Wells Named PCL Pitcher of the Week

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Pacific Coast League today announced Portland infielder Peter Ciofrone has been named PCL player of the week, while Iowa pitcher Randy Wells has earned the PCL pitcher of the week award, for the week ending on May 25th.

Ciofrone, called up from Double-A San Antonio on May 1st, earned the award with a .429 average (12-for-28), four home runs and ten RBI for the week. He is the second Portland player to earn the PCL hitter of the week award (Jody Gerut, May 5th) for the 2008 season. A native of Nesconset, N.Y., Ciofrone is in his seventh season of professional baseball and his fifth in the Padres organization after being acquired in a trade from the Boston Red Sox midway through the 2004 season.

A right-hander from Belleville, IL, Wells started two games for the Cubs going 11.0 total innings and allowed two runs on eight hits with 11 strikeouts. Selected by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Chicago Cubs in the Rule V draft on December 6, 2007, he was returned to the Cubs on April 19th after making one relief appearance for the Jays. Wells, a former catcher, was converted to a pitcher during the 2003 season after being drafted out of Southwestern Illinois College in 2002. He is the second Iowa pitcher to earn PCL pitcher of the week award (Sean Gallagher, April 28th) during the 2008 season.

You can find more information on weekly awards and other League news all season long on the official Pacific Coast League web site, www.pclbaseball.com.