Appalachian State

CARY, N.C. — Former Appalachian State University pitcher Aubrey Edens tossed four innings of two-hit relief to lead his Blue squad to a 4-2 victory over its Red counterparts at the USA Baseball National Team trials on Saturday evening at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary.

A late addition to the National Team trials, Edens earned the win after allowing just one run on two hits and striking out four in his four innings of work. Saturday’s performance against some of the nation’s top collegiate players could serve as the catalyst to a professional contract for the right-hander, who won 11 games in his four years in the Black and Gold, including nine the past two seasons. This spring, he anchored Appalachian’s starting rotation with a 6-3 record and 4.97 earned run average.

TWO FORMER APPS MAKE PRO DEBUTS: Edens’ classmates Zach Quate and Rand Smith made their professional debuts in the Class A New York-Penn League over the weekend.

Quate, a 14th-round selection by the Tampa Bay Rays in this month’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, pitched the ninth inning for the Hudson Valley Renegades in an 8-3 loss to the Aberdeen IronBirds on Sunday afternoon. ASU’s record-setting closer was saddled with an unearned run in his pro debut but did not figure into the decision.

Smith played center field for the Jamestown Jammers on Friday and Sunday versus the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. The 20th-round selection of the Florida Marlins went 1-for-4 with an RBI in his pro debut on Friday but was 0-for-4 in the Jammers’ 1-0 loss on Sunday.

ASU’s other draftees this spring — New York Yankees’ 24th-round pick Isaac Harrow and Baltimore Orioles’ 38th-round selection Josh Dowdy — are expected to make their professional debuts this week with the Gulf Coast Yankees and the Bluefield Orioles, respectively. They will become the sixth and seventh former Mountaineers in the minor leagues this summer, as 2008 draftees David Rubinstein, Jason Rook and Garrett Sherrill are currently members of the Class A State College Spikes (Pittsburgh Pirates), Aberdeen IronBirds (Baltimore Orioles) and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Milwaukee Brewers), respectively. 

The Citadel

CARY, N.C. – The Citadel’s Asher Wojciechowski struck out five batters in a four-inning performance Monday evening while receiving a no decision at the USA National Team Trials Intrasquad game in Cary.

Wojciechowski pitched four full innings in the start, allowing one run on six hits while walking one. Wojciechowski pitched for the Blue Team (5-1) and has an 0-1 record during the trial intrasquad scrimmages in two appearances.

There are two intrasquad games remaining during the trials period on June 23 at 8 p.m. ET and June 24 at noon ET. The final USA National Team roster will be announced following the last intrasquad game on June 24. The team will compete in over 25 international contests this summer.

Elon

ELON, N.C. -- Recent Major League Baseball draft picks Chase Austin and Pat Irvine are both set to make their professional debuts on Friday night in the New York-Penn League, a short-season A league.  Austin, the fifth round pick of the Florida Marlins, will be playing for the Jamestown Jammers while Irvine, a 33rd round selection of the Pittsburgh Pirates, will play for the State College Spikes.

Austin and Irvine are the first members of the 2009 Elon Phoenix baseball team to make their pro debuts.  Cory Harrilchak, Tom Porter, Dallas Tarleton and Bennett Davis have signed contracts, but have not yet started their seasons.  Justin Hilt has not signed a contract.

They join former Elon players Steven Hensley, Chris Vasami, Chris Dove, Zach Booker and Matt McSwain among those playing minor league ball.

Austin's Jammers begin the year playing at Mahoning Valley while the Spikes play host to Williamsport.

Hensley, a pitcher, has played for three different teams within the Seattle Mariners' organization.  He is currently playing for the High Desert Mavericks at the Advanced A level in the California League.  Hensley has posted combined stats of 6-2 with a 4.11 ERA in 13 appearances, including 12 starts.  In 70.0 innings, Hensley has walked 22 and struck out 49.

Vasami has not begun his 2009 season, but played last year with the Tri-City Dust Devils in the Colorado Rockies' organization.  While there, he batted .252 with two homers and 16 RBI over 119 at bats.  Vasami was a first baseman at Elon, but has moved to catcher at the next level.

Like Vasami, Dove has yet to begin his year.  In 2008, the speedy outfielder played for the AZL Rangers, the rookie league squad for the Texas Rangers in Arizona.  He hit .237, scored 16 runs and stole seven bases in eight attempts in 30 games.

Booker has played in two games at the AAA level for the Norfolk Tides in the Baltimore Orioles' system.  While still looking for his first hit, the catcher drew two walks in his last appearance.

McSwain, a pitcher, is playing at the Advanced A level for the Lynchburg Hillcats, a team in the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization.  In 13 starts, McSwain has gone 6-2 with a 3.30 ERA.  He has hurled 71.0 innings and allowed just 11 walks while fanning 34.

Georgia Southern

EUGENE, Ore. - Former Georgia Southern Baseball players Griffin Benedict and Ty Wright will begin their professional baseball careers this weekend. Both are reporting to the Eugene Emeralds, the rookie league affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

Benedict was drafted in the 16th round while Wright was selected in the 25th. The Emeralds will open Northwest League play on Saturday night against Salem-Keizer.

Samford

SANFORD, Fla. - Samford junior outfielder Trey Hayes was named the Player of the Week for the Sanford River Rats of the Florida Collegiate Summer League earlier this week.

For the week, Hayes was 6-for-15 (.400) with three doubles, one home run, four RBI and six runs scored. He also stole two bases and had an .800 slugging percentage for the week.

For the season, Hayes is second on the River Rats with a .313 average (10-for-32) with a .500 slugging percentage.

In his first season in a Samford uniform in 2009, Hayes served as the team's starting right fielder. He batted .270 with seven home runs and 32 RBI for the Bulldogs.

Western Carolina

Sexton Earns Win in First Start with Aberdeen Ironbirds
Opening the season with the Aberdeen Ironbirds, the Baltimore Orioles' short-season A club in the New York-Penn League, former Western Carolina left-hander Tyler Sexton earned a victory in his first start of the year. The High Point, N.C., native worked six innings only allowing one unearned run on six hits with six strikeouts in the 6-1 win over the Hudson Valley Renegades, a Tampa Bay Rays' affiliate.

Sexton moved from rookie-league Bluefield to Aberdeen after finishing 3-5 with a 4.19 ERA, recording 42 strikeouts a season ago.

Catamount Draftees Open Professional League Play
WCU's four most recent players taken in Major League Baseball's first-year player draft received their assignments and have opened play with their clubs:

* Brent Greer started at shortstop for the Yakima (Wash.) Bears of the Northwest League, the Class A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. After going hitless in his debut (0-for-4 with 2 K's), the Manassas, Va., native went five for his next nine with a pair of runs and two doubles. After Tuesday night's games, Greer is hitting .313 with two runs scored and five strikeouts;

* Chris Masters earned his first professional victory on Tuesday night, tossing three and two-thirds innings of no-hit relief, striking out eight in a win for the Appalachian League Danville (Va.) Braves;

* Nick Liles opened his professional career with the Arizona League Giants in rookie ball, going 1-for-5 with an RBI in his debut on Tuesday (June 23) night. Liles was able to see a former WCU teammate as the Giants faced the Cubs with Corey Martin on the roster. Martin opened his professional career by tossing the sixth and seventh in two innings of one-hit relief, surrendering his only hit to the first batter he faced. He did also have an error on a failed pick-off attempt. Martin and Liles did square off in the sixth, with Martin inducing a groundball out.

Catamounts in Summer League Baseball Highlights
* Ross Heffley is hitting .269 with a double for the Orleans Firebirds in the prestigious Cape Cod League ... WCU teammate Daniel Ottone is pitching for the same squad, currently with a 7.50 ERA after working his first three appearances without allowing a run;

* Matt Johns is hitting .233 with three doubles and a triple for the Wilson Tobs of the Coastal Plains League. He has started 21 of the 23 games in which he has played with six RBI ... WCU teammate Jason Sullivan, who is closing for the Tobs, is enjoying a strong summer. Sullivan (3-0) currently boasts a 0.76 ERA, having given up one earned run in 12.1 innings pitched. The right-hander has also struck out 17 in limiting opponents' hitters to a .116 batting average;

* In the Northwoods League, Kyle Stewart currently is 1-2 on the season with a 3.50 ERA for the Duluth (Minn.) Huskies ... He boasts a team-leading 25 strikeouts in 18 innings of work, just outside of the top 10 in the NWL;

* Matt Benedict leads the Haymarket (Va.) Senators with a 1.32 ERA among pitchers with more than 10 innings thrown on the season. He has four appearances including two starts with a 1-0 overall record. He has struck out 14 and has not allowed an extra base hit thus far this summer. Benedict worked six innings of two-hit action, working around a pair of walks with six strikeouts to earn his victory over Winchester back on June 15 ... Also in the Valley League, left-hander Vance Chavis continues his rehab from surgery that limited him in 2009. The Laurinburg, N.C., native has thrown seven and a third innings in four appearances thus far with eight walks and seven strikeouts.