Three transfers and a commit

Dickson, Newalu and Vawter-Scoggins move up from juco; Richter goes DI

Zach Vawter-Scoggins is headed to Valdosta
State for the 2011 NCAA season

 Fall semester is in full swing and the boys of college ball are already into full-on team practice and gearing up for fall scrimmages. As we try to catch up with who went where in the summertime college-ball shuffle, we've uncovered three more ABL players who will be transferring from junior college up to four-year ball, and one former prep star who will be moving into the college game.

2010 third-bagger and Glacier Pilots masher O'Koyea Dickson will be moving up from the College of San Mateo, will be a Seawolf in 2011. No, Alaska Anchorage isn't adding a baseball program; Dickson has transferred to Sonoma State of the Division II CCAA conference. Sonoma State is one of the more noteworthy DII baseball programs in the country, turning out three mid-draft picks and an indy-ball signee in 2010. Dickson was a mid-summer pickup for the Pilots in 2010 and brought a sweet power swing (scouting video) to the Anchorage club.

Another 3B, Blake Newalu of the 2008 Mat-Su Miners, is on the move. Newalu will be leaving Chipola CC behind for the University of Mississippi. "Ole Miss", of course, plays in the Division-I Southeastern Conference (SEC) and gave rise to first-round, #5 overall pick in the 2010 MLB amateur draft, Drew Pomeranz. The Rebels have also been awarded eight consecutive NCAA regional seeds, so Newalu will be in good company talent-wise and have a good opportunity to continue making a name for himself.

Pilots flying up Cederquist, Oilers ink Wisdom

Patrick Wisdom will find himself here
in 2010.
Photo Credit: OilersBaseball.com

The Anchorage Glacier Pilots and Peninsula Oilers have announced another pair of players who they have chosen to bring up for the 2010 season: Patrick Wisdom will play for the Kenai club while Clay Cederquist will don the blues of Anchorage's senior organization.

Clay Cederquist is a first year first-bagger out of Fresno State. As a freshman, Cederquist has seen limited playing time with the Bulldogs, but for what it's worth, he's hitting .455 with 2 runs, 4 RBI and a homer in just 11 at-bats. Perfect Game had a look at him as a high school prospect and had good things to say about him: he can drive the ball to all fields, he has plus bat-speed, power potential, plus soft hands and a good glove on the defensive end. Cederquist also has a reputation for bringing the intangibles to the field; he's got a good work ethic, gives everything his best both on and off the field, and has a generally positive attitude.

Cederquist has already gained the attention of pro scouts. He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the late rounds as a high school senior, despite the fact that he was injured most of his senior year. Patrick made the choice to get in with a D1 school, which means that he's got a couple more seasons in the amateur leagues before MLB teams will get another shot at him, and we're fortunate to get a look at him this summer.

Flurry of transactions as Panners shape roster for opening day

The Goldpanners' first game is a little over a month away, and the team has made a series of roster moves to shape up their squad for opening day. There have been some noteworthy players going each way, both released and signed, so here's the rundown of what's been going on up in the Fairbanks front office:

Who's In?

On the plus side of the ledger sheet, the Goldpanners have added five players in recent days: Ray Hanson (Cypress), Christian Meza and Brett Tanos (Santa Ana), Colton Plaia (Loyola Marymount) and Derek Wilson (Scottsdale CC).

At the time of writing, Ray Hanson's signing hasn't been widely promoted. He has been added to the Goldpanners roster but they haven't announced his addition on the front page of their website, nor have they linked a player profile for him. Acting GM Todd Dennis hooked me up with the scoop on this one, and he seemed really stoked about Hanson. Ray is a sophomore right-handed strikeout pitcher, who can count among the accomplishments of his early career holding golden boy Bryce Harper hitless, and sitting him down on strikes twice, when he picked up Cypress College's first win against Southern Nevada in three years this spring. As a freshman in 2009, Hanson posted a K/BB of 73/27 (2.703) in 86.0 IP, going 11-1 in 13 starts.