Northern League Pitcher And Player Of The Week

June 21, 2010 - Northern League (NL) News Release


Outfielder Keanon Simon of the Kansas City T-Bones was named Northern League Player of the Week, and Rockford RiverHawks pitcher Brett Durand received the Northern League Pitcher of the Week honors for the period ending June 20th, 2010.

Simon, who currently leads the Northern League in runs scored (29) and stolen bases (14), batted .407 (11-for-27) with two doubles, a home run and eight RBI in seven games played during the week. He also scored a league-high, 11 runs and was a perfect five- for-five on stolen base attempts. He collected a base hit and a run in six of seven games played in that span.

The speedy 5-10, centerfielder was acquired by the Kansas City T-Bones on February 10th, 2010 from the Amarillo Dillas (United League) for a player to be named later. While helping lead Amarillo to a league championship last season, he batted .352 with a league-best .431 on-base percentage and was 32-for-34 in stolen base attempts (94%).

The 25-year-old, left-handed hitter was originally drafted by Pittsburgh Pirates in the 25th round of the 2007 amateur draft. Simon spent two years in the Pirates farm system playing in the New York-Penn League (R) and the South Atlantic League (A) with the State College Spikes and the Hickory Crawdads, respectively. In college, he was a stand-out player for Oklahoma State (Stillwater, OK) as he excelled on the field and in the classroom. He carried a 3.4 GPA and was named First-team Academic All-Big 12 Conference selection as a sophomore and junior while making the OSU Dean's Honor Roll (3.5 GPA or above) four times.

Durand, who won 10 games for Rockford in 2009, went 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA during the week for the RiverHawks. In his lone start, he only allowed one run over seven innings in a victory versus Schaumburg on June 16th. In that game, he struckout seven batters and yielded only four hits, all singles. On the year, he sits tied for second in the Northern League in wins (4) and is sixth in opponents batting average against (.218).

Durand, who is only 24-years-old, is playing his second season with Rockford, but first in the Northern League. Last season he went 10-6 while his 3.81 ERA ranked ninth in the Frontier League. It marked the second straight season of 10 victories for the right- hander following a 10-6 campaign for Greensboro (South Atlantic League) in 2008. For only the second time in his professional career, his last start marked the first time since June 20th, 2008 that he allowed more than two walks in a start.

The 6-2, 190-pounder was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 11th round of the 2007 Draft. He played two seasons in the Marlins system appearing in 38 games while posting a combined record of 11-8 for their Gulf Coast League (R) and South Atlantic League (A) affiliates. He played collegiately at Delta State University (Cleveland, MS) where he was voted to the second team 2007 National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Associtation Division II All-American Team.



Northern League Stories from June 21, 2010


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