Drillers, Top Prospects Fill All-Star Rosters
The eight Tulsa representatives that will play for the North Division in the contest are Nolan Arenado, Josh Rutledge, Lars Davis, Ben Paulsen, Edwar Cabrera, Dan Houston, Nick Schmidt and Coty Woods. In addition, the Drillers staff of manager Duane Espy, pitching coach Dave Schuler, hitting coach Kevin Riggs and trainer Austin O'Shea will handle the North Division squad for the game.
Third baseman Arenado, shortstop Rutledge and catcher Davis will be starters in the game, while Paulsen will be a reserve first baseman. The starting pitcher for the game will be announced later.
Players for the two teams are chosen through voting by Texas League managers and media members.
The eight representatives tied Tulsa with Frisco for the most players in the marquee game. The RoughRiders also placed eight players on the South Division roster.
The North Division team includes players from the Drillers, Arkansas Travelers, Northwest Arkansas Naturals and Springfield Cardinals.
The South Division roster consists of players from the Corpus Christi Hooks, Frisco RoughRiders, Midland RockHounds and San Antonio Missions.
This year's game looks to be one of the best in recent years, with a number of highly rated prospects slated to play in the game. The rosters include four players that are considered the top minor league prospects in their respective major league organizations, as ranked by MLB.com.
Those four players include Tulsa's Arenado who is now the number one prospect in the Colorado Rockies system. Jean Segura of Arkansas is number one for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Jurickson Profar of Frisco is listed number one for the Texas Rangers and Jonathan Singleton of Corpus Christi is ranked number one for the Houston Astros.
Other highly ranked prospects voted to participate in the game are Oscar Taveras (#3 prospect for St. Louis), Kolten Wong (#4 for St. Louis), Mike Olt (#3 for Texas), Jonathan Villar (#4 for Houston), Trevor Rosenthal (#7 for St. Louis) and Brett Oberholtzer (#7 for Houston).
The South Division team will be managed by San Antonio's staff that includes manager John Gibbons, coach Tom Tornincasa and trainer Nathan Stewart.
Festivities surrounding the game will include the pre-game First Fidelity Bank Home Run Derby that will crown a Texas League Champion and a High School Champion. Baseball Hall of Fame member Whitey Herzog is scheduled to throw out one of the game's ceremonial first pitches, and the Grammy nominated group Hanson will sing the National Anthem. The largest Fireworks Show of the year at ONEOK Field is scheduled for after the game.
Tickets remain available and are now on sale through TulsaDrillers.com, in person at the ONEOK Field Ticket Office or over the telephone at (918)744-5901.
The complete rosters for both squads are listed below.
2012 Texas League All-Star Teams |
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North Division All-Star Team |
South Division All-Star Team |
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Starting Position Players |
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| PLAYER | POS | TEAM | PLAYER | POS | TEAM | |
| Lars Davis | C | Tulsa | Ali Solis | C | San Antonio | |
| Johnny Whittleman | 1B | NW Arkansas | Nate Freiman | 1B | San Antonio | |
| Kolten Wong | 2B | Springfield | Jose Martinez | 2B | Corpus Christi | |
| Nolan Arenado | 3B | Tulsa | Mike Olt | 3B | Frisco | |
| Josh Rutledge | SS | Tulsa | Jurickson Profar | SS | Frisco | |
| Yem Prades | OF | NW Arkansas | Jeremy Barfield | OF | Midland | |
| Oscar Taveras | OF | Springfield | Engel Beltre | OF | Frisco | |
| Carlo Testa | OF | NW Arkansas | Shane Peterson | OF | Midland | |
| Ben Paulsen | DH | Tulsa | Jonathan Singleton | DH | Corpus Christi | |
Reserve Position Players |
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| PLAYER | POS | TEAM | PLAYER | POS | TEAM | |
| Audry Perez | C | Springfield | Zach Zaneski | C | Frisco | |
| Mario Lisson | INF | NW Arkansas | Anthony Aliotti | INF | Midland | |
| Jermaine Curtis | INF | Springfield | Dean Anna | INF | San Antonio | |
| Jean Segura | INF | Arkansas | Jonathan Villar | INF | Corpus Christi | |
| Roberto Lopez | OF | Arkansas | Conner Crumbliss | OF | Midland | |
Pitchers |
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| PLAYER | POS | TEAM | PLAYER | POS | TEAM | |
| Keith Butler | RHP | Springfield | Carlos Pimentel | RHP | Frisco | |
| Josh Sullivan | RHP | Tulsa | Jake Brigham | RHP | Frisco | |
| Dan Houston | RHP | Tulsa | Kevin Chapman | LHP | Corpus Christi | |
| Patrick Keating | RHP | NW Arkansas | Jeremy McBryde | RHP | San Antonio | |
| Justin Marks | LHP | NW Arkansas | Barret Loux | RHP | Frisco | |
| Ariel Pena | RHP | Arkansas | Ross Seaton | RHP | Corpus Christi | |
| Trevor Rosenthal | RHP | Springfield | Jonathan Ortiz | RHP | Midland | |
| Nick Schmidt | LHP | Tulsa | Murphy Smith | RHP | Midland | |
| A.J. Schugel | RHP | Arkansas | Jason Stoffel | RHP | Corpus Christi | |
| Coty Woods | RHP | Tulsa | Jarred Cosart | RHP | Corpus Christi | |
Coaches |
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| NAME | POS | TEAM | NAME | POS | TEAM | |
| Duane Espy | Mgr. | Tulsa | John Gibbons | Mgr. | San Antonio | |
| Kevin Riggs | Coach | Tulsa | Randy Johnson | Coach | ||
| Dave Schuler | Coach | Tulsa | Damion Easley | Coach | ||
| Austin O'Shea | Trainer | Tulsa | Nathan Stewart | Trainer | San Antonio | |