Tuesday, February 26, 2008

DANS SPARKLE IN COLLEGE OPENINGS

Mississippi State's Jason Nappi (Dans 07)sparkled at the plate in his Bulldog debut, collecting 7 hits in 10 at-bats (.700), leading the team with 5 runs scored and 3 extra-base hits. Nappi reached base in 10 of his 12 plate appearances.

LSU sophomore, Ryan Schimpf (Dans 07), finished opening day 4 for 4, reaching base in every plate appearance. "Ryan Schimpf is as improved a player as we have," said LSU Head Coach, Paul Mainieri. "He put the ball in play, and something good happened for him. I thought he was a real sparkplug for us tonight." LSU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Schimpf scored on an RBI single by team mate Blake Dean.

Monday, February 11, 2008

9 DANS ALUM PREPARE FOR SPRING TRAINING

Jon Papelbon (2001) will be one of 9 former Danville Dans (CICL) headed to Major League spring training camps this month. The 27 year old finished the 2007 season boasting , among all qualifying major league relievers, the A.L.’s lowest opponents batting average (.146) and highest strikeouts/9 innings ratio (12.96). As a member of the World Champion Red Sox, Jon finished the 2007 World Series with 3 saves and a zero ERA.

Eric Stultz 2001 (Dodgers), Jon Knott 1999 Minnesota, and Shane Youman 2000 (Minnesota) are also on 40 man rosters each having major league experience. Additional Dans on 40 man rosters and non-roster invitees include: Wes Roemer 2005(Diamondbacks), Randy Ruiz 1999 (Minnesota), Danny Worth 2005 (Detroit), Matt Tolbert 2001 (Minnesota), and Chris Coglan 2004 (Marlins).

GRIFFIN ADDS TO HONORS

After being named a Louisville Slugger All American, A.J.Griffin (Dans 2007-San Diego) added to his honors by being named an All-American by Rivals.com. "It isn't often that a freshman steps in and becomes a premier closer in his first season. However, Griffin was an exception last season. The talented right-hander had a season to remember." While with the Dans, A.J. was one of the most feared pitchers in the league, holding opposition batters to a .147 batting average and striking out 1.39 batters per inning.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

8th DAN HEADING TO MLB CAMP

Danville Dan, Wes Roemer (2005 – Cal State Fullerton) has been invited to Spring Training with the Arizona Diamondbacks, bringing the number of Dans invited to major league camps to eight.

As a sophomore at Cal State Fullerton, the first man to draw a walk off Roemer was the 253rd man he faced – that walk came on April Fool’s day. While with the Dans, Roemer’s 1.59 ERA was 2nd in the league behind Ryan Byrd (Dans – LSU). Byrd finished the year with a 1.91 era, on a team that finished in 1st place at 34-10 under Head Coach Jamie Sailors.

Wes was drafted by Arizona in the first round of the 2007 draft.