Baron Promoted to High Desert

Clinton, IA - The Clinton LumberKings, in conjunction with the Seattle Mariners have announced the promotion of catcher Steven Baron to high-A High Desert. No counter move has been made, leaving the Clinton active roster with 24 players.

Baron, 20, hit .197 with a team-high 13 doubles, four home runs and 20 RBI in 57 games with the LumberKings this season. Seattle's supplemental first-round pick in 2009 out of John A. Ferguson High School in Miami, FL also spent the first half of 2010 with Clinton, hitting .182 with three doubles, a home run and 14 RBI in 45 games. He finished last season with short-A Everett, hitting .253 with 12 doubles, three homers and 22 RBI as the Northwest League's Post-Season All-Star at catcher.

With Baron's promotion, the LumberKings are left with one active catcher, Carlton Tanabe. Infielder Jetsy Extrano will be used as the emergency catcher until the roster spot is permanently filled.

The LumberKings (3-3, 27-49) begin a three-game commuter series at Quad Cities (3-3, 43-32) tonight at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, IA, first pitch scheduled for 7:00 PM. Right-hander George Mieses (1-9, 5.58) gets the game-one start, while the River Bandits counter with left-hander Ryan Copeland (0-0, 3.43). Listen to the game on AM 1390 KCLN in Clinton or live on the web at 1390kcln.com.