Open Tryout Saturday

Today was the open tryout at Wuerfel Park...Hopefuls from all around the nation came attempting to earn a spring training roster spot...

The group was put through the typical baseball gamut in the morning, beginning with indoor batting practice...Despite the cold weather players went outside for the rest of the day with the rain holding off to run the 60 and make some throws...For the afternoon, three hopefuls were kept to compete with the Beach Bums in an intrasquad contest while all five pitchers had the opportunity to face Beach Bums hitters as well...

For the intrasquad, the Gold team evened the spring training exhibition at 1-1 with a 4-1 decision over the Blue in a contest dominated by pitching on a cold day...The Blue managed just one hit against six pitchers...

The Gold plated two second-inning runs to take the lead off of Jason Kiley and never look back...Ryan Kottke drove in both runs with a two-out sharp single to left...Blue pulled within 2-1 thanks to a run that scored on a fifth-inning error, but the Gold was able to add to the lead with runs in the bottom of the sixth and seventh against tryout pitchers...Damon Lessler lifted a sacrifice fly in the sixth and James Guerrero connected on an opposite field double in the seventh to end the scoring...

Offensive highlights for the Gold team included a pair of hits off the bat of Corey Whiting, who finished 2-for-2 with a triple, a walk, two runs scored, and two stolen bases including one of third...Bryan Frew reached base twice out of the leadoff slot with a single and a walk...On the Blue side, Andrew Barbaro posted the lone hit, a triple into left-center in the second inning...Barbaro reached base in all three of his at bats, also drawing a pair of walks...The Blue squad drew nine walks and was hit twice by pitches...

Defensively, Barbaro also shined for the Blue, throwing out both Bryan Frew and Mike Epping attmepting to steal in the first inning...Ryan Kottke threw out his counterpart Andrew Barbaro attempting to swipe second in the fifth...

On the pitching front, Kyle Touchatt earned the win for the Gold, working the first two innings and allowing just one hit with a walk and three strikeouts...Brandon Daily tossed a scoreless third with a walk and a strikeout while Nick Pepper looked very strong in retiring all three batters he faced in the fourth including two via strikeout...Three tryout hopefuls also pitched for the Gold team...

Jason Kiley started for the Blue, working three innings and allowing two runs, although just one was earned...Kiley walked three and struck out three...Traverse City native Jason Cairns made his spring debut, tossing the fourth and allowing a hit and a walk...Greg Ford also made his spring debut, working the fifth and allowing a walk and a hit batsmen to go with a punch out...Two other tryout pitchers completed the game for the Blue, each allowing a run...

There were 15 total walks in the game, three successful steals, and four caught stealing...

GAME TOTALS
Blue 0 0 0 - 0 1 0 - 0 1R, 1H, 2E
Gold 0 2 0 - 0 0 1 - 1 4R, 6H, 1E

NOTES
Brad Miller arrived at spring training on Saturday morning, the last player to arrive...Miller, who started at short last season, finished up his classes for the semester...In the intrasquad, Miller started at short for the Blue team and was 0-for-2 but did draw a walk, steal a base, and score a run...Jared Locke was scheduled to pitch today but left feeling under the weather...

PICTURES
Taken by me today, although wait until you see the one taken of me bundled up behind the plate watching the action which I will publish at a later date...Pitching Coach Roger Mason chats with Kyle Touchatt as he warms up in the bullpen...Manager Gregg Langbehn fights the cold weather by bundling up as he observes the action from third, and a tryout hopeful runs the 60-yard dash in the outfield at Wuerfel Park...

First Full Day of Workouts

Here are some photos of the first full day of workouts taken by Nate Jorgensen, Director of Media Relations...I watched the entire first scrimmage and came away very impressed, a full recap is below...

The Blue bested the Gold 7-4 in a scheduled 10-inning game...Mike Epping's three-run homer in the third inning set the tone as Blue built a 5-0 lead...

Epping's blast came off of David Nathanson and cleared the fence in right on the first pitch following a pair of walks to begin the frame...Damon Lessler made it 4-0 with a two-out single to score Reed Welker in the fourth while a sixth-inning double by Andrew Barbaro extended the edge to 5-0...

The Gold notched its first run in the seventh on an opposite field broken bat single by Kyle Maunus...Blue stretched the lead to 7-1 with two ninth-inning runs...Patrick Perry drove in both both a two-run single to center...Gold made it interesting by scoring three runs in their final two at bats...James Guerrero singled in a run in the ninth, Ryan Kottke singled in a run in the 10th, and Kyle Maunus drove in his second run of the game with a triple to right-center later in the final frame...

Some of the offensive highlights for the Blue included Mike Epping and Patrick Perry who each finished with three hits...Epping was 3-for-6 with the homer, a double, three RBI, and two runs scored...Perry's three hits were all singles but came in his final three plate appearances after an 0-for-2 start...

On the Gold side Bryan Frew successfully reached base in his first five plate appearances out of the leadoff slot before finally being retired on a fielder's choice in his last at bat...He walked twice, doubled once, stole three bases, and scored twice...Kyle Maunus led the offensive attack with three hits in his six at bats...He posted a triple and two RBI...Brian Lapin had two hits and a steal of third base while Chase Gerdes also posted two hits...James Guerrero had a couple of outstanding at bats...

Defensively, the versatility showed, especially on the infield...Kyle Maunus was seen at first and third as was John Alonso...Damon Lessler played every infield position but first, Robby Alcombrack was seen at first in addition to catching, James Guerrero played both middle infield slots, as did Bryan Frew...Andrew Barbaro played some third in addition to catching...

The pitchers were placed on a per inning pitch count which will obviously increase as camp continues...Brett Bostelman started for the Blue and earned the win, working three innings and allowing four hits to go with two walks and two strikeouts...Also throwing for the Blue was Kevin Reese, who tossed two innings allowing one hit and walking three...Steve Roberts did allow the first run for the Blue, but in his two innings of work he broke four bats...Jeff Williams threw the lone perfect inning of the game, a 1-2-3 eighth...First Round Frontier League draft choice David Hurst allowed a run on two hits and a walk in the ninth...Eric Theisen, the Third Round Pick in the Frontier League Draft allowed two 10th inning runs on three hits...

For the Gold, David Nathanson started and was hit with the loss...He worked three innings and allowed three runs on two hits to go with two walks...Shawn Joy allowed a run on three hits in his two innings and Pete McEneaney struck out two in his two innings of work, allowing a run and two hits, he also hit Reed Welker with a pitch...Matt Trausch had a very solid first inning of work, recording six outs before reaching the pitch limit...His fastball was near perfect during the duration of his two innings...Trausch allowed two runs on four hits and struck out a pair...Kyle Stahlberg was the final hurler for the Gold and walked one but did not allow a hit in his inning...

GAME TOTALS:
Blue 0 0 3 - 1 0 1 - 0 0 2 - 0 - 7R 11H
Gold 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 - 1 0 1 - 2 - 4R 12H

PHOTOS: Brett Bostelman, who started for the Blue team and got the win, checks on Bryan Frew at first...James Guerrero throws to first from second base...Kyle Maunus takes a hack at the plate...

Nate's Full Photo Gallery

Bowl With the Beach Bums on Monday

Back for a second season is Bowl With the Beach Bums!! Last year's event was a huge success and was probably the most fun I had during all of spring training...Make sure to take on me and my 95 average :)

The event will again be at Wilderness Crossing near the ballpark on US-31 and will commence at 6pm...Players, coaches, staff, and the mascots will be on hand to sign autographs, bowl with you, play laser tag, and so much more...I haven't seen the players bowl this year so I can't tell you whom to avoid for head to head...Last year Matt Dillard and Shannon Wirth were extremely good with Wirth bowling I think a 270 in one game...

The picture is of David Nathanson finishing one of his shots from last year's event...

Further Details

Media Day

Yesterday was Media Day at Wuerfel Park...Beach Bums players and coaches had the opportunity to chat with memebrs of the media about the 2009 season...I collected all the media that I could from the event and linked it below...The photo is of Manager Gregg Langbehn chatting with Giacomo Accardo of TV 7-4...I am sure that there will be more features and such from all outlets leading up to the season and I will let you know as I find them...

TV 7-4 Media Day Story (Includes a Video Link)

TV 7-4 Story About Traverse City Native Jason Cairns(Includes a Video Link)

Record-Eagle Practice Opens Story

Record-Eagle Article on Jason Cairns

Camps Open Around the League

Camps have opened around the Frontier League...Below is a collection of media that I have found about various teams and their camps opening, including Rockford, who has already played an exhibition game, falling to Joliet of the Northern League (Whom former Beach Bum Ryan Gehring plays for and in fact threw two innings last night, allowing a run on three hits; for more on Gehring read the Joliet recap linked below) 7-3 last night...The RiverHawks will play another exhibition contest today at Schaumburg, also of the Northern League...Rockford has something like 10 exhibition games scheduled...Most teams will be inexhibition action this weekend, I will post links to the stories as they become available...The photo is from Justin Walker of the Marion Daily Republican in Southern Illinois showcasing the unique circumstances of their first practice under the lights...Southern Illinois has 39 players in camp, the Beach Bums have 35...

The first full workout for the Beach Bums is today...I will write a recap of the day's events including the intrasquad scrimmage at the conclusion of the day as I will attempt to do for most of spring training...

Marion Daily Republican Story about Southern Illinois

The Southern's Article About Southern Illinois

The Southern's Feature on 2008 Frontier League Pitcher of the Year Ryan Bird

Rockford Register-Star Story About Rockford's Camp

Rockford Register-Star Exhibition Recap

Rockford Recap of Exhibition Loss to Joliet

Joliet Recap of Win Over Rockford With Details on Gehring

Offseason Recap: Midwest Sliders of Ypsilanti

The next edition of my offseason reviews is up with the Midwest Sliders of Ypsilanti...I slanted the Sliders up since they have a home field this year (Oestrike Stadium at Eastern Michigan University) and they also have a collection of players from all classifications, not just rookies this year...The next team I will preview is another 2008 playoff team, the Southern Illinois Miners...Enjoy the look at Midwest...

Midwest Sliders of Ypsilanti
Manager: Eric Coleman
Second Season (29-67)

After spending the entire 2008 season on the road, the Sliders finally have a home, albeit a temporary one in Eastern Michigan’s Oestrike Stadium, but still, four months on the road will wear on any team. Eric Coleman, in his second season as manager, kept a lot of the key players who went through the ups and downs a year ago, and will have a more complete roster to work with in 2009 as they look to establish the future for this third Michigan franchise.

Returning
RHP – James Albury (Rookie-2)
28G, 2 GS, 2-2, 6.28 ERA, 1 SV, 53 IP, 54 K

LHP – Kyle Kearcher (LS-1)
19G, 19 GS, 7-7, 4.35 ERA, 1 CG, 113.2 IP, 107 K

RHP – Earl Oakes (LS-1)
38G, 5-2, 3.94 ERA, 14 SV, 45.2 IP, 64 K

C/RHP – Ben Barrone (LS-1)
Was released by Windy City early in the season, rebounded with Midwest…Stats are combined.
50G, .188, 7 HR, 24 RBI
3G, 0-0, 9.00 ERA, 3 IP, 2K

C – Dom Lombardi (LS-1)
54G, .263, 7 HR, 36 RBI

C – Sean Snell (Rookie-2)
22G, .272, 2 HR, 14 RBI

2B – Sam DeLuca (LS-1)
67G, .250, 5 HR, 23 RBI

OF – Jonnie Knoble (LS-1)
80G, .257, 1 HR, 16 RBI, 26 SB

OF – Zack Pace (Veteran)
88G, .252, 3 HR, 30 RBI, 26 SB

Newcomers (All Stats from 2008 unless Otherwise Noted)
C – Kevin Carkeek (Astros System -- LS-1)
Chosen by the Astros in the 25th round of the 2007 draft…Reached High-A but was also guided by Beach Bums Manager Gregg Langbehn at Lexington in 2008 for 13 games…Stats are from his time at Salem in (High-A)…
44G, .222, 1 HR, 12 RBI

IF – Jason Acevedo (True Rookie from Carthage College)
Transferred to one of the most successful Division III programs from Division I Bradley University…
.464, 13 HR, 66 RBI

IF – Kyle Albright (True Rookie from Embry-Riddle University)
One of the leading hitters on a team that won 44 games last year…
61G, .362, 14 HR, 56 RBI

IF – Jimmy Baker (River City Rascals -- Rookie-2)
Well traveled in both his college and pro career…Played at five different colleges including two Division I programs and split time last year with Wichita of the American Association and River City…Stats are from River City…
22G, .260, 2 HR, 8 RBI

IF – Brett Cant (True Rookie from King College)
Australian spent time in the New South Wales Majors…Played at NAIA King College in Tennessee…
48G, .273, 1 HR, 26 RBI

IF – Jonathan Castro (Edmonton Cracker Cats -- Veteran)
Picked up in a trade for Matt Dahlin
The everyday shortstop for Edmonton in 2008 but also saw significant time at second base…Signed after being released from the Nationals system where he had played since signing as a free agent in 2003…Reached as high as Class-A Advanced…
78G, .314, 3 HR, 45 RBI

IF – Maikel De La Rosa (True Rookie from Kean University)
Was the starting shortstop for a team that advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series in 2008 and won the national title in 2007…
45G, .366, 0 HR, 23 RBI

IF - Jonas Fester (Ft. Worth Cats -- Rookie-2)
Spent time in the American Association after his college career at Johns Hopkins where his team advanced to the Division III championship game…Hit over .400 at Johns Hopkins as a senior…
18G, .121, 0 HR, 3 RBI

IF – Gil Zayas (Worcester Tornadoes -- LS-1)
Acquired in a trade with Worcester of the Can-Am League in exchange for Miguel Magrass…
Posted 231 at bats for Atlantic City in the Can-Am League out of St. John’s…Atlantic City folded and he was signed by Worcester before being dealt…Played in 54 games last season in the Big East…
62G, .260, 5 HR, 30 RBI

OF – Dennis Jones (True Rookie from Michigan State University)
Struggled as a senior, but led the Spartans in RBI as a junior…
42G, .241, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 10 SB

OF - Jeremy Jones (True Rookie from North Carolina A&T)
Drafted by the Rockies in the 25th Round of the 2006 draft but opted to stay in college where he earned first-team All-MEAC…Leading hitter and RBI man at North Carolina A&T and tied for the team lead in homers…
59G, .404, 13 HR, 63 RBI

OF - Jamall Kinard (True Rookie from Gardner-Webb University)
Multi-tool threat…
58G, .306, 7 HR, 47 RBI, 9 2B, 7 3B, 26 SB

RHP – Arshwin Asjes (True Rookie from Temple University)
Was chosen in the 34th Round of the 2005 MLB Draft by the Indians but opted to stay in school…Used as a late-inning reliever at Temple in 2008, could pressure for late inning situations…Team’s Most Outstanding Player in 2006…
26G, 0-2, 4.00 ERA, 10 SV, 36 IP, 32 K

RHP - Doug Brooks (Schaumburg Flyers -- LS-1)
Picked up in a trade with Schaumburg of the Northern League for future considerations
Chosen in the 2001 draft by the Indians in the 48th round but opted to stay in college and signed with the Dodgers, reaching the Midwest League (Low-A) with the Great Lakes Loons for the first part of 2007…Struggled at times with his control…
19 G, 1 GS, 1-0, 7.44 ERA, 32.2 IP, 25 K

RHP – Victor Cardona (True Rookie from Laredo Community College)
Stats are tough to find on Junior College kids…

RHP – J.J. Pannell (Rookie-2 from the Giants System)
Twice drafted, Pannell spent two seasons in the Giants system…He was first chosen by the Nationals in the 50th round of the 2006 draft before being selected in the 38th round of the 2007 draft by the Giants…Led the Arizona League in strikeouts per nine innings by a reliever in his first year as a pro…Spent last season in the short season Northwest League…Played college ball at George Mason and was a second team All-CAA Choice in the year he was drafted by the Giants…
16G, 0-0, 9.82 ERA, 1 SV, 25.2 IP, 33 K

RHP – Dan Fyvie (Tigers System -- LS-1)
Fyvie has already been in the Frontier League once, pitching for Kalamazoo in 2007 before being picked up by the Tigers but has not pitched since…Interestingly enough, his first Frontier League start came against the Beach Bums at Kalamazoo, taking the win after throwing six innings and allowing three runs on May 24, 2007…Originally selected by the A’s in the 33rd Round of the 2001 draft, Fyvie spent five years in the A’s system…Stats are from his stint with Kalamazoo in 2007…
4 G, 4 GS, 2-2, 6.87 ERA, 18.1 IP, 9 K

LHP – Kevin Gerard (True Rookie from C.W. Post)
I’ve never heard of C.W. Post before, but after examining the stats he was one of the team’s starters in 2008…
13 G, 11 GS, 5-4, 4.46 ERA, 74.2 IP, 66 K

RHP – George Biddle (Southern Illinois Miners – Rookie-2)
Spent 2007 with three different teams in the Royals system, peaking in the Midwest League with Burlington…Spent time at the back end of the Southern Illinois bullpen in 2008…
6 G, 0-0, 2.89 ERA, 9.1 IP, 6 K

RHP – Mike Penn (Royals System – LS-2)
Another product of the Royals system, spent three years as a starter including with two different teams in 2008…Stats are from Wilmington of the Carolina League, the High-A team with whom he began 2008 and spent the most time with…
13 G, 11 GS, 3-2, 4.04 ERA, 62.1 IP, 41 K

RHP – Chris Rollins (True Rookie from Gloucester State)
The top overall draft choice of the 2009 Frontier League draft…

IF – Ralph Rosas (True Rookie from Lincoln Memorial)
The first pick of the second round in the Frontier League draft…
50G, .347, 6 HR, 47 RBI

LHP – Saul Gonzalez (New Haven Cutters -- Rookie-2)
Pitched in the Can-Am League previously…Could not find any numbers

RHP/OF – Anthony Gressick (Reds System -- LS-2)
Drafted in the 26th Round of the 2006 MLB draft by the Reds…Has both pitched and played outfield in the minors, trying outfield for the first time in 2008…Reached as high as the Class-A Advanced Sarasota Reds of the Florida State League…Three-time All-MAC selection at Ohio University…Stats are from Dayton of the Midwest League last year as a hitter…
19 G, .241, 3 HR, 4 RBI

RHP – Jon Haldis (Traverse City Beach Bums -- Rookie-2)
You may remember Haldis starting last season for the Beach Bums, his stats with Traverse City are below before he retired…He spent three years within the Dodgers system after signing as a free agent…
4 G, 3 GS, 1-3, 14.90 ERA, 9.2 IP, 3 K

LHP – Mike O’Leary (True Rookie from University of Northern Iowa)
Appeared as both a starter and a reliever for the Panthers of the Missouri Valley Conference…
16 G, 4 GS, 2-4, 5.11 ERA, 49.1 IP, 25 K

LHP – Chris Tierney (Southern Illinois Miners -- Veteran)
Initially drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 7th Round of the 2001 MLB Draft, Tierney reached High-a in both the Kansas City and San Diego organization before being let go in 2005…Was a member of the Southern Illinois pitching staff in 2007 but has not thrown since, stats are from that year…
3 G, 3 GS, 1-1, 3.71 ERA, 17 IP, 6K

RHP – P.J. Zocchi (Indians System -- LS-1)
36th Round choice by the Indians in the 2007 draft…Served as a starting pitcher in the New York-Penn League in 2008…
15 G, 15 GS, 3-5, 4.91 ERA, 69.2 IP, 57 K

Departed
OF – Anthony Albano
(Released on April 10)
91G, .258, 8 HR, 52 RBI

1B/3B – Miguel Magrass
(Traded to Worcester of the Can-Am League)
82G, .252, 11 HR, 41 RBI

RHP – Ryan MacFarlane
(Retired; Took an internship with Athletes in Action)
19G, 11 GS, 4-5, 2.92 ERA, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 89.1 IP, 85 K

RHP – Matt Dahlin
(Traded to Edmonton of the Golden League in exchange for Jonathan Castro)
10 G, 5 GS, 1-4, 5.54 ERA, 37.1 IP, 26 K

SS – Dan Bertolini
(Retired; Took a Head Coaching job at a Junior College)
24 G, .186, 1 HR, 5 RBI

Questions
Since most teams have announced their spring training rosters or pretty close to it, I am assuming these players either retired or were released though I couldn’t find them on the league or team transaction wire…
OF – James Kidd
9G, .083, 0 HR, 0 RBI

2B – Eric Reese
45G, .206, 0 HR, 13 RBI

1B – Bryan Vickers
86G, .212, 13 HR, 45 RBI

RHP/OF – Jon Dandridge
38G, 0-5, 4.80 ERA, 2 SV, 54.1 IP, 46 K

RHP – Shawn Ravenscraft
10G, 4 GS, 0-4, 10.55 ERA, 21.1 IP, 10 K

RHP – Chris Rubio
27G, 11 GS, 1-9, 5.38 ERA, 73.2 IP, 49 K

LHP – Mark Suchowiecki
21G, 14 GS, 2-8, 8.00 ERA, 75.1 IP, 61 K

RHP – Shane Sveda
20G, 1-2, 5.15 ERA, 1 SV, 36.2 IP, 32 K

Keep Your Eye On
Infield/Starting Pitching
With only one returning player (Sam DeLuca), the Sliders will have a wide open competition in spring training to fill the infield slots. The pitching staff features just one returning starter in Kyle Kearcher, who developed into a surprise ace, but they will need to get consistent innings from the other starters to really improve. Chris Tierney started three games for Southern Illinois in 2007, but is he healthy??

Trending
Up
Having a home, even a temporary one, will make the Sliders significantly better than their record last season. This is the same team that played 28 games decided by a run but won just seven of those contests. The Sliders also played 12 extra-inning games, more than any other team in the league. Manager Eric Coleman has a lot of players back in addition to having the luxury of veteran players on this year’s squad. On the final 2008 roster, Midwest featured one LS-2 and three LS-1’s with everyone else being rookies. While the playoffs might be a stretch, look for the Sliders to be a big mover in terms of overall wins. I think they may still struggle a bit in the East Division, but an improvement of over 10 games isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Traverse City Native Comes Home

Traverse City native Jason Cairns has joined the Beach Bums roster for spring training...

Cairns prepped at TC Central and played collegiately at Central Michigan University...He was chosen in the eighth round of the 2005 MLB Draft by the Cardinals and spent three seasons with the Swing of the Quad Cities in the Midwest League as a late-inning reliever (He is pictured in a Swing uniform)...

Cairns will be an LS-1 by Frontier League standards...

Jason Cairns

New Radio Segment

Tomorrow morning I will begin a new weekly radio segment...Every Thursday around 8:30am EST I will be appearing on Sunny Country (101.9 FM in Traverse City) with Dave B. Goode and Cleetus for a segment called Dugout Talk...

My first Friday appearance on The Radio Home of the Beach Bums will be next Friday, May 15...

As always, I will attempt to post the audio on here for those who may have missed it...But if you miss it, What were you doing??? :)

Listen Live Online

Full Draft Results

So yesterday I told you about who the Beach Bums had chosen at the Frontier League draft, adding three pitchers to the spring training roster to bring the total players who will report this afternoon to 35 with 19 of those pitchers...

Here is what everyone else did yesterday as the full results of the draft are linked below...

The above photo is of the first overall selection, RHP Chris Rollins...Rollins was taken by the Midwest Sliders of Ypsilanti and is shown with Midwest Manager Eric Coleman and Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee...Quick background on Rollins is that he is a 22-year old, 6-4 hurler who was drafted out of high school by the Cubs but did not sign...A New Jersey native, he played at Gloucester County College in Sewell, New Jersey...

2009 Frontier League Draft Picks

Hurst, Stahlberg, and Theisen Selected by the Beach Bums at Frontier League Draft

As I alluded to moments ago, the Beach Bums have added three pitchers to the spring training roster via the Frontier League draft held today at Washington's CONSOL Energy Park...

David Hurst was chosen with the eighth overall pick in the first round...Hurst has previous pro experience within the Angels system in 2007...Kyle Stahlberg went in the second round...Stahlberg had a very successful winter in the Golden League's Arizona Winter League...The final choice was a name familiar to me...Michigan native Eric Theisen (Pronounced Tyson) who concluded his college career at Illinois State University last spring as the school's career leader in appearances...

I saw Theisen pitch in my first full broadcasting experience in the summer of 2005...He was a pitcher for the Twin City Stars of the Central Illinois Collegiate League, which has since merged into the Prospect League where Jason Wuerfel will be coaching this summer...

The Frontier League tryout is usually held over two days, but weather forced the cancellation of yesterday's events...

I also recently spoke with Manager Gregg Langbehn after the draft and he said pitching was the area they wanted to focus on after looking at the talent initially (Players have to fill out bio forms which go to all the coaches that include things like previous experience...With the rain out yesterday, they had plenty of time to review the bio sheets and adjust their plan)...The picture you see is of Langbehn posing with the top draft choice, David Hurst, at CONSOL Energy Park...

2009 Frontier League Draft

Frontier League Draft Completed

The Frontier League draft has been completed...The Beach Bums have added three pitchers to the spring training roster to bring the number of pitchers in camp to 19...There are 35 total players battling for a maximum of 24 slots on the opening night roster...Full draft results will be posted shortly...Washington hosted the tryout, which was shortened to just one day after weather in southwest Pennsylvania last evening...