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Pitching focus continues as Montalbano, Povich re-signed

February 3, 2012 - American Association (AA)
Amarillo ThunderHeads News Release


AMARILLO, TX -The Amarillo Sox Baseball Club announced today the re-signing of LHP Paul Montalbano and RHP Chad Povich, terms of the agreement weren't disclosed but include a club option for 2013.

Montalbano II, a native of Galveston, Texas, was signed as an undrafted free agent by Amarillo on August 9, 2001 after two successful seasons playing under Augie Garrido at the University of Texas. Prior to his time as a student-athlete with the Longhorns, the 6'1 - 175 lb. lefty enjoyed tremendous success at Weatherford College (Oklahoma) where he threw a pair of no-hitters and logged a 13-5 career record. As a member of the Coyote baseball program Montalbano split time between pitching and playing the outfield posting a 6-2 record with a 2.41 ERA on the mound and batted .287, 22 runs and 14 RBI in 121 at-bats to earn All-Conference Honors, as a sophomore.

In his first season as a professional, he split time once again between the playing field and the mound appearing in 13 games in leftfield and 9 games as a reliever. As a member of the bullpen, he posted a 0-1 record with a 3.27 ERA only surrendering 4 earned runs, in 11.0 innings of work. Sox manager John Harris expects Montalbano's role to be the same for the upcoming season and was pleased with the crafty left-handers work in his so-far short minor league career. "Paul was a great addition to the backend of our pitching staff late last year really providing us with some versatility being able to match-up against left-hand hitters where so many games are won or lost", Harris said. "Having him for a full season we fully expect him to play a major role in getting lefties out in critical situations".

Povich, born June 13, 1986 in St. George, Utah, was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 30th round of the 2005 MLB June Amateur Draft and the Boston Red Sox in the 42nd round of the 2007 MLB June Amateur Draft. The 6'0 - 205 lb. right-hander spent three seasons in the Red Sox farmhand splitting time between five clubs pitching as high in the system as Double A for Portland (Eastern League) in 2007, where he received a World Series ring as a member of the Red Sox minor farm system. Released by Boston following the 2009 campaign, he signed with the Sioux City of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball in 2010 when In his full season as an Explorer, he split time between middle relief and starting appearing in 26 games with 11 starts posting a 5-2 record and 5.17 ERA to go along with 83 strikeouts, in 94.0 innings pitched.

Acquired by the Sox in an off-season trade with Sioux City for OF Javier Brito, Povich worked out of the bullpen in a relieve role appearing in 41 games posting an 8-3 record with a 5.72 ERA while striking out 47 hitters in 50.1 innings pitched. His career totals include a 25-16 record with a 5.16 ERA in 333.0 official innings pitched. Although the Sox finished the season at 44-56 it is glaringly evident that pitching was a struggle for the most part last year and particularly the bullpen but one of the bright spots for the club was the effectiveness of Povich and the prospects of his continued success has created some ease of mind for manager John Harris going into this season.

"Overall our bullpen was effective in my mind but there's always room for improvement", Harris said. "Chad took the ball forty-one times last year providing our club with some stability in many outings, his numbers are evidence of his ability. Guys with his talent and desire to be out there when it counts the most don't come along very often so we're very fortunate to have him back".

Opening Day is Friday, May 18 when the Sox welcome the Winnipeg Goldeyes of Manitoba, Canada. Join the Sox For "The March To A Million!" Season tickets are currently available for purchase in-person or over the phone by visiting the Amarillo Sox Executive Offices at 801 South Polk Street or by calling (806) 242-GOLD (4653). Game day tickets go on-sale May 1, 2012. VISA, MasterCard, and Discover accepted.

For more information about season and individual game tickets, game times, promotions, marketing opportunities, full game schedule, and everything else Sox Baseball, visit the "Official Website of the Amarillo Sox" by logging onto www.amarillosox.com.

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