Jim Goulart

Also at Maryvale is RHP Skyler Crawford, a 22-year-old with two seasons of pro experience in the Marlins chain, reaching as high as the Florida State League last season. He was a 2008 30th round pick out of California's Hartnell Junior College. His pro numbers thus far are available for review here.

21-year-old LHP Travis Stortz is with the Maryvale club according to MiLB.com. He pitched for Stetson (SC) Univeristy in 2008 and 2009, it's unclear if he saw action anywhere in 2010. He pitched almost exclusively in relief with poor results, so this must be an "arm" signing based on an impressive workout. Listed at 6'2" in college (2008 Stetson bio page), MiLB.com lists him at 6'0", 175. Was a 36th round high school pick of Tampa Bay.

Thanks to our reader (CheesehaedInIllinois) who pointed out in the Helena / Maryvale thread that 41st round 1B / OF Derrick Shaw of Florida A&M has signed and is in Arizona. We'll have updates on three more non-drafted free agents shortly.

Good luck to Cole Gillespie, back up with the D-Backs Rotoworld: Diamondbacks recalled OF Cole Gillespie from Triple-A Reno. He'll take the place of Ryan Roberts on the 25-man roster. Gillespie batted .256/.310/.462 with one home run and four RBI in 39 at-bats with the big club earlier this season. The 25-year-old outfielder figures to get more playing time in his second stint with the club now that Conor Jackson has been dealt to the Athletics. RHP Roque Mercedes, the other player in the Felipe Lopez deal, is having a non-descript middle relief season at AA.

The Brian Bruney (stats) experiment is over after just two appearances with Nashville. The Brewers have released him.

Huntsville Media Relations: LHP Casey Baron has been placed on the disabled list, retroactive to June 19. Baron was recently activated from the DL on June 14, after a 21-day stint. He is 1-0 with a 6.62 ERA in 13 appearances with the Stars. In 17.2 innings, he has given up 13 earned runs and one home run. There is no corresponding move at this time, leaving the Stars active roster at 23, one below the Southern League limit. It's been kind of a lost season for Baron, who was tracking to be the next Mitch Stetter-ish home grown loogy for the Crew.

Here's some nice video from the contest -- including the shot that broke the sign discussed above, which did look pretty "Natural-esque". Khris Davis briefly discusses his win as well, looked psyched (and exhausted).

Khris Davis photo the 2nd in the gallery

Link while active, text follows: Derby a smashing success TinCaps’ Freiman 2nd at All-Star event Steve Warden, The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette FORT WAYNE – It wasn’t exactly Roy Hobbs smashing a light in the film “The Natural,” but shattering a top portion of the Huntington University sign that is attached vertically to the left-field foul pole will forever provide the TinCaps’ Nate Freiman his own piece of Parkview Field lore. “He busted the sign!” said Jason Freier, chief executive officer of Hardball Capital, which owns the TinCaps. Well, yes, but it was a small price to pay for a joyous night that drew 4,015 fans to the Midwest League Home Run Derby and Skills Competition on Monday. It was the opening act of two days of festivities that will end with tonight’s All-Star Game. Although Freiman lost the home run competition to Wisconsin Timber Rattlers’ Khris Davis, an outfielder with the West team, the 6-foot-7 first baseman came up with the night’s most memorable shot. When the ball hit the area of the sign that is nearly 30 feet from the playing surface, several pieces of white fell into the left field corner. “That’s cool,” Freiman said of his second home run in the final round. “Hopefully it isn’t broke up too bad.” Freiman, who has six homers this season, finished with eight home runs in the final round. Davis, who hit first in the last round, had 11. But Freiman made it close. With three home runs and four outs (anything but a home run) to go before being eliminated, Freiman went on to hit four straight, many of which sailed out of Parkview Field. “It was fun,” Freiman said. “Khris was unbelievable. He put on a great show.” As did Freiman in the first round, when he lofted 12 out of the park. “The fans were great,” said Davis, who earlier in the season hit a home run that hit the wooden trellis in center field – an estimated distance of 430 feet. “They were cheering me on, too. Of course they were going for the hometown boy, but they were cheering me on. I think they wanted to see a real good show.” Spencer Burns, the Garrett senior who won the high school portion of the home run derby, had one in his turn at the plate. And the more he watched, the more impressed he was of the All-Stars. “This is only single-A ball, too,” Burns said. “You’ve got a lot more levels to get to the bigs. These guys, this is what they do for a living. They come in and make it look easy.” In the skills competition, Danny Payne of the TinCaps and Beloit’s Aaron Hicks tied for first in the outfield throw, Christian Lara of Great Lakes on the infield throw, and Max Stassi of Kane County, Tyson VanWinkle of South Bend and Chun-Hsiu Chen of Lake County tied in the catchers’ throw.

Rattlers give inkling that second half could be different

Nice video report with some game highlights from the Independent Record.

Link while active, text follows: Walk(er) off winner By AMBER KUEHN, Helena Independent Record Heading into the ninth inning Monday, it looked as if the Missoula Osprey were on their way to their first season-opening win since 2002. Helena third baseman Mike Walker had something to say about that. The rookie from Marysville, Calif., took a fastball from Osprey closer Randy Hamrick and drilled a two-run, walkoff triple to the right-centerfield wall at Kindrick Field. The ball was out of reach for right fielder Roberto Rodriguez, and Walker rounded the bases back to a sea of teammates celebrating the Brewers’ 7-6 Pioneer League victory. Not bad for Walker’s first professional hit. “That’s what you dream about playing whiffle ball,” said Walker, who had a pair of strikeouts in his two previous at-bats. He reached base earlier on a four-pitch walk, and was hit by a pitch in the third. “Ever since I was five years old, that’s what I was dreaming about.” Not only did Walker deliver the gamewinner, but his clutch hit made up for his seventh-inning throwing error that put two Missoula runners at the corners. He said he wasn’t nervous coming in with no outs and two runners on after Franklin Romero and Cody Hawn both singled to start the final inning. “You can’t take those clutch at-bats any differently than any other at-bat,” Walker said. “I was just happy I could come through after I struck out a couple of times and made a pretty big error there.” The Brewers got down early, when Missoula led off the second stanza with three straight doubles and a two-run home run by Rodriguez to put the visitors up 4-0. But Helena answered in the bottom half, scoring two runs with a little help from three errors by Missoula. Shea Vucinich’s RBI single an inning later gave the Brewers a brief 5-4 lead. After falling behind again in the seventh, Helena’s first-year manager Joe Ayrault had no doubt his team had another rally left in them. And he wasn’t surprised to see who came up with the game-winning hit, considering the powerful Walker had hit balls out to the wall all last week in practice. “All he’s done since he got here is impressed,” Ayrault said. “When we had our simulated games, the way he swung the bat, even the way he faced lefties, it was one of those things where you knew he was going to come through at some point with a big hit for us. “How hard the guys played, and to win it like that, there’s no better way to win it.” Reliever Brian Garman pitched the final two innings for Helena and recorded the win. He gave up just one hit and didn’t allow any more to cross the plate, and he also struck out one. “I felt like I had nothing to lose,” said the southpaw out of the University of Cincinnati. “For my first professional baseball game, it was really fun to watch the team battle back like that. Joe told everyone this team would be about heart and hustle. More important than being 1-0 is the way we did it. This is a huge momentum swing.” Helena starter Tyler Cravy lasted 5 2/3 innings, giving up six hits, five earned runs, walking two and fanning one. Ayrault only had good things to say about the right-hander. “I thought Cravy showed a lot of moxie, giving up four in the second inning and being able to come back and battle for the innings that he did,” the skipper said. “As for Garman, he did exactly what we asked of him to do.” Ryan Bernal also made a brief appearance, making his professional debut in the sixth inning. For Missoula, starter Patrick Schuster gave up seven hits; Hamrick was tagged with the loss. Helena catcher Brent Dean had a solid night behind the plate, picking off two attempted steals at second. “That was clutch for us, too, to get us out of a couple jams,” Ayrault said of Dean’s plays. Missoula third baseman Eric Groff had the web gems though, the most impressive being a diving stop on a hit by Dean, then throwing a bullet to first to get the out in the eighth inning. But in the end, Walker had the heroics. “It’s nice to be able to come back and help the team win,” Walker said. “I’ve always thought, it might as well be me. I’ve got a lot of confidence in myself.” DIAMOND NOTES: Secretary of State Linda McCulloch threw out the ceremonial first pitch Monday night for the second straight year...Osprey first baseman/outfielder Bobby Stone tied Luis Terreo for second place in games played for Missoula, a record owned by Corey Myers (1999-00). Stone is also the all-time home run leader for Missoula with 23...1,029 fans showed up for opening day. All photos by Dylan Brown, Independent Record – Helena's Greg Hopkins tags out Missoula's Adam Eaton and gets knocked off the bag Monday night at Kindrick Field during the season opener. Helena won 7-6 with a walk-off home run by Mike Walker. http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/0/8b/18a/08b18a6a-7dbb-11df-a8ce-001cc4c002e0-revisions/4c20435e320ce.image.jpg Helena's Franklin Romero hits a grounder Monday, while Jae Yun Kim catches during the season opener at Kindrick Field. http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/5/08/95f/50895f16-7dbb-11df-bfda-001cc4c002e0-revisions/4c2043d73e10a.image.jpg Helena's Greg Hopkins, second right, and Shea Vucinich celebrate with fellow teammates after scoring in the third inning against Missoula at Kindrick Field Monday night. http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/8/62/182/8621829e-7dba-11df-b309-001cc4c002e0-revisions/4c204283b63bd.image.jpg

Brewers win in walk-off fashion Opening Night for the Helena Brewers was nothing short of exciting. The bats were alive and the pitching was solid as the Brewers came from behind to defeat the Missoula Osprey 7-6 on Monday night. Helena's Tyler Cravy went 5.2 innings allowing five runs on six hits. Trouble began in the top of the 2nd when Missoula third baseman Eric Groff led off the inning with a double to left-center field. Bobby Stone and Adonys Canelo followed suit before Roberto Rodriguez homered to right field on a 2-1 pitch to make it 4-0. Helena quickly answered back in the bottom of the inning. Brewers left fielder John Dishon started things off with a walk after a Shea Vucinich ground out. Brent Dean picked up his first professional hit with a single through the hole at second base to score Vucinich. Carlos George then reached on an error by Missoula shortstop Raul Navarro. Franklin Romero made it a two-run game with a double down the left-field line to score Dean. Helena took the lead in the bottom of the third. Mike Walker was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Greg Hopkins then singled to shallow right field. Vucinich followed Hopkins with an RBI single to center. George came through in the clutch with a two-out single to score Hopkins and Vucinich. Cravy (0-0, 7.94) was nearly perfect for the rest of his outing. The only other Osprey run came off an Adonys Canelo solo shot to right field on a 2-0 pitch to make it 5-5. Cravy finished the game with a strikeout and two walks. The score stayed the same until the 7th inning. Missoula's Rodriguez led off the inning with a single. Jae Yun Kim reached on a throwing error by Walker at third base. Walker made a fantastic diving stop to keep the ball in the infield but Cody Hawn wasn't able to scoop an errant throw out at first. Rodriguez would score later in the inning to give Missoula the 6-5 lead. The run was unearned and was charged to Ryan Bernal, who went 1.1 innings, allowing one hit and one strikeout. Helena went into the bottom of the ninth trailing 6-5. Things would change in a hurry. Romero led the inning off with a single up the middle. Hawn reached on a single down the right field line, and was pinch-run for by Reggie Keen. Mike Walker then came up looking for his first professional hit. He would find it at the most opportune time as he ripped a game-winning triple to right field to score Romero and Keen. Game two of the four-game series will begin at 7:05 tomorrow (8:05 Central) with gates opening at 6:00. Helena's Hiram Burgos (0-0, 0.00) is scheduled to get the start for the Brewers. Missoula will send Derek Eitel (0-0, 0.00) to the mound.

Inherited runners-scored: Johnson, D 3-0. Goes unmentioned so often, even in the Sounds' team recap, but David Johnson bailing out Tim Dillard in the 7th was a key in their victory. Must admit that when I open up each box score, it's the first stat line I scroll to in order to get a sense of the game log before heading there. Kudos, David!

Final: Arizona Brewers 10, Arizona Indians 3 Arizona Box Score Final five 1/2 inning frames fairly uneventful (see most of the game details above), RHP Jose Sanchez finished up after making two rough appearances with the Timber Rattlers earlier this month; each team fanned 11, but the Brewer arms offered only two free passes, the Indians six walks and three HBP's; Yadiel Rivera gets the opening day shortstop nod at 18 years, one month, he'll be fun to watch... Arizona Game Log

In progress, bottom of the 7th at the Indians complex -- Arizona Brewers 10, Arizona Indians 2 Getting late -- doing this in a bit of piecemeal... The A-Crew a model of efficiency through their first seven trips to the plate -- ten runs on 19 baserunners (six walks, three HBP's and ten hits, all but Nick Shaw's triple are singles); clean defense; and effective tightrope pitching from starter Francisco Rivero, who went five innings; Shaw, the Brewers' 25th round pick out of Barry (FL) University, has reached four times in five trips; 21-year-old CF Robbie Garvey was kind of a forgotten name, as he signed as an undrafted free agent late last summer but only debuts tonight, and he's reached three times in four trips from the nine-spot; 19-year-old catcher Tyler Roberts, hitting clean-up, has also been on base three times thus far; RF Max Walla, batting 8th, is 0-for-3 with two K's, but did walk and he scored the 10th Brewer run in the top of the 7th... On the mound, Francisco Rivero made use of the double play ball to survive a scoreless 3rd inning in which he allowed three singles; another GIDP wiped out a leadoff single in the 4th; Rivero's line of 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, and 5 K's was just fine given the 101 degree temperature at game time; documented for prosperity is the pro debut of 22-year-old undrafted free agent LHP Dexter Bobo, who came in for Rivero in the 6th -- AZL Indians Bottom 6th Pitcher Change: Dexter Bobo replaces Francisco Rivero. Alex Monsalve grounds out to first baseman Jason Rogers. Jesus Aguilar called out on strikes. Anthony Gallas called out on strikes. So that's where we stand as of the 7th inning stretch, 10-2 good guys, will attempt to update soon as the game wraps up.

June 21 - Stu's Chat with Outfielder Trent Oeltjen Always psyched for the Aussie accent, Stu's respect for these minor league vets comes off as very genuine always...

Davis blasts way to MWL Derby crown By Matthew Lindner / Special to MLB.com FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The first Home Run Derby in Fort Wayne in 16 years proved to be well worth the wait for TinCaps fans -- especially those sitting in left field. Wisconsin outfielder Khris Davis (Brewers) turned a seating area known as the "Home Run Porch" into his own personal target practice landing strip Monday night, sending 11 souvenirs to the fans in that section during the final round en route to the title. "They should've brought gloves with them if they were going to catch 'em," Davis said. Wearing his hat backward like his idol, the recently retired Ken Griffey, Jr., Davis set the tone from the start. He lofted nine balls out of the yard in the first round and five in the second, setting the stage for an epic final against hometown favorite Nate Freiman (Padres) of Fort Wayne. "He was making it look easy," Davis said of his opponent. "I just wanted to get as many as I can." Freiman certainly had his moments in the spotlight, though. The slugging first baseman made a grand entrance on a golf cart, waving an American flag. Once the pageantry stopped, the real first-round fireworks began. Freiman also took aim at the Home Run Porch early on, hitting 13 home runs to that part of the ballpark to establish himself as the early favorite. "You try not to swing too hard," he said. "You have to swing hard enough to get it out, but you don't want to wear yourself out." But in the end, Davis had just enough left in the tank, withstanding a late onslaught by Freiman, who ended up with eight in the round. "It would have been nice to win, but being here in the finals and putting on a great show, it was a lot of fun," Freiman added. Meanwhile the Derby pitchers were able to do something few Midwest League pitchers have been able to this season -- keep Great Lakes first baseman Jerry Sands (Dodgers) from leaving the yard. Sands was eliminated early on, only sending two balls out of the yard in his first-round exit. Skills that pay the bills: The old saying goes "If at first you don't succeed, try try again," and for one All-Star, that became a mantra during the Skills Competition. Wisconsin second baseman Scooter Gennett put his first throw from shortstop into the first-base dugout and the second one into the fifth row of seats before becoming the first and only position player to put one through the target. He finished in second place among the infielders. Great Lakes shortstop Christian Lara (Dodgers) scored the most points among all fielders, hitting the target four times for four points en route to the infielders' victory. Three of the four catchers -- Kane County's Max Stassi (A's), Lake County's Chun-Hsiu Chen (Indians) and South Bend's Tyson Van Winkle (Diamondbacks) -- tied for the win in the catchers' competition with two points each. Beloit's Aaron Hicks (Twins) and Fort Wayne's Denny Payne tied for the win in the outfielders' competition with one point apiece. Hometown hitter: Freiman wasn't the only hometown hero participating in this year's Derby. Recent Garrett High School (Ind.) graduate Spencer Burns earned the chance of a lifetime, competing in this year's Derby as the Hometown Hitter. Burns earned his coveted spot competing against the pros after beating out a host of other top area hitters. Entering to one of the evening's louder ovations, Burns did not disappoint, using his aluminum bat to give his hometown fans a thrill. Burns sent one pitch flying out high over the left-field wall on to one of the streets surrounding the stadium. Despite some hard-hit line drives, that dinger would be Burns' only blast of the evening, though. Even still, he says it was one of the more memorable experiences he's had on or off a baseball field. "Coming here, I was a little nervous," he said. "These guys have all treated me real well. It's great to be out here competing with these guys." It's also likely the final hurrah in his baseball career. Burns will head to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to compete on the school's football team. He says football is his top priority, but he hasn't entirely ruled out trying out for the school's baseball team. Notes: This is the 16th year the Midwest League has gone with the East-West format for the All-Star Game, with the East having won 10 of the previous 15 games. ... The East topped the West, 36-27, in the cumulative point totals of the Skills Competition. ... Both of the East's starting catchers were injured in action Sunday. Van Winkle replaced Lake County's Roberto Perez on the Eastern Division roster, but original starting catcher A.J. Jimenez (Reds) of Lansing will not be replaced on the roster. Chen, who was originally scheduled to start at designated hitter, will start at catcher. The average age of the East squad is 20.7, while the average age of the West stars is 21.1. Khris Davis teed off 25 times -- including 11 in the final round -- to win the title. (Dan Watson) http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2010/06/21/JTrQ5OvJ.jpg

From Chris Mehring, who wrote a very cool live blog of this event, check out the link and its photos -- KHRIS DAVIS: 2010 MWL HOME RUN DERBY CHAMP! FORT WAYNE, IN - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers outfielder Khris Davis is the champion of home run derby in the Midwest League for 2010. The right-handed hitting slugger defeated Fort Wayne TinCaps infielder Nate Freiman 11-8 in the finals to claim the crown. Home Run Derby was held as part of All-Star Monday at Parkview Field. The Midwest League All-Star Game is scheduled for Tuesday night at the home of the TinCaps. Davis hit 25 homers in his three rounds of competition. Davis finished behind Freiman in the preliminary round. Davis hit nine home runs as the second hitter. Freiman banged 12 tape-measure shots as the last hitter. Three other players: Matt Davidson of South Bend (8 homers), Henry Rodriguez of Dayton (4), and Nick Franklin of Clinton (4), also advanced out of the first round. Franklin and Rodriguez each hit two homers in the semifinals. Davidson homered one time. Davis advanced to the finals by hitting five homers. Freiman made the finals with six homers and he did not take his full complement of 10 outs in the semifinals. Davis, the seventh round pick of the Brewers in the 2009 draft, went to hit first in the final round. The scoring of the competition was any ball that was not hit for a home run was an out. Davis had five home runs and three outs left in his turn when he went off on a binge. He hit five homers on six swings to give him ten home runs. Davis, who hit the majority of homers to left field, hit one more homer to give him eleven. Freiman started slow, but homered on four straight swings to give him seven homers with six outs. He would get just one more homer and Davis would claim the crown. In a post-game interview on the field microphone, Davis mentioned that he just tried to go out and do like Ken Griffey, Jr., Davis's favorite player, used to do in the Major League Home Run Derby. Davis will be a starter in the outfield for the Western Division squad in the Midwest League All-Star Game on Tuesday night. Teammate Scooter Gennett is the starter at second base for the West. Fellow Timber Rattlers Jake Odorizzi and Nick Bucci are also members of the West Division team. Game time from Parkview Field is 6:05 PM CDT.

Look for your full update later this evening, but what a blast listening to Steve tonight (describing Helena's walkoff 7-6 win!). Have to admit, in this age of MLB Extra Innings packages and such, I have definitely spent more time on the living room couch with the big league Crew than I have sitting by my computer speakers taking in full minor league audio calls as I did early in the decade back when listening to Mountain and Pacific time zone games in Helena, Ogden and/or High Desert were a regular event. So tonight's convenient Milwaukee night off and Steve's fantastic call (as always, as Link Report fans have been seriously lucky to have the quality of his calls for the past several years now) definitely seemed like very old times for me. Great game, congrats to all the kids who debuted tonight!

Venezuelan 19-year-old RHP Francisco Rivero is the starter for the Maryvale crew tonight. He pitched in Maryvale in 2008, the DSL last season. Your Opening Night lineup in Arizona -- AZL Brewers Player AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG Shaw 2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Rivera SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Allison LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Roberts, T C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Parker 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Rogers 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 McKelvie, D DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Walla, M RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Garvey CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Rivero, Fr P

Tyler Cravy toiled in anonymity in Maryvale last season -- so given his 1-2-3 1st inning, seems like a good time to let everyone know about him with this article done after the 2009 draft -- Link while active, text follows: Brewers ink Cravy By MARTY JAMES Executive Sports Editor, Napa Valley Register Tyler Cravy said it’s always been his dream to get drafted and play professionally. Cravy can stop dreaming. The Napa Valley College freshman pitcher was chosen last week by Milwaukee in the 17th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft. He agreed to terms and signed with the Brewers late Friday. “Baseball’s only going to give you one chance in life and it’s real hard to pass it up,” Cravy, a 6-foot-3 right-hander, said Sunday before leaving town. He was assigned to the Brewers’ rookie league team in Phoenix, which opens its season June 21. “It wasn’t even really the money — it wasn’t even that big of an issue to me,” said Cravy. “All I’ve ever really wanted to do is play baseball. This is the first step.” Cravy said will receive a $75,000 signing bonus and $25,000 for college, if he returns to school when he’s done playing. Cravy agreed to the contract after meeting with Justin McCray, a Brewers scout. The Napa resident was the 526th overall selection. “I feel like I’m able to play at that level,” said Cravy. “I’m going to get better and have good coaches there that know a lot about the game. I feel like I’m ready. I want to pitch as good as I can, get stronger and stay healthy. “I just want to show them that I can pitch with any of the guys, hopefully show them how much that I want to play.” Milwaukee announced the signing yesterday. Cravy, who had a record-setting season as a starting pitcher, was named to the Community College Baseball All-America team. Cravy, a pitcher-position player, was chosen as the Bay Valley Conference’s Player of the Year as the Storm (22-18 overall, 16-11 BVC) took third place, missing out on the Northern California regional playoffs. “I felt like I had a pretty good year,” he said. “I worked hard and did my best.” It was his first season with the Storm after taking the 2008 season off. “To be an All-American and the Player of the Year in our conference is really something special,” said Storm coach Bob Freschi. “He was a pleasure to coach and fun to watch.” Cravy was 8-3 in 15 appearances with a 2.99 earned-run average. He broke Phil Simpson’s school record, set in 1988, by striking out 110 batters in 90 1?3 innings. Simpson had 108 strikeouts. “We’re very proud of him and excited for him,” said Freschi. “We want what’s best for each player — Tyler has that opportunity to live out a boyhood dream. He’s going to do it. “Tyler’s a special talent and he had a phenomenal year for us, both pitching and offense.” Opponents batted .188 off Cravy, a right-hander, who went to Hogan High School-Vallejo. He made 12 starts with three complete games. He throws in the 88- to 90-mph range with good control. Cravy also starred as a shortstop, first baseman and hitter, batting .335 with three home runs, 10 doubles, five triples and 40 RBIs. “I’m very proud of him,” said Warren Brusstar, the Storm’s pitching coach. “The biggest adjustment for him going into pro ball is that you’re going to be at the ballpark every day. I’m sure he will be one of the top five guys, arm-wise, that they will have there.” Cravy was a Day 2 selection during the draft. He said he had no idea that he’d be where he is today. “I didn’t really expect to have a standout year,” said Cravy, 19. “I was just getting back into baseball. I just wanted to play again, I missed playing a lot. I ended up having a good year.” Following the season, Freschi began getting calls from different four-year colleges wanting to know about Cravy, who has very good arm strength. His make-up, body type, and the action of his pitches got the attention of pro scouts. “The ball just gets on you as a hitter,” said Freschi. “It’s just a matter of him developing and progressing. He’s just going to get better and develop and hopefully stick around for a while.” Cravy’s fastball explodes out of his hand, said Brusstar, and he showed very good consistency from start to start. The righthander also throws a curveball and changeup for strikes. “He still has a long ways to go, but he will do nothing but get better,” said Brusstar. “The body’s there, the arm’s there — that’s what they’re looking for. “The best of luck to him."

TheCrew07 and I will be in touch with each other daily and will be splitting up the nightly action beforehand, especially now that as many as seven Brewer teams could be in action on any given night. There will be similar splits in responsibilities even when our friend battlekow returns from his well-deserved vacation time -- "bk" should be back at the end of the month, middle of next week. My thanks to TC07, as I've indicated before.

Schedule Link Enjoy!

Manatee Sergio Miranda, playing third base tonight, was pulled after the 3rd inning for no apparent reason. Just something to watch the next day or two... *** While waiting for Helena audio, a three-run first inning for the Sounds, up 3-1. Luis Cruz remains clutch, as does Joe Koshansky. Chuck Lofgren survived a shaky 1st himself, which included an injury delay as Lofgren and big Joe each remained in the game after getting tangled in a first base collision.