Jim Goulart

Final: Lakeland 3, Brevard County 0 Manatees’ offensive struggles continue against Lakeland in 3-0 loss Donald Rieber, Jr., Manatees Examiner Includes quotes from Manager Joe Ayrault... *** Brevard County Box Score Just a matter of time before this 3-16 squad starts getting some national attention for the wrong reasons, unfortunately; RF Clint Coulter the only Sea Cow to reach base twice (single, HBP), 13 of Coulter's 14 base hits have been singles... Brevard County Game Log

Brewers power-hitting prospect Victor Roache making strides at the plate Patrick Magee, Biloxi Sun-Herald

Brewers power-hitting prospect Victor Roache making strides at the plate Patrick Magee, Biloxi Sun-Herald http://www.sunherald.com/latest-news/8sgbof/picture70448477/ALTERNATES/FREE_960/0407_bisp_shuckers%2005.jpg Victor Roache returns as left fielder for the Biloxi Shuckers, Saturday, Apr. 2, 2016. Tim Isbell photo (Sun-Herald) Biloxi Shuckers outfielder Victor Roache has always been a man who can hit the long ball. In college at Georgia Southern, he smacked a nation-leading 30 home runs as a sophomore in 2011. In his three years in the Milwaukee Brewers' organization, Roache has hit at least 18 homers each season. The next step for Roache is improving on his batting average and doing a better job of getting on base. The native of Ypsilanti, Mich., has seen a slight uptick in his batting average so far in 2016 with a .283 clip through 16 games. He batted .253 in 2015 while splitting time between Double-A Biloxi and Single-A Brevard County, Fla.. Roache's career batting average as a pro stands at .244 and he has an on base percentage of .316. He only has one homer so far in 2016, but there's nobody in the Biloxi lineup that can hit the ball harder and farther than the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Roache. "Once he makes contact with the ball, you know the strength he has," Biloxi manager Mike Guerrero said. "He can become a pretty good hitter. If he chases, that's when hitters get in trouble. He's got to stay away from chasing and be selective about the pitches he's going to hit." Roache struck out 158 times in 2015 and had a total of 433 K's in his three years as a pro. That's a number that Roache knows he has to improve on going forward. "I'm a power guy," Roache said. "The main thing for me is to make contact. That's something I've struggled with since I got to pro ball - consistent, solid contact." Roache and Biloxi hitting coach Sandy Guerrero, the manager's brother, have spent plenty of time going over his approach at the plate. While he can easily clear the 350-foot power alleys at MGM Park, he can't have his eye on the fence when he approaches the batter's box. "I'm not up there thinking about hitting a home run," Roache said. "I'm just trying to put my barrel on the ball. I tell myself that before every at-bat - shorten up and just be quick to the ball and not long." Roache arrived in the Brewers organization with plenty of expectations as a first-round selection in 2012 out of Georgia Southern. He was the 28th overall pick in an MLB Draft that featured young stars like Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa and Chicago Cubs shortstop Addison Russell. He was promoted to Biloxi midway through the 2015 season and batted .247 with eight homers and 35 RBIs against Double-A pitching. While the first-round selection brings plenty of pressure, Roache has tried not to look too far ahead at his ultimate goal - joining the big league parent Milwaukee Brewers. "I try not to think about it too much," Roache said. "That's everybody's dream. For me, I need to focus on the now - the next pitch, the next at-bat. I can't think about what's going to happen in the future, what's happened in the past. I have to put myself in the best position to succeed." The early going in 2016 has been up and down for Roache with the highlight being a combined 6-for-8 effort at the plate on back-to-back nights on April 19 and 20. He ranks second behind Javier Betancourt (.340) in batting average for a Shuckers team that has an overall average of .231. Roache, who went 1-for-3 Tuesday in a 9-3 loss at Mississippi, credits his work with Sandy Guerrero for the solid start to the season. "It's just me and Sandy working every day," he said. "I'm working to put myself in the best position to put the bat on the ball. I feel comfortable up there and hopefully I can keep rolling."

Manatees future seems to be down south Michael Parsons, Florida Today It doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to connect the dots on the future of professional baseball in Brevard County. As a child I used to love connecting the dots to see the picture that eventually formed. In this case, the dots lead to Kissimmee, or at least they appear to. Those dots can become anything you want them to become with a little imagination. It doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to connect the dots on the future of professional baseball in Brevard County. Fact is, this is the final summer of professional baseball in Brevard County. The Brevard County Manatees, who have been playing at Space Coast Stadium for 23 seasons, are being forced to leave. New General Manager Chad Lovitt told me that consistent with their agreement with the county and the Washington Nationals, Space Coast Stadium will be turned over to United States Specialty Sports Association at the end of the 2016 season. But where will the Manatees go? That has been the million dollar question for quite some time. Here is where the dots come in. The Washington Nationals and Houston Astros are moving into a brand new complex still being built in West Palm Beach. Neither team has a Single A team playing in the Florida State League. Although that could change, it would mean expanding the league from the 12 teams it currently has and taking teams out of the California or Carolina leagues. Basically messing up the entire Single A baseball landscape. Yet Osceola County announced last week that professional baseball will return to Osceola County in 2017. Yep, a Single A team will return to Osceola County Stadium after a 16-year hiatus when the Astros' Single A team moved to the California League. Of course the announcement did not include which team that would be, but it doesn’t take too many dots to connect this one. The Manatees have been searching for a new home ever since it became apparent that the Washington Nationals were leaving, which left the Manatees in limbo since the deal with the county included both teams and the Manatees could never afford the upkeep of Space Coast Stadium without the Nationals. There are other options - the Manatees could try and move to the California League or maybe the Carolina League, but both of those already have even numbers, unless there is a team from those leagues moving to Kissimmee. Possible? Yes, but not really something teams do very often. The Manatees have said from the beginning that they wanted to stay here and in the Florida State League. So if they can’t stay here, why not move a few miles south and find a home? The dots seem to all fall into place and Osceola County is happy to have baseball back as it keeps the door open for a Major League team in the future. So in baseball terms, it would end up being one big trade. Brevard County sends Osceola County the Manatees in exchange for the USSSA.

Via @BrewersPD: RHP David Lucroy has been transferred to Helena (from Wisconsin). Lucroy turns 24 in September, this is not a move he needs to see... RHP Alex Farina has been added to Wisconsin's roster. Farina, a stocky (6'0", 230 lb.) undrafted RHP out of Lafayette, posted some attractive numbers in Maryvale (especially) and Helena in 2015. He'll be 23 in May. *** RHP Orlando Torrez has been released Torrez, just-turned 24, was entering his 6th season in the system (first four in the DSL). Earlier this spring, we posted: Have been told that RHP Orlando Torrez' unnamed injury won't keep him inactive too long Perhaps he was now healthy, but the Brewers simply didn't have a spot for him. Good luck to the young man.

Monday's game --

Posted February 29th: And today Kirkman, 33 appearances for the 2015 Sky Sox, is a big leaguer again with San Diego.

Game Notes: Brevard County Manatees 4/24/16 Miller Park Prospects -- Fine write-up from Sam with his first-hand account

AUDIO via WTMJ Tue. 4/26: Craig Counsell *** AUDIO via the Bill Michaels Show Tue. 4/26: Adam McCalvy *** AUDIO via the Bill Michaels Show Tue. 4/26: Ed Sedar *** AUDIO via the Bill Michaels Show Tue. 4/26: Cubs Pre and Post Game Host Mark Grote

San Antonio mayor all in for AAA baseball stadium Meanwhile, the Express-News reports that several in the San Antonio business and leadership community have questions and opinions, especially around hopes of attracting a major league over a minor league baseball team. “I think the potential is there to get the support, but I think what we need is more information on the details. I’ve heard a lot of talk about downtown locations, I think there is definitely a desire to get something downtown, but it needs to make sense,” Richard Perez, president and CEO of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, told the Express-News. “There’s just a lot of questions that need to be answered before the business community can come in fully supportive. “I think what this business community has wanted has been Major League Baseball, NFL, MLS — the big leagues,” Perez said. “We are still kind of relegated to Triple-A ball, which is not a bad thing, but we’ve been shooting our sights as a business community for the larger opportunity.”

VIDEOS via the Brewers' site: Carlos Subero on infield shifts, Craig Counsell's Sunday postgame comments

Via Miller Park Prospects -- SS Ortega Standing Out For Struggling Manatees Prospect Showdown: Coulter vs. Roache

AUDIO: Brett Phillips "Mav on the Mic Mondays" Phillips gets the mike every Monday, and this week it's with 2B Chris McFarland *** AUDIO: Biloxi game highlights from the 5-0 win

Happy 26th birthday to Manatee speedster Johnny Davis. Davis had just turned 23 when drafted in 2013. Lose most of last year to knee surgery, and suddenly you're 26. Keep chugging, Johnny!

Keon had only one hit in the loss, but at least it was a home run. Minor-league club cancels promotion insulting player's defense Oh, and no errors, either...

Look for these just prior to the respective game times -- Colorado Springs Media Notes - Linked on the Sky Sox official blog Biloxi Media Notes - Linked on the Shuck Dynasty blog Wisconsin Media Notes - Linked on the Rattler Radio blog *** STANDINGS: AAA - Pacific Coast League American Northern Division AA - Southern League South Division High-A - Florida State League North Division A - Midwest League Western Division *** Sortable individual stat pages: Colorado Springs Biloxi Brevard County Wisconsin *** Weather.com: Omaha, NE Pearl, MS Viera, FL Grand Chute, WI

Follow Tuesday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Colorado Springs Biloxi Brevard County Wisconsin MiLB.com feature -- organizational scoreboard, Brewers

DVR ALERT! Timber Rattlers Game Wednesday, April 27th, 6:30 PM -- TWC SportsChannel

Tuesday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Colorado Springs: LHP Brent Suter at Omaha (Royals), 6:00 PM pre-game, 6:35 gametime Free Live Audio Link Dan Karcher, the longtime play-by-play voice of the Sky Sox is on Twitter @SkySoxKarch; joining him this season is Dan Acheson (@Dan_Acheson) MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; all Colorado Springs games, home and away, will be available to watch via MiLB.TV's $49.99 season-long package ($12.99 to pay for a single month). The audio feed is from the home team. The video of each game is archived online, which is a nice feature. All MiLB.TV details available at the link. NOTE: Notice that on MiLB.TV's page, you can click on "Filter", then "Milwaukee Brewers", and you'll see just the Crew's organizational TV lineup. ********** Biloxi: LHP Wei-Chung Wang at Mississippi (Braves), 10:15 AM pre-game, 10:35 gametime Free Live Audio Link Chris Harris is the play-by-play voice of the Shuckers. Follow Chris on Twitter @CHarris731. We'll be linking to his fantastic "Shuck Dynasty" blog. Thaddeus Krzus (@Shucks1stIntern) joins Chris often. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be radio broadcast. MiLB.TV - Eight of the ten Southern League teams telecast their home games, and Biloxi is among them. ********** Brevard County: RHP Eric Hanhold at home vs. Lakeland (Tigers), 5:35 PM gametime Sorry folks, there is no audio available for this series. Unfortunately, the Manatees have dropped their broadcast coverage for 2016. No Florida State League games are available via MiLB.TV. Ten of the 12 Florida State League teams provide audio (some only for home games), we'll do our best to let you know when an opponent's audio is going to be available. ********** Wisconsin: RHP Jon Perrin at home vs. Great Lakes (Dodgers), 6:15 PM pre-game, 6:35 gametime Free Live Audio Link Chris Mehring is back to do his customary fantastic work as the Voice of the Rattlers. Follow him on Twitter @CMehring; we'll link to Chris' infamous blog often -- Rattler Radio. MiLB.TV - Eight of the 16 Midwest League teams telecast their home games, and Wisconsin, once again, is among them. We'll let you know when a road TV feed is available. NOTE: Thirty-nine (!) of the Rattlers' 70 home games will be broadcast on local TV this season. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (10) and WACY-TV My NEW32 (29) will split duties. We'll let you know when and who, and remember to refer to the Rattlers' full TV schedule (scroll to bottom of link) so you can coordinate your DVR activity.

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Final: Omaha 9, Colorado Springs 4 Homers Doom Sky Sox In 9-4 Loss Broxton and Wilkins homer for Sky Sox, but Storm Chasers rally to win By Aaron Cheris / Colorado Springs Sky Sox *** Colorado Springs Box Score Remember the Andy Wilkins spring training home run barrage? First one this regular season; Michael Reed, again in CF and batting 3rd, doubled and walked -- on base in 27 straight, keep it up, dude; hello, Jake Elmore, eight hits in last four games; Jim Miller scored upon in five of six outings, despite his many co-starring roles in Tim Dillard's twitter dubsmashes. Colorado Springs Game Log Darn, because Junior Guerra would be the logical call-up candidate should they send Taylor Jungmann down to get right, it's right there for him, so this outing was a bit of a bummer...

AUDIO via MLB.com Fri. 4/22 (but just posted more recently): Who is the real Taylor Jungmann? MLB.com's Matt Waymire caught up with Brewers reporter Adam McCalvy to try and figure out why his pitching motion is a blessing and a curse, how they're losing by such a large amount of runs and who will be running center field permanently for the Brew Crew. *** AUDIO via WSSP 105.7 FM Sun. 4/24: The always chock-full (especially for home games) pre-game show -- Begin at the 06:00 minute mark for Craig Counsell's full pre-game presser, the roundtable discussion, then interviews with Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Ryan Howard *** AUDIO via WTMJ Sun. 4/24: "Ramblin'" Al Bethke -- Yes, on my Wei-Chung Wang bandwagon! *** AUDIO via WTMJ Mon. AM 4/25: Tom Haudricourt *** VIDEO via WTMJ Mon. 4/25: Cubs series preview *** AUDIO via ESPN Milwaukee 540 Mon. 4/25: Tom Haudricourt One note -- fine discussion as usual, but remember guys, Brewers own Chris Carter's rights via arbitration for another two seasons should they choose; Carter does not "hit the market" this fall unless Milwaukee does not follow up with an arbitration offer... *** AUDIO via WSSP 105.7 FM Mon. AM 4/25: Adam McCalvy *** AUDIO via WSSP 105.7 FM Mon. AM 4/25: Third base coach Ed Sedar *** AUDIO via the Bill Michaels Show Mon. 4/25: Phil Rogers of MLB.com *** AUDIO via the Mike Heller Show Mon. 4/25: Adam Rygg (@BrewerNation) - go to the 22:10 minute mark

From Sunday --

Happy 24th Birthday, Wei-Chung Wang! Happy 22nd Birthday, Cody Ponce!

Look for these just prior to the respective game times -- Colorado Springs Media Notes - Linked on the Sky Sox official blog Biloxi Media Notes - Linked on the Shuck Dynasty blog *** STANDINGS: AAA - Pacific Coast League American Northern Division AA - Southern League South Division High-A - Florida State League North Division A - Midwest League Western Division *** Sortable individual stat pages: Colorado Springs Biloxi Brevard County Wisconsin *** Weather.com: Omaha, NE Pearl, MS