BlueSox Unveil Entire Roster, Looking Forward to Season
April 12, 2013 - Prospect League (Prospect)
Butler BlueSox News Release
Butler, PA - April 12, 2013 - The Butler BlueSox have unveiled their roster for the upcoming summer and are eager to begin their fifth season as part of the Prospect League. New assistant coaches, a strong roster, and Butler playing host to the All-Star Game has the staff looking forward to the summer.
"We are very excited to build upon our great success on and off the field last year," said BlueSox' General Manager Matt Cunningham. "The fans have been great and the players really feed off of the energy at our ballpark."
Four players will return from last season including Alex Miklos who is hitting .294/.350/.486 at Kent State and Eric Hess (University of Pittsburgh) who is batting .325/.456/.427 this spring. Hess's batting average is the third-highest on Pitt's lineup. The Panthers are 21-9 and ranked 26th in the nation by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
Hess will likely anchor the lineup along with Butler-native Cody Herald (Seton Hill) who will return to play for his hometown. He is hitting .309 for the Griffins this spring, including four doubles and two home runs. Herald's teammate at Seton Hill Brett Sullivan will also be returning to the BlueSox from last summer. Sullivan threw one of the BlueSox' best outings last season when he struck out six over seven scoreless innings against Slippery Rock the final week of the season. His 26:11 strikeout-walk ratio continues to be stellar this spring.
The pitching staff will also include lefty Chris Ward of Grand Valley State in Michigan. Ward has a 3.00 ERA over 21 innings this spring, having struck out 23 hitters and walked 16.
Thomas and Radwan to Return as Coaches
Anthony Rebyanski, who has been on the coaching staff at Indiana University of Pennsylvania since 2006, will return for his third season as Butler's manager. Butler reached a new high in wins last season, finishing with an overall record of 33-26. That win total put them in third place in the Prospect League's Eastern Division, which once again featured a playoff race that lasted into the final week of the season. The BlueSox' two-time All-Star second baseman Jason Radwan will return as the hitting coach.
"Coaches can list a million goals for their team and players. Our main goal is to do whatever we can to put our guys in a position to be successful every day," said Rebyanski. "That's not always easy, but we want our players to not only experience a championship run and a championship, but to have fun coming to the ball park each and every day."
Two former BlueSox players in Kyle Thomas (California University of PA) and Jason Radwan (St. Bonaventure) will each be in their first seasons as pitching and hitting coach, respectively.
"Both of these guys want to begin a coaching career, and this is a great place to begin," said Rebyanski. "Not a lot of young guys will have an opportunity to coach in a summer league and team like ours as fast as they will get too. These two guys are both very motivated individuals and I know our team is going to benefit from having them around. I will miss having Kyle and Jason in our lineup, but this is the next best thing as they can help our team be successful on and off the field."
All-Star Game
The BlueSox sent a franchise-high six players, including Radwan and Thomas, to last year's All-Star Game. Butler will be hosting the 2013 Prospect League All-Star Game at Pullman Park in July. "We are honored that the league chose us as All-Star host this year," said Cunningham. "The Game will be a great opportunity to spotlight our team and the great community of Butler. It is a rare event that will be a very memorable highlight of our season."
The Game will include events all day. Starting with a Pro Scout Workout at 2pm, a home run derby, the ASG at 7:05pm. The day will conclude with a fireworks display.
New Playoff System
In 2013, the top two teams from each division will advance to the playoffs, rather than the teams with the best record over the season's first and second halves as has been the case the past two seasons.
Rosters have also been expanded from 25 to 28 players.
The BlueSox look to set a new attendance record for the third-consecutive season in 2013, over 20,000 fans attended games at Pullman Park last summer. Opening Day for the BlueSox will be on May 28 I will miss having Kyle and Jason in our lineup, but this is the next best thing as they can help our team be successful on and off the field. - Anthony Rebyanski, manager against the Chillicothe Paints at Pullman Park. Tickets are available through BlueSox website or ticket office.
"I'm proud that we've been able to increase attendance like we have the last two years, and we expect that to continue," said Cunningham. "Our community has been so supportive and we really could not exist without our fans."
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Prospect League Stories from April 12, 2013
- BlueSox Unveil Entire Roster, Looking Forward to Season - Butler BlueSox
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