Lopez Grabs Second Honor, Rogues Add To Roster
March 12, 2014 - West Coast League (WCL)
Medford Rogues News Release
MEDFORD, OR - With just under three months until the season gets underway, the Medford Rogues' roster is looking stronger than ever after yet another impressive showing by Rogues' players. Pomona-Pitzer's E.J. Lopez is the Rogues' player of the week this round and making it the second time that the infielder has grabbed the honor.
Even though Pomona went 1-3 this week, Lopez was a standout for his team with a total of 17 at bats leading to six hits, seven RBI's, and one run. In his 10 games so far for Pomona, Lopez has recorded 16 hits coming from 46 at bats to give him a .348 average this season. In addition, Lopez has 14 RBI's, one home run, six putouts, 20 assists, and only five errors on the season. Next up for Pomona and Lopez are games against Chapman on March 14 and 15.
Close behind Lopez and also chasing his second weekly honor, Western Oregon's Matt Taylor gave a solid performance to help his team go 3-1 this week. Taylor ended the week with nine at bats, two hits, one run, and five RBI's with two of those coming off of sacrifice hits. Taylor's batting average for the season improved to .319 while Western Oregon improves to a 12-9 overall record.
Elsewhere for the Rogues, Victor Garcia continued his steady start to the year by helping Texas Pan-Am to end the week at 3-1. With 10 at bats, three hits, and one run, Garcia averaged .300 while contributing defensively with 37 putouts and one assist. For the season, Garcia maintains an average of .277 from 16 games played and 14 of those being starts.
Last week's player of the week Jared Holley showcased his immense potential once again with a strong week for New Mexico University. Holley had 14 at bats, two hits, three putouts, and 22 assists in four games for the Lobos while teammate Andre Vigil also nabbed a piece of the action with five at bats, one hit, one putout, and three assists.
Several Lane Community College players pitched in on the action this week despite the team ended with a 0-3 record against Lower Columbia College. Spencer Smith ended with 10 at bats, three runs, four hits, and an RBI and Kyle Beam also had a strong showing with eight at bats, two hits, one run, and two RBI's to end the week.
Nebraska opened their home record for the season with a clean 3-0 sweep against St. John's. Rogues players Tanner Lubach and Christian Cox both managed four at bats and one RBI each for their team over the week. Lubach also ended with 10 putouts and one assist while Cox earned four putouts and three runs to close out the action.
Earning an honorable mentions for this week are Tyler Bigler of Morehead State and Donald Glover of Dixie State. Bigler had 12 at bats, four runs, 10 assists, and seven putouts. Glover recorded nine at bats and three hits for an average of .333, along with one run, one RBI, and three putouts.
With a strong roster already in place, the Rogues have decided to go all in for glory this season by adding two more players to the mix. Both freshmen, outfielder Forrest Garcia of Lane Community College and right-handed pitcher Nathan Kuchta from Cypress Junior College will suit up for the Rogues this season.
The West Coast League is a 12-team collegiate wood-bat baseball league composed of the best college players, coaches, facilities and operators in the industry. Ranging from Medford, Oregon north to Kelowna, B.C., and the league has operated as the WCL since 2005. In June, 56 WCL players were selected in the Major League draft. For more information on the WCL, go to www.wccbl.com.
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West Coast League Stories from March 12, 2014
- Lopez Grabs Second Honor, Rogues Add To Roster - Medford Rogues
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