Lexington Hustlers unveil 2011 roster

College Baseball

Earlier this week we posted the list of Kentucky college baseball players who would participate in the 2011 Cape Cod League, but now we have some summer college baseball news from a little closer to home. The Lexington Hustlers of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League have unveiled its 2011 roster will a plethora of Kentucky natives making the cut. You can see the roster on the Hustler’s website here and check out the list with position, college and hometown below.

Pitchers

RHP Conner Asay — Fr. — Vicennes — Lexington, Ky. (Lafayette HS)
RHP Brandon Boling — S0. — Gardner-Webb — Lexington, Ky. (Bryan Station HS)
RHP Wade Bush — So. — Indiana St. — Terre Haute, Ind.
RHP Brent Cobb — Fr. — Eastern Kentucky University — Lexington, Ky. (Lafayette HS)
RHP Chase Greene — So. — EKU — Nicholasville, Ky. (West Jessamine HS)
RHP Matt Harris — Jr. — EKU — Lexington, Ky. (Henry Clay HS)
RHP Chad Martin — Jr. — Indiana — Lexington, Ky. (Paul Laurence Dunbar HS)
RHP Jason McGinnis — Jr. — Georgetown College — Barboursville, W. V.
RHP/OF Sam Kidd — So. — University of Kentucky — Hartford, Ky. (Ohio Co. HS)
LHP Nolan Fernandez — Fr. — Wabash Valley JC — Lexington, Ky.
LHP Tanner Perkins — So. — Western Kentucky University — Brodhead, Ky. (Rockcastle Co. HS)
LHP Noah Smallwood — Fr. — Morehead State University — Nicholasville, Ky. (West Jessamine HS)
LHP Phil Trowbridge — St. Joe’s (Ind.) — Mokena, Il..
LHP Josh Jillson — SO. — St. Catherine’s College — Wales Maine

Catchers

C Shane Crain — So. — Wabash Valley JC (UofL signee) — Lexington, Ky.
C Kyle Gibson — Fr. — University of Louisville — Henderson, Ky. (Henderson Co. HS)
C/OF Brandon Brian — So. — WKU — Louisville, Ky. (Trinity HS)

Infielders

SS Quintin Alexander — Fr. — St. Joe’s (Ind.) — Chicago, Ill.
SS Bud Morton — Fr. — Morehead St. — Nicholasville, Ky. (West Jessamine HS)
INF Colt Cattani — Jr. — Northern Kentucky University — West Chester, Ohio
INF Jonathan Craycraft — Jr. — Lipscomb — Lexington, Ky. (Henry Clay HS)
INF Luke Hawkins — So. — Campbellsville University — Lawrenceburg, Ky. (Anderson Co. HS)
INF Robert Lawrence — So. — Middle Tenn. — Madison, Tenn.
INF/RHP J. T. Riddle — Fr. — UK — Frankfort, Ky. (Western Hills HS)

Outfield

OF Ronald Cotton — Fr. — Cincinnati — Florence, Ky. (Boone Co. HS)
OF Dalton Henzman — So. — Middle Tenn. — Lexington, Ky. (LCA)
OF/INF Jordan Rorex — So. — Middle Tenn. — Clinton, Tenn.
OF Taylor Russell — Jr. — NKU — Loveland, Ohio
OF Tanner Smith — Fr. — WKU — London, Ky. (North Laurel HS)

Outfielder Ronald Cotton and infielder/right-handed pitcher J. T. Riddle were both 2010 draft picks.

Former No. 1 attempts comeback with Phillies; Friedrich, Kipnis among top prospects; At least 6 2010 Cats transfer

College Baseball, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball

Christian Friedrich; Photo by Matt McGee via Flickr

Latest links from around Kentucky baseball:

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com profiles Louisville native and St. X alum Matt Anderson‘s attempted return to MLB with the Philadelphia Phillies. Anderson was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 draft, and is 15-7 with a 5.19 ERA in 257 career games. A shoulder injury derailed his career in 2003.
Tracy Ringolsby of Baseball America ranks former EKU left-handed pitcher Christian Friedrich the No. 4 prospect in the Colorado Rockies system.
Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com ranks one-time UK outfielder turned second baseman Jason Kipnis the No. 4 second base prospect in MiLB.
On Tuesday we linked comments from Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, who said he would not trade former UK right-handed pitcher Joe Blanton before Opening Day. Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports the Phillies have decided Blanton’s role as rotation depth is worth more than his trade value.
Derek Poore of the Courier-Journal reports Blue Jays farmhand Trystan Magnuson, former major league pitcher Paul Byrd, UofL head coach Dan McDonnell, former Astro Chris Burke and others will speak at the BaseballCon held at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville on Jan. 28-29.
Yesterday we listed the newcomers on the newly released University of Kentucky roster, but also of interest were the 2010 players no longer on the roster. BluGrass Baseball has confirmed third baseman Andy Burns transferred to Arizona, outfielder Cory Farris transferred to Cumberland University, right-handed pitcher Joe Devine transferred to Georgetown College, outfielder Navarro Hall transferred to Columbus State University, right-handed pitcher Chase Greene transferred to Eastern Kentucky University and right-handed pitcher Sean Bouthilette transferred to Campbellsville University. Right-handed pitcher Kyle Jackson and left-handed pitcher Jon Carlson are also no longer on the roster.

EKU recap, WKU blowout notes and records

College Baseball

Check out a recap from EKU’s Tuesday win and more notes from the WKU offensive onslaught:

Eastern Kentucky University beat up on NAIA University of the Cumberlands for a 15-2 win Tuesday. Sophomore outfielder Michael Garcia was 2-3 with four RBI and a run scored. Junior outfielder Richie Allen and senior first baseman Anthony Ottrando both homered for the Colonels. (Box Score)
You can read the full recap of the Western Kentucky University romp over the University of Kentucky below, but there are just too many stats to consider to condense into one post. The game was played in front of 6,183 fans, the largest crowd to ever watch a college baseball game in Kentucky. WKU became just the fourth team to have 16 consecutive batters reach base in a game and the first since 1998. (Box Score)
Mike Stunson of the College Heights Herald recaps the WKU win.
Nick Baumgardner of the Bowling Green Daily News also has a recap of the blowout.

Hitter of the Day: C Matt Rice (WKU)

Stats: 5-6, 1 HR, 2 2Bs, 3 RBI, 3 R
Honorable Mention: Matt Payton (WKU), Jared Andreoli (WKU), Logan Robbins (WKU), Lance Ray (UK), Joey Stevens (EKU), Michael Garcia (EKU)

Pitcher of the Day: RHP Brian Edelen (WKU)

Stats: 1-0, 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
Honorable Mention: Ross Hammonds (WKU), Anthony Bazzani (EKU), Chase Greene (UK)
Greene gets the nod for being the only UK pitcher with any success against WKU.

Western Kentucky sophomores continue to outshine their more heralded University of Kentucky counterparts

College Baseball

Jared Andreoli bats against UK: BluGrass Baseball photo

Western Kentucky University (17) rallied for a 6-3 win Tuesday against in-state rival University of Kentucky behind four hits from senior first baseman Jake Wells and three RBI from senior shortstop Matt Payton, but it was WKU’s sophomores than made the most interesting statement of the game. The Cats’ sophomore class has been counted on for production since it entered campus as the fourth-best recruiting class in the country in 2009, but as conference play gets underway one could easily argue that the unheralded Hilltopper sophomores are having a bigger impact on their team.

WKU’s second-year players are headlined by a pair of relative unknowns entering the 2010 season in outfielders Jared Andreoli and Kes Carter. Still doubtful of their importance in the WKU lineup? Just look to the sixth inning Tuesday when UK head coach Gary Henderson elected to intentionally walk Carter to load the bases with two outs and face preseason All-American Matt Rice. Andreoli leads the Hilltoppers with a .389 batting average, Carter ranks second at .387. Andreoli ranks second in the state with 39 runs scored and Carter ranks fourth in the state with 33 RBI.

Meanwhile UK’s heralded sophomores spent all of 2009 counted on to lead a team to the NCAA tournament, an amount of pressure that was probably unfair to place on a group of freshman. The class has been led by its least heralded member in outfielder Chad Wright, who ranks second on the team with a .349 average and 20 RBI. Slugger Cory Farris has shown his token power stroke in limited action this season with six home runs, but hasn’t been able to break out of the right-field platoon. Designated hitter, pitcher and first baseman Braden Kapteyn is batting .266, and third baseman Andy Burns, arguably the most highly touted position player to ever sign with UK, is batting just .237.

WKU sophomore infielder Casey Dykes is excelling to the rate of a .340 average and four home runs after starting ever game this season. On the mound sophomore relievers Tyler Gilliand and Craig Stem both have sub-3.00 ERAs and over ten appearances in 2010. Just sophomore relievers Phil Whetherell and Aaron Mayfield with their over-6.00 ERAs and sophomore infielder Logan Robbins with his under-.200 batting average have struggled this season.

UK’s sophomore pitchers have enjoyed at least mixed success in 2010. Right-handed starting pitcher Alex Meyer, arguably the most talented pitcher in the state, has four wins but has struggled with his control to the tune of a 6.15 ERA. Sometime midweek starter Sean Bouthilette has a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings after a stellar six-inning performance Tuesday. Kapteyn hasn’t given up an unearned run in 6.2 innings this season, and righty Chase Greene pitched a scoreless inning in his only performance this year. Heralded catcher Michael Williams now finds himself in a battle for the backup time with freshman Luke Maile.

You can’t quite chalk up the success of the WKU incoming class of 2009 to inferior competition either. The Hilltoppers currently have more wins (2) against Southeastern Conference opponents than the Cats (1). The UK incoming class of 2009 has had the spotlight shined on it since its members reportedly made a pact to not sign professional contracts when drafted out of high school unless they received first-round money. I wrote my first feature about them just weeks after fall classes started their freshman year, but so far performance hasn’t quite matched up to the hype. The common thinking goes that the Cats have struggled because they are young, but they aren’t that young anymore. Just ask the sophomores to the west in Bowling Green.