BlueSox Attracting Players From Near and Far
March 31, 2013 - Prospect League (Prospect)
Butler BlueSox News Release
Butler, PA - April 1, 2013 - The BlueSox have continued to expand their search for the best ballplayers in the country, and this summer's team is coming from a wider region than ever before. Two of this week's players will be making long trips to Butler, looking to continue to put up the solid numbers they are putting up in college this spring.
Chris Ward is second on Grand Valley State University's pitching staff with a 1.46 ERA in three starts in 2013. A native of Brunswick, Ohio, Ward was a member of last year's All-Ohio Community College Athletic Conference after he struck out 61 hitters in 54 innings at Owens Community College.
"Chris is one of the experienced left-handed pitchers that I was looking for to fill one of our spots in the starting rotation," said BlueSox manager Anthony Rebyanski. "He has a lot of potential and we believe will be a solid addition to our pitching staff in 2013."
Now a junior at GVS, the left-hander has held opposing batters to a miniscule .190 batting average and allowed just two earned runs in 12.1 innings of work. Ward is one of six lefties on the Butler staff.
While GVS lies six hours to the west in Michigan, Wagner University is on Staten Island-a six-hour car ride to the east. Anthony Battaglia leads Wagner's pitchers with ten relief appearances. Striking out 25% of the hitters he has faced has led to a 3.97 ERA.
"Anthony had a very impressive spring as a freshman and has picked up right where he left off in 2012," said Rebyanski. "Having success as a closer/setup type pitcher as a freshman says a lot about him. We will look for him to be one of our late-inning stoppers this summer."
Last year in his freshman campaign, Battaglia did not allow opponents to score an earned in 17 of his 21 appearances as the team's closer. He was 14-1 as a high school junior and earned a 0.82 ERA as a senior.
Coming from California University of PA, GJ Senchak will have a shorter journey to Butler, but his stats are just as outstanding. As a sophomore this spring, Senchak has struck out 29 hitters and walked just 10 as a member of Cal U's rotation. Three of his five starts have been complete games.
"GJ is another immediate impact left-handed pitcher," said Rebyanski. "I have seen him while he has pitched against us in the spring and has been impressive each time I've seen him. He's a guy that would take the ball every day if you let him and is a bulldog on the mound. It will be good to have him on our side this summer."
Senchak posted good numbers last spring as well, ranking third on Cal U's staff by throwing 53.1 innings over 10 starts and four appearances out of the bullpen. He played high school ball at New Castle where he was named first-team all-conference three times. The final two 2013 BlueSox will be announced next week.
• Discuss this story on the Prospect League message board...
Prospect League Stories from March 31, 2013
- BlueSox Attracting Players From Near and Far - Butler BlueSox
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
