'Pels Sweep Weekly Awards

Published on June 2, 2005 under Central Baseball League (Central League)
Pensacola Pelicans News Release


In six games, Bethea had nine hits in 21 at-bats for a batting average of .429 and a slugging percentage of .905. His on-base percentage was .538, to go along with three home runs, a double and ten RBIs. On May 25, Bethea homered and went 3-for-4 with four runs driven in to help the Pelicans to an 8-7 victory over El Paso. The Lumberton, N.C. native is currently tied with San Angelo's Jorge Alvarez for the league lead in home runs (six), fifth in the league with a .566 slugging percentage and third in runs scored, with 19.

Bethea, 28, is in his eighth year of professional ball, after being selected by the Dodgers in the 79th round of the 1995 MLB draft. He spent a year with the Dodgers, as well as stints in the Orioles and Rangers organizations. He's played for Massachusetts and Elmira of the former Northern League East, Alexandria of the Texas-Louisiana League, and a handful of other independent league teams before landing in Pensacola last season. In 2004, Bethea set career highs for games (79), hits (88), total bases (155), homers (15) and RBIs (74). He led Pensacola with 22 doubles and tied for second in the Central League in RBIs.

Norris has been lights-out for the Pelicans, who are currently a half-game behind Fort Worth for first place in the league. The 6'1 southpaw from Birmingham, Alabama pitched in two games last week, both Pelicans' wins. He's 1-0 in the past week with an ERA of zero, just seven hits allowed in 14.1 innings, and nine strikeouts to go with only two walks. On May 29, Norris pitched eight innings of two-hit ball, allowing two unearned runs and striking out three to earn the win against Edinburg, 12-2.

Norris pitched five years for the University of Alabama, finishing his college career with a 13-5 record. In 2002 and 2003, he started and won back-to-back SEC Championship games, beating South Carolina and LSU, respectively. He's a member of the Crimson Tide's All-Jim Wells Team, as voted on by fans. In 2004, his first season of professional baseball, Norris appeared in 15 games (including 11 starts) for the Pelicans, finishing with a record of 6-1 and an ERA of 3.59. This season, he's 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA, holding opponents to a .245 batting average and just seven walks in 28 innings of work.

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Central Baseball League Stories from June 2, 2005


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