for the Express this summer. Calhoun is hitting .333 with 3 steals and is 1-1 as a pitcher. Duffy has 4 steals and is hitting .327. Duffy originally commited to Arizona State but was drafted by the Yankees and went to Yavapai instead as a draft and follow candidate.

INF/RHPDavid Cales and C Brett Schaefer, both sophomores at Illinois-Chicago, have signed to play for Eau Claire. Brett is hitting .308 with one homerun. David is hitting .214 with one steal and also has one save and three strikeouts in two appearances out of the bullpen.

SS Jonathan Merritt has 2 steals and is batting .250 for Alabama-Birmingham. OF Jonathan Ratledge has so far not received any playing time for South Carolina. They both have signed to play for Eau Claire.

Those of you that will be attending games in Eau Claire this year will now have 400 more seats with backs on them. The grandstands behind home plate will now all have benches with backs on them except for the top row. So if you like to bring your own fold-up chair to sit on you might have to get their early and claim a spot on the top row.


Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Green Bay

A look at the players Green Bay has signed so far for its inaugural season

Dick Knutz is a backup catcher with Lewis-Clark State College after spending his first two seasons at Centralia Community College. He's related to Hall of Fame WR Steve Largent.

Rob Raux of Ithaca College will begin play on March 11 against Cal Lutheran. He is a two-time all region selection at catcher.

Kyle Stalker a first baseman and DH for Willamette leads his team with 5 HR in 9 games.

Cord Phelps is batting .300 in 11 games for Stanford and has spent time at 3B, 2B, and SS.

Kyle Conley plays in the OF for Washington and is batting .350 with 2 steals in 6 games.

Dillon Bell redshirted last year at UC Irvine and is yet to get a start in the Anteaters outfield this year.

Tyler Cheney a LHP for Washington has one save and a 1.69 ERA in two appearances this spring.

Kevin Hernandez is 1-1, 4.91 in two appearances for Loyola Marymount this year. The RHP spent the previous two seasons at Moorpark Junior College.

Mark Grbavac has struck out 6 and allowed one run in 6 innings this season for Oregon State.

Nick Sottung had 3 complete game shutouts last year and led Ithaca with 53 strikeouts.

Monday, February 26, 2007

2006 Top 10 Prospects

Lets take a look at how the 2006 top 10 Northwoods League prospects as selected by Baseball America are faring this year.

1. Jordan Zimmermann RHP Eau Claire - UW-Stevens Point starts their season on March 5th against the University of St. Thomas.

2. Charlie Shirek RHP Duluth - Charlie is 1-1, 5.00 in two starts for Nebraska this spring.

3. Brett Hunter RHP Alexandria - Brett has started in three games and appeared in two others. He is 2-1, 2.45, 1 save and leads Pepperdine with 23 strikeouts.

4. Steven Hensley RHP Duluth - In three starts for Elon, Hensley has gone 1-1, 7.71, with 18 strikeouts in 14 innings.

5. Chad Dawson RHP St. Cloud - Chad is 0-0, 3.18 in one start for the Sycamores of Indiana State.

6. Tim Smith OF Mankato - Smith is batting .421 with 1 HR and 1 SB in his first season with Arizona State after starring at Midland College for the past two seasons.

7. Tim Murphy OF/LHP Duluth - Tim is batting .261 with 4 steals in 13 games in the UCLA outfield. He also has three strikeouts in 1.2 innings out of the bullpen.

8. Jeff Richard RHP Waterloo - Jeff is 0-1 4.15 with 6 strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work this year for Central Michigan.

9. Chris Jones OF Rochester - Jones has started all 13 games for Cal State Fullerton and is hitting .234 with 3 steals this spring.

10. Byron Wiley OF Duluth - Hitting .370 and leading Kansas State with 2HR and 2SB in 8 games, Byron has also shown good plate discipline while drawing 9 walks.

Battle Creek

Future Battle Creek RHP Eric Lawrence has appeared in three games this spring for Central Michigan and has recorded one save. He was drafted by Arizona in 05 but returned to school. Joining him in Battle Creek will be LHP Dan Puls who has recorded one save and four strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work this spring for Eastern Michigan. The Bombers have also signed SS John Shaffer who has started every game for San Jose State this spring and leads the team with four steals. After redshirting last year OF John Lee has not started in Nebraska's first seven games this year.