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Friday, June 15, 2012

Eight Tulsa Drillers picked for Texas League All-Star Game - Tulsa World

Other Drillers selected on the North Division's 24-man roster are catcher Lars Davis, first baseman Ben Paulsen, and pitchers Nick Schmidt, Dan Houston and Coty Woods.

The North will be led by Tulsa manager Duane Espy, pitching coach Dave Schuler and hitting coach Kevin Riggs with Austin O'Shea as trainer. The North Division-leading Drillers' staff was chosen since they are the host team for the game that starts at 7:05 p.m.

Tulsa has the most All-Star players on the North team. Springfield and Northwest Arkansas have six each and Arkansas has four.

Rutledge, Arenado and Davis were selected as starters. Paulsen is the only Drillers player who was an All-Star Game selection last year. The starting pitchers will be announced later.

Rutledge is batting .302 with eight homers and 23 RBIs (through Wednesday). Arenado, widely regarded as the Drillers' best prospect, is hitting .290 with six homers and 34 RBIs. Davis, in his third season with Tulsa but first as a starter, is batting .282 with two homers and 19 RBIs. Paulsen is at .274 with five homers and 22 RBIs.

Three of the five Drillers starting pitchers were chosen. Cabrera (6-4) leads the TL in innings (83) and WHIP (0.94 - walks plus hits per inning). Houston (6-5) is tied with Cabrera for seventh in the TL with a 3.25 ERA. Schmidt (4-3) is third in WHIP at 1.00 and has a 3.38 ERA.

Woods (3-1) is perfect in 10 save chances and has allowed only one run in 28 appearances for a 0.33 ERA.

The North team includes TL saves leader Keith Butler (13) plus three top St. Louis Cardinals prospects also with Springfield - outfielder Oscar Taveras, second baseman Kolten Wong and pitcher Trevor Rosenthal. Taveras is the TL's leading hitter at .325 with 12 homers and 43 RBIs. Wong is batting .298 and Rosenthal is 5-6 with a 3.01 ERA. Also on the North roster is Arkansas shortstop Jean Segura (.285), who is the Angels top prospect.

Frisco, which has the TL's best record, leads the South with eight players, followed by Midland with seven, Corpus Christi with six and San Antonio with three.

The South's roster includes Frisco third baseman Mike Olt, a Triple Crown contender who leads the TL with 19 homers and 55 RBIs. Olt is third in the TL with a .318 batting average. Other South starters include Frisco shortstop Jurickson Profar, who had a 50-game on-base streak this year and is the Texas Rangers top prospect; San Antonio first baseman Nate Freiman, who is second in the TL with 15 homers and 52 RBIs; and Corpus Christi second baseman Jose Martinez, who is second in the TL with a .319 batting average.

Frisco's Barret Loux (11-0, 2.81 ERA) and Justin Grimm (8-3, 1.87) will lead the South's pitching staff.

San Antonio's John Gibbons will be the South's manager because the Missions are the defending TL champions.

Tickets for the All-Star Game ($6 to $16) and the All-Star Gala ($100) that is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. June 27 at the downtown Hyatt Regency are available at the Drillers Ticket Office at ONEOK Field, at tulsaworld.com/drillers and at 918-744-5901. The All-Star Gala's featured speaker is former St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals manager Whitey Herzog.

The All-Star Game, the first in Tulsa since 1999, will include a Home Run Derby featuring TL players and another featuring area high school players. The Grammy nominated group Hanson is scheduled to perform the National Anthem and there will be fireworks after the game.


ALL-STAR GAME STARTERS

(Pitchers TBA)

North Division

1B: John Whittleman, Northwest Arkansas

2B: Kolten Wong, Springfield

3B: Nolan Arenado, Tulsa

SS: Josh Rutledge, Tulsa

OF: Carlo Testa, Northwest Arkansas

OF: Yem Prades, Northwest Arkansas

OF: Oscar Taveras, Springfield

C: Lars Davis, Tulsa

DH: Christian Colon, Northwest Arkansas

South Division

1B: Nate Freiman, San Antonio

2B: Jose Martinez, Corpus Christi

3B: Mike Olt, Frisco

SS: Jurickson Profar, Frisco

OF: Jeremy Barfield, Midland

OF: Engel Beltre, Frisco

OF: x-Shane Peterson, Midland

C: Ali Solis, San Antonio

DH: Jonathan Singleton, Corpus Christi

x-Replaced injured Austin Wates, Corpus Christi

TEXAS LEAGUE ALL-STAR GAME ROSTERS

North Division

Pitchers

Edwar Cabrera, Dan Houston, Nick Schmidt and Coty Woods, Tulsa; Keith Butler and Trevor Rosenthal, Springfield; Ariel Pena and A.J. Schugel, Arkansas; Patrick Keating and Justin Marks, Northwest Arkansas.

Catchers

Lars Davis, Tulsa; Audry Perez, Springfield.

Infielders

Nolan Arenado, Ben Paulsen and Josh Rutledge, Tulsa; Jermaine Curtis and Kolten Wong, Springfield; John Whittleman, Northwest Arkansas; Jean Segura, Arkansas.

Outfielders

Yem Prades and Carlo Testa, Northwest Arkansas; Oscar Taveras, Springfield; Roberto Lopez, Arkansas.

Designated hitter

Christian Colon, Northwest Arkansas.

Manager

Duane Espy, Tulsa

Coaches

Kevin Riggs and Dave Schuler, Tulsa

Trainer

Austin O'Shea, Tulsa

South Division

Pitchers

Chad Bell, Jake Brigham, Justin Grimm and Barret Loux, Frisco; Kevin Chapman, Brett Oberholtzer and Jason Stoffel, Corpus Christi; Jonathan Ortiz, Murphy Smith and Dan Straily, Midland.

Catchers

Ali Solis, San Antonio, Zach Zaneski, Frisco

Infielders

Dean Anna and Nate Freiman, San Antonio; Jose Martinez and Jonathan Villar, Corpus Christi; Anthony Aliotti, Midland; Mike Olt and Jurickson Profar, Frisco.

Outfielders

Jeremy Barfield, Midland; Engel Beltre, Frisco; a-Conner Crumbliss, Midland; Shane Peterson, Midland; i-Austin Wates, Corpus Christi

Designated hitter

Jonathan Singleton, Corpus Christi

Manager

John Gibbons, San Antonio

Coach

Tom Tornincasa, San Antonio

Trainer

Nathan Stewart, San Antonio

a-added to roster

i-Injured, will not play

Original Print Headline: Drillers lead TL All-Stars


Barry Lewis 918-581-8393
barry.lewis@tulsaworld.com

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