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MWL1 Bowling Green Hot Rods

Eight Hot Rods Named to 2015 Eastern Division All Star Team

June 4, 2015 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release


Bowling Green, Ky. - Field managers across the Midwest League have spoken, and they have selected eight Hot Rods to represent the Eastern Division in the 2015 Midwest League All Star Game. Position players Jace Conrad, Nick Ciuffo, Casey Gillaspie, Grant Kay and Coty Blanchard along with pitcher Brent Honeywell, Hunter Wood and Chris Pike were voted to the league's Midsummer Classic on June 22 at Dozer Park in Peoria, Ill., home of the Western Division's Peoria Chiefs.

Bowling Green's eight selections are the most from any team across the 16-team circuit and is the second-most midseason All-Star nods in team history, after the 2013 squad which had nine players chosen. Conrad, Gillaspie, Blanchard and Wood are all second-time All-Star picks after garnering those laurel with Hudson Valley of the New York-Penn League in 2014.

Conrad is the lone Hot Rod to find himself on the Eastern starting line-up after establishing himself as one of Bowling Green's most clutch hitters throughout the first half. The former UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajun is batting .293 with nine home runs - which is tied for most in the MWL with Gillaspie and top the league in home run to at-bat ratio (1/18.56 AB) - to go along with 25 RBI and a team-high 16 stolen bases, the seventh-highest total in the league. Conrad, selected as a second baseman, etched his name into Hot Rods history earlier this season, putting together the second-longest hitting streak in team history at 16 games, also the second-longest in the league this year.

Ciuffo, Gillaspie and Kay were selected to the Eastern bench. Ciuffo - the only other catcher selected behind South Bend's Cael Brockmeyer - has turned in a .231 batting average with eight doubles and nine RBI. The Rays' 2013 first-round draft pick (21st overall) has been sharp behind the plate, committing just two errors and has thrown out 34 percent of potential base-stealers, fifth-best in the league.

Gillaspie is hitting at a .272 clip with a loop-high tying nine home runs and a team-high 31 RBI through 53 games. The former Wichita State standout has seven multi-hit efforts over his last 12 games, hitting at a .404 clip over that time span.

Kay, the former Louisville Cardinal, has hit .243 over 43 games with 11 RBI and 11 extra-base hits, which includes a team-high tying nine doubles.

A trio of Hot Rods pitchers were also named to the Eastern squad - Honeywell, Pike and Wood - which ties for Dayton with most pitchers on the Eastern roster.

Through nine starts, Honeywell owns a 4-3 record with a 2.81 ERA, and at times has shown flashes of being virtually unhittable. Last year's 72nd overall selection turned in a no-hit performance over 7.0 innings pitched on May 17 against Fort Wayne and has three other starts of at least 6.0 innings with two hits or less permitted. The Carnesville, Ga. native ranks among the league's best in opponents' batting average (.216, #5), strikeouts per 9 IP (10.13, #4), fewest baserunners per 9 IP (9.19, #5).

Pike, who collected his sixth win of the year in the Kane County series opener Wednesday night to tie for second in the circuit in that category, has a 6-1 record with a 2.72 ERA. The former Oklahoma City University Star made Hot Rods history by logging four consecutive starts of 7.0 innings pitched from May 8 through May 27.

Wood, a multi-inning regular out of the Hot Rods bullpen, has been nothing short of dominant, despite his 0-1 record. Over 12 appearances in relief, Wood has allowed five earned runs over 33.2 innings of work for an infinitesimal 1.36 ERA, while opposing hitters are batting .123 against the righty, second-best in the league among relievers. Over his last 9.0 innings of work, Wood has allowed only three hits while striking out nine batters.

Blanchard, while named to the roster, will be unable to participate after being suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball on Monday for testing positive for a banned substance. Through 39 games this season, the former Alabama Mr. Football in 2009 was hitting at a .314 clip with a home run and 18 RBI, having stolen four bases as well.

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