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.

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.