Gold Sox Finish First Season in Great West League
Published on August 19, 2016 under Great West League (GWL)
Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox News Release
The Marysville Gold Sox finished their first season in the Great West League with a record of 29 - 28, good for 4th place in the league. The team missed the playoffs, but were successful in finishing over .500 in their first year in the Great West League.
The Great West League was formed this year with a combination of teams from California and Oregon, and players use wood bats to simulate a minor league feel. Players come to the league from all over the United States and even the world to compete. The players leave their college teams after the end of their spring seasons and journey to Marysville, Chico, Lodi, Medford, Portland, and Sacramento to work on their baseball skills and play against strong competition in front of adoring fans.
The Gold Sox started the year hot with a 15 - 2 record, but then saw themselves fall in the standings thanks to long losing stretches, especially on the road. The Sox finished with a winning record thanks to a win on the last game of the regular season to give them a final record of 29 - 28. In their first year in the Great West League, the Gold Sox struggled to adjust to the grueling schedule and saw their stats dip in the mid and later parts of the season, but many individual players stood out among the leaders in the league.
The Sox sent a total of nine players to the Great West League All Star Game and Gold Sox Manager Mike Walker was named the Head Coach of the South Team. The nine Gold Sox players were the second-most of any team in the GWL, and Gold Sox slugger Dalton DeVries won the first ever Great West League Home Run Derby. The Sox were represented by pitchers Jack Cushing, Aiden Kearney, Zach Kornely, and Ryan McCarthy. Catcher Hunter Stratton, infielders Austin Call and Dalton DeVries, and outfielders T.J. Dove and Chris Papapietro rounded out the Gold Sox representatives at the game.
The Gold Sox finished the season with many players among the lead leaders in certain statistical categories. Hunter Stratton finished the season with a .309 batting average (4th in the GWL), and Stratton and Call tied for 3rd place in the league with three homers each. Stratton also finished tied for 3rd place in RBI in the league with 29. Dalton DeVries finished with 56 hits on the year, good for 3rd in the league and placed 2nd in walks with 29. On the pitching side, Ryan McCarthy tied for 1st in the GWL with 7 wins and his .875 winning percentage was near the top as well. Closer Kyle Merkel finished 1st in the league with 10 saves on the year and his 1.99 ERA was sparkling near the tops of the relievers.
One of the most important successes for the Gold Sox this season was the resolution of the conflict between the city and the team over the management of Colusa Casino Stadium. The city and team came to an agreement that terminated the 13-year-old lease, dismissed any court action and called for a payment to the city. The compromise allowed the Gold Sox to finish out the season at the stadium and put down the bedrock for a future long-term deal that could allow the Gold Sox to continue to play at the stadium for years to come. The agreement was a win-win for both parties, as the Gold Sox got to continue to play at their beautiful stadium and the city got to recoup some of its losses on maintenance of the field. Moving forward, the Gold Sox will look to work with the city to bring in other ideas for the stadium in the offseason, including a concert series, a fall baseball league, and movies in the park. "We are currently working on a long term lease with the city of Marysville, that will possibly cover the stadium year around, Said GM Michael Mink. There is a lot of planning and exciting work ahead of us to get this done," said Mink.
The Gold Sox settled their stadium dispute with the city of Marysville and were able to get back to what they do best, playing baseball. The Sox finished the year with a total of 40,989 people in attendance throughout the 33 home games for an average of 1,242 fans per game.
The Gold Sox did not make the playoffs this year, but Manager Mike Walker was proud of his players. Walker said to the Appeal Democrat after the last game of the season: "I wanted to teach the players how to compete on an everyday basis and what it takes to be able to play in a setting like this. Winning is a skill and it can be developed, and many of the players learned how to become better baseball players, and that's all I can hope for as a coach." The Gold Sox players come to the team to work on their baseball skills and to try and improve their game during the summer season, and thanks to a season of games against elite competition, every Gold Sox player left the team feeling better about their skills as a ballplayer, and having made new friends and new experiences in Marysville. They will be forever a part of our team as this organization moves forward into next year.
The Great West League will continue in its second year in 2017 and will look to add more teams to the league hoping to attract the best college-aged players from around the world to compete over the summer. The Gold Sox will be recruiting new stars from across the United States and will of course be looking for local talent as well. The Sox will be back next June with great promotions and new events to look forward to as the Sox look to capture their first ever title in the Great West League. Thank you to the fans for your support this season and Go Gold Sox!
Great West League Stories from August 19, 2016
- Gold Sox Finish First Season in Great West League - Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox
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.
