Sports Turf Managers of the Year

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Jarad Alley (Triple-A), Brock Phipps (Double-A), Greg Burgess (Class A) and Israel Hinojosa III (Short-Season/Rookie) have been named classification winners in the annual Sports Turf Managers of the Year Awards, sponsored by the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA). The classification honorees, chosen from the league winners, will be honored at the Baseball Winter Meetings™ next month at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Alley, who tends to Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, N.M., and Phipps, who oversees the playing surface at Hammons Field in Springfield, Mo., were also their respective league's winner in 2007. Fluor Field at the West End, the home of the Greenville Drive, is where Burgess plies his trade. Hinojosa III made Pioneer Park in Greeneville, Tenn., the best field in the Appalachian League.

The STMA provides educational opportunities and support so that sports turf managers can provide the best sports surfaces for all levels of play. Sports turf managers are experts on the field and partners of the game.

Opie Cheek is the Florida State League winner for the fifth straight year. Jake Tyler took home International League honors for the third consecutive season. Eric Blanton (Eastern League) and Chris Ball (Carolina League) are repeat winners from 2007. The league winners:

League	Winner	Club
IL	Jake Tyler	Toledo
PCL	Jarad Alley	Albuquerque
MEX	Martin Vidal Miranda	Mexico City
EL	Eric Blanton	New Hampshire
SOU	Matt Taylor	Mississippi
TEX	Brock Phipps	Springfield
CAL	Lance Motch, Jr	San Jose
CAR	Chris Ball	Myrtle Beach
FSL	Opie Cheek	Clearwater
MWL	Eddie Warczak	Wisconsin
SAL	Greg Burgess	Greenville
NYPL	Dan Stricko	Mahoning Valley
NWL	Brennan Prestley	Spokane
APP	Israel Hinojosa III	Greeneville
PIO	Nephi Peterson	Orem
GCL	Chris Connell	GCL Yankees