SAL All-Star Game Rosters Announced
LAKEWOOD, NJ - Catcher Chace Numata and reliever Steven Inch will represent the BlueClaws on the field at the 54th South Atlantic League All-Star Game, held at FirstEnergy Park on June 18th. The announcement of 50 South Atlantic League All-Stars was made Tuesday by League President Eric Krupa.
BlueClaws manager Mickey Morandini and athletic trainer Mickey Kozack have also been named to the staff of the Northern Division.
The game, presented by Kimball & Community Medical Centers of Barnabas Health, OceanFirst Bank, and ShorePoint Distributing Company, will be held at FirstEnergy Park for the second time (2002).
Numata, 20, will be the starting catcher for the Northern Division, and through games of June 3rd, is hitting .268 with 2 home runs and 20 RBIs. He reached base in 23-straight games between April 19th and May 22nd and has thrown out 23 opposing base-stealers, most in the league. Numata was a 14th round pick of the Phillies in 2010 from Pearl City, Hawaii.
Inch, 22, leads the BlueClaws with seven saves and 1-1 with a 2.28 ERA. He earned his first save on April 18th and after five three-out saves, has earned six-out saves in each of his last two appearances (through games of June 3rd). He was a 6th round pick of the Phillies in 2009, hailing from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Morandini, in his second season as BlueClaws manager, will serve as one of the coaches for the Northern Division under Hagerstown manager Tripp Keister. Morandini had an 11-year major league career, nine of them with the Phillies. He was a member of the 1993 National League Champion Phillies and a National League All-Star in 1995. He will participate in the June 17th Celebrity Hitting Challenge (info here), the night before the All-Star Game. He also played in this game, in 1989 as a member of the Spartanburg Phillies.
Kozack is in his seventh season as a full-time athletic trainer with the Phillies and in his fifth season with Lakewood. He served as an athletic trainer in the 2011 Florida State League All-Star Game while he was working with Clearwater.
Tickets - Tickets for both the June 18th All-Star Game and June 17th Celebrity Hitting Challenge are available online by clicking here (All-Star Game, Celebrity Hitting Challenge) or on the phone at 732-901-7000 option 2.
The Northern Division All-Star roster is led by Hagerstown (Nationals), Hickory (Rangers), and West Virginia (Pirates), who each have six All-Stars and as of June 4th, are within a game of each other for first place in the division.
Augusta (Giants) leads the Southern Division roster with six selections, while Savannah (Mets) has five and Asheville (Rockies) has four.
CJ Edwards (Hickory, Rangers) will be the starting pitcher of for the Northern Division. The Newberry, SC native is 5-2 with a 2.25 ERA in 11 starts. Rafael De Paula (Charleston, Yankees) will be the starting pitcher for the Southern Division. De Paula leads the league in strikeouts with 83 in 54.1 innings and is 6-2 with a 2.48 ERA.
Downloadable Rosters - Northern Division, Southern Division
South Atlantic League Northern Division All-Stars
Pitchers - Dixon Anderson (Hagerstown), Robert Benincasa (Hagerstown), Orlando Castro (West Virginia), Alexander Claudio (Hickory), CJ Edwards (Hickory), Tyler Glasnow (West Virginia), Josh Hader (Delmarva), Steven Inch (Lakewood), Ivan Pineyro (Hagerstown), Frankie Reed (Greensboro)
Catchers - Jorge Alfaro (Hickory), Chace Numata (Lakewood), Pedro Severino (Hagerstown)
Infielders - Stetson Allie (West Virginia), Joey Gallo (Hickory), Dilson Herrera (West Virginia), Micah Johnson (Kannapolis), Tony Renda (Hagerstown), Viosergy Rosa (Greensboro), Ryan Rua (Hickory)
Outfielders - Josh Bell (West Virginia), Lewis Brinson (Hickory), Jason Coats (Kannapolis), Walker Gourley (West Virginia), Brandon Miller (Hagerstown)
Field Staff - Manager Tripp Keister (Hagerstown), Coach Mickey Morandini (Lakewood), Coach Franklin Bravo (Hagerstown), Athletic Trainer Mickey Kozack (Lakewood)
South Atlantic League Southern Division All-Stars
Pitchers - Martin Agosta (Augusta), Christian Binford (Lexington), Rafael De Paula (Charleston), Dietrich Enns (Charleston), Alec Mills (Lexington), Bret Mitchell (Savannah), Tyler Mizenko (Augusta), Shae Simmons (Rome), Chris Stratton (Augusta), Gabriel Ynoa (Savannah)
Catchers - Tom Murphy (Asheville), Peter O'Brien (Charleston), Kevin Plawecki (Savannah)
Infielders - Mookie Betts (Greenville), Jayce Boyd (Savannah), David Chester (Greenville), Mitchell Delfino (Augusta), Matt Duffy (Augusta), Rosell Herrera (Asheville), Levi Hyams (Rome)
Outfielders - Josh Elander (Rome), Jesus Galindo (Augusta), Derek Jones (Asheville), Brandon Nimmo (Savannah), Francisco Sosa (Asheville)
Field Staff - Manager Luis Rojas (Savannah), Coach Frank Viola (Savannah), Coach Hector Borg (Augusta), Athletic Trainer Tom Truedson (Savannah)
The first South Atlantic League All-Star Game took place in 1960, with the All-Stars defeating the Salisbury club in Newton, North Carolina.
The BlueClaws first hosted the game in 2002, their second season of existence.
For more information on the full slate of All-Star activities, please visit BlueClaws.com/AllStar.
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