Morehead signs JUCO pitcher; Lexington youth teams qualify for World Series; Wright, Ijames square off in Cape final

Latest links from around Kentucky baseball:

Morehead State University signed Oklahoma junior college left-handed pitcher Matt Cartwright to complete its 2010 signing class.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports three Lexington youth baseball teams have qualified for their respective division’s World Series.
Jason Stella of the Louisville Bats’ media relations department profiles third baseman/ left fielder Todd Frazier and his recent improvements that have helped propel the Bats into first place in their division.
Brent Ingram of the University of Kentucky media relations department is listing the 20 most memorable Bat Cats’ games since 2006 for “Cat Scratches,” starting with No. 16-20.
Joe Capozi of the Palm Beach Post reports Florida Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla, born in Louisville, has experience a recent surge during the best season of his career after moving to the cleanup spot in the lineup.
The finals of the prestigious Cape Cod League have reached a decisive game three with an interesting UK/UofL subplot. Yarmouth-Dennis, featuring University of Louisville outfielder Stewart Ijames, is matched against Coutit, featuring UK outfielder Chad Wright in the championship series. Neither player recorded a hit in game two, but Wright scored two of Cotuit’s three runs in it’s game one win. You can watch the final game of the series here at 3 p.m.

Burns concentrating on Cape season; Ijames named Cape Cod player of week; Red Sox, Yankees want Downs

College Baseball, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball

Scott Downs; Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Updates and links from around Kentucky baseball:

Brewster Whitecaps General Manager Ned Monthie responded to BluGrass Baseball‘s request for an interview with former University of Kentucky infielder Andy Burns, who recently left the program, by saying, “Andy wants to concentrate on the current season and won’t make any statements at this time.”
University of Louisville rising redshirt junior outfielder Stewart Ijames was named the Cape Cod League player of the week after batting .423 with a home run and eight RBI for Yarmouth-Dennis.
Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse reports both the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have targeted Louisville native and former UK left-handed pitcher Scott Downs as a possible trade deadline acquisition. Price notes Cincinnati may also have interest in Downs.
Yesterday we reported former Eastern Kentucky University left-handed pitcher and Colorado Rockies prospect Christian Friedrich was hit on his pitching elbow by a line drive while pitching for AA Tulsa. Barry Lewis of the Tulsa World has a full recap of the incident with quotes from Tulsa manager Ron Gideon.
Jason Stella of the Louisville Bats media relations department writes former Major League outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. has been a valuable mid-season acquisition for the Bats.
Jim Callis of Baseball America profiles recently promoted Lexington Legends outfielder J. D. Martinez in his latest “Ask BA” column.

UK Baseball Summer League Wrap-Up

College Baseball

Photo: UK Athletics

With the Cape Cod League championship in the book, the UK summer league action has concluded for the season. Braden Kapteyn’s MVP performance in the New York Collegiate Baseball League highlighted the summer, but his performance wasn’t the only one worth noting this summer.

UPDATE 1:25 P.M. — ADDED NAVARRO HALL/ NYCBL ALL-LEAGUE INFO

New York Collegiate Baseball League

INF/RHP Braden Kapteyn — Amsterdam Mohawks — Kapteyn led the Mohawks in homeruns (4), batted .319 on the season and posted a 2.47 ERA on the mound. Had a singled, double and home run in the NYCBL finals to lead Amsterdam to the title. Named league MVP after leading league in strikeouts on the mound (72) and ranking third in total bases at the plate (66). Braden was named the utility player on the NYCBL first team all league.
RHP Sean Bouthilette — Amsterdam Mohawks — 4-3 with a 2.02 ERA in nine starts with two complete games. Sean had 42 strikeouts and 14 walks in 49 innings. Sean was named to the NYCBL second team all league at pitcher.
OF Cory Farris — Amsterdam Mohawks — Farris batted .280 with two home runs and 15 RBI in 34 games. Cory started 32 games for Amsterdam.
RHP Chase Green — Amsterdam Mohawks — 3-0 with a 0.71 ERA in 15 games with 25 strikeouts in 25.1 innings. Started one game for Amsterdam and held opponents to a .128 batting average. Green was named NYCBL first team all league at relief pitcher.
INF Neiko Johnson — Watertown Wizards — Johnson batted .343 with two home runs and 24 RBI in 39 games for Watertown. Neiko stole 21-22 bases, but had 13 errors in the field. Johnson was named NYCBL second team all-league at second base.
OF Navarro Hall — Mohawk Valley — Sophomore outfielder Navarro Hall batting .289 with one home run and nine RBI in 39 games for Mohawk Valley. Hall started 38 games and scored 28 runs.
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Tuesday Links: Brown SAL Player of Week

College Baseball, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball

Steve Brown

Legends outfielder Steve Brown was named South Atlantic League player of the week after a week that saw him go 12-28 (.429) with three home runs and 11 RBI. Check out more on Brown’s honor and other BluGrass Baseball storylines in this mornings hot links:

Minorleaguebaseball.com has a breakdown of each league’s player of the week including Brown.
The Legends’ game was suspended due to rain with one out in the fifth inning. Lexington and Asheville will resume that game where it left off at 6:05 p.m. today before playing tonight’s scheduled game which has been shortened to seven innings.
Kevin Barker’s home run gave Louisville a 4-3 victory over Lehigh Valley.
The “Other Beckham” (Jeremy, Tim’s brother) hit his first professional home run in an 8-4 Bowling Green victory over Greenville.
UK second baseman Chris Bisson was 1-6 with two runs scored in the Cotuit Kettleers’ series clinching victory against Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the Cape Cod League semi-finals. UK pitcher Matt Little surrendered two runs in the game in 2.2 innings of relief for Yarmouth-Dennis.
UK baseball has announced a “5-Tool Camp” scheduled for Labor Day weekend.
The Associated Press reports that Toronto Blue Jays GM J. P. Riccardi wants MLB to move up the signing deadline for draft picks after the team has failed to sign eight of its first 10 picks, including UK pitcher James Paxton, so far.
Here is a piece I wrote for Examiner.com about the top prospects on the Lexington Legends’ roster.
EKU alum Christian Friedrich continued his domination of California League opponents by striking out eight in 6.2 innings to lower his ERA to 1.32 and earn his third win in the league.
According to Baseball America, the Tigers placed former UK pitcher Scott Green on the 7-day disabled list and the Padres placed former UK pitcher Andrew Albers on the 60-day DL.