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Northwoods Green Bay Rockers

Duarte Brings Aggressive Edge to Bullfrogs

June 20, 2015 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Green Bay Rockers News Release


Mikey Duarte of the Green Bay Bullfrogs
Mikey Duarte of the Green Bay Bullfrogs
(Green Bay Rockers)

Green Bay, Wis.- Mikey Duarte (UC-Irvine) wasted no time introducing himself to the crowd last Wednesday night for his first game as a Green Bay Bullfrog. On the first pitch he saw, Duarte served a double down the right field line.

Just like he approaches his responsibilities as a shortstop, Duarte takes an unreserved and forthright style to every at-bat. That has made him a sparkplug at the top both the Bullfrogs' and Anteater's lineup.

"I'm really aggressive. My Head Coach [at UC-Irvine), Mike Gillespie, tells me it's ok to walk," said Duarte. "I love walking. But I'm going to swing the bat, and I'm going to swing it hard. I play the game to hit."

Duarte completed a season at University of California-Irvine that placed him on the Brooks Wallace Award finalist list, an award given at the end of June to the best NCAA Division I short stop in America. The list included Omaha bound players such as Dansby Swanson (Vanderbilit), Richie Martin (Florida), and Alex Bregman (LSU).

"It's an honor to be on that list with those guys," said Duarte. "I just gotta keep working hard."

He led the Anteaters in batting average (.345) hits (78) and on-base percentage (.416) for players with 100 or more at-bats. For his efforts, he was placed on the Big West Conference 1st Team list.

"I worked hard in the off-season and it translated into the season," said Duarte of his junior campaign. "I was there before batting practice, I was there before ground balls...I got after it and it showed on the field."

Although Duarte had success in his first two seasons, he believes that some adjustments to his swing led to a breakout season that marked him as one of the country's best middle infielders.

"My patience at the plate really paid off. Quality at-bats got the job done," said Duarte. "Learning from my coaches and previous players before me, Taylor Sparks (Reds Adv. A), Chris Rabago (Rockies Adv. R), really helped me out and made me a better baseball player."

Duarte has other mentors within his own family that have helped direct his baseball career. His cousins Gerald and Brandon Laird have both played Major League Baseball. Gerald currently plays for the

Diamondbacks, while Brandon is playing for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in the Japan Pacific League.

"Gerald has been a mentor. Growing up I used to fly down to Texas, fly down to Detroit, and he would take me on the field for batting practice all the time. It really made me want to play baseball," said Duarte. "And Brandon [Laird] is like a big brother to me. I call him all the time."

Duarte has been the starting shortstop for the Bullfrogs who bring an 11-11 record to Mequon tonight to play the Lakeshore Chinooks in South Division play.

Single game tickets are on sale now. Visit www.greenbaybullfrogs.com to purchase tickets. The Bullfrogs' business hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.




Images from this story

Mikey Duarte of the Green Bay Bullfrogs
Mikey Duarte of the Green Bay Bullfrogs
   



Northwoods League Stories from June 20, 2015


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