3/6/10 Odds & Ends

Box Score:

- 2010 Bucs recruit Dominic Piazza has been added to the watch list for this year's Johnny Bench award. The JB trophy is given every year to college baseball's top catcher. As it stands now, the watch list is at 53 players and will be narrowed down before being voted on by a panel of baseball-types at season's end, so it's not like Dominic is a lock to bring it home. But the fact that he's in the running for the award is testament to the strength of the Alaska League's talent pool.

- The esteemed Summer Ball blog recently ran a piece [update: the original piece was written by Jonathan Hodgson for www.wmbl.ca. My bad.] called "Recruiting 101", in which they spoke with the staff of the Okotoks Dawgs' (of the Western League) front office about how a summer ball team recruits players for the upcoming season. I'm not sure how the process in the WMBL compares to the Alaska League, but I imagine the process is fairly similar. Anyway, it's a good read, so check it out.



- MLB.com has an interesting article regarding first-round pick Beau Mills (Panners, 2006). The article talks about his reaction to the news that his dad has been named manager of the Houston Astros, how Beau spent his off-season working on a dairy farm out in California, and how the infielder -- who has been invited to big-league spring training camp this year -- is approaching the upcoming season.

- This week has been good for Goldpanners recruits: Park University (NAIA) speedster and 2010 recruit Darian Sandford had a good game yesterday in the nightcap of Park's much-delayed season opening doubleheader, racking up a hit, two walks, and a steal on three at-bats....Nigel Morton (2009/2010 recruit) went 2-for-4 and came across to score twice for Southwest Baptist on Tuesday ...catcher Kevin Roundtree (2010 Recruit) was two-for-two plus a walk for USC yesterday.

- The Wrap-up of the last week's articles: Friday - A look at some midweek performances by ABL players...Tuesday - #4 All-Time Top ABL Player John Olerud...Monday - A preview of the Glacier Pilots' returning players and new skipper for 2010


On Deck:

- If you want to see some Bucs recruits in action this weekend, Winthrop's game against Texas A&M featuring outfielders Eddie Rohan and Sean Sullivan will be webcasted via their opponent's website. That's live video for FREE. Click here for more info.

- We're getting to the top of the list on our All-Time Top ABL Players countdown, and this Tuesday we'll unveil the next player on our list...#3. Who could it be? I know you're all dying with anticipation so be sure to check back on Tuesday for the writeup.


Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergemelki/ / CC BY 2.0