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GBL Drafts 36 Players at League-wide Tryout

December 16, 2005 - Golden Baseball League (GBL) News Release


The Golden Baseball League announced that 36 players were drafted and offered contracts at the conclusion of the annual league-wide tryout held at Blair Field in Long Beach, California on December 13th and 14th. All six GBL teams selected players from the pool of 321 hopefuls that arrived from 30 States and four countries for the opportunity to play in the league. Stocking up on young arms and rookies was the focus as 19 pitchers were selected, followed by six catchers, five outfielders, three middle infielders, two third baseman, and one first baseman. All players selected had collegiate or professional experience with approximately half from California and the rest from 12 other states.

Golden Baseball League managers making the selections were Terry Kennedy, Darrell Evans, Garry Templeton, Les Lancaster, Mark Parent, and Benny Castillo who have all returned for a second season in the league. Scouts from the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, the Major League Scouting Bureau, the Mexican League, and the Taiwan Professional League were also in attendance.

"This was a very high quality tryout," said Kevin Outcalt, GBL Commissioner. "We selected fewer players than last year because of the number of returning players on our team's rosters, but these players should do very well in the league. I wouldn't be surprised to see many of them acquired by major league organizations similar to the seventeen players we moved up in 2005."

All players signed will be part of the 29-man spring training roster that each team will build in the off-season. Each team will depart spring training with a final 23-man roster to begin their 2006 season on June 1st. The league plays National League rules with no designated hitter. Golden Baseball League teams are required to have six rookies on their squads and are limited to a maximum of four veteran players that are over 28 years old, many of whom have big league experience. The rest of the roster is made up of experienced professionals that have played at the A, AA, and AAA levels.

"The GBL is the only league to run a December tryout camp and attracts many of the top rookies just out of college who were overlooked in the June draft, or were drafted and released a few months later," said Nick Belmonte, GBL Tryout Director and operator of Independent League Consulting. "We had excellent talent at this tryout, especially pitchers with many throwing in 90s. This will give the league a great base of rookies that can contribute right away."

The players drafted and the teams selecting them were as follows:

Chico Outlaws: Alex Froloff (OF - Coral Springs, FL), Colin Ward-Henninger (P - Woodland Hills, CA), Chris Searle (P - Monterey, CA), Gerardo Verastegui (C - Atascosa, TX), JT Unumb (3B - Murrieta, CA).

Fullerton Flyers: Jordan Smolar (P - Valparaiso, IN), Jerome Rey (P - Glendale, CA), Jason Krohn (SS - Gresham, OR), Nick Casanova (P - Corona, CA), Julian Williams (OF - Fort Worth, TX).

Long Beach Armada: Brandon Bergstrom (OF - Shoreline, WA), Rob Riley (P - Springfield, VA), David Ramirez (C - Oxnard, CA), Jack Chapman (C - Antioch, CA).

Reno Silver Sox: William Kraut (P - Santa Rosa, CA), Jason Conrad (P - Vallejo, CA), Josh Buhagiar (OF - Penngrove, CA), Adam Callan (SS - Corte Madera, CA), Jason Clark (C - Federal Way, WA), Dennis Peters (C - Castro Valley, CA), Paul Rottman (OF - Tempe, AZ), Randy Waite (P - Rancho Murrieta, CA).

San Diego Surf Dawgs: Brent Pourciau (P - Studio City, CA), John Segovia (P - San Francisco, CA), Tyler Dersom (P - Whittier, CA), Ron Mendes (North Hollywood, CA), Joe Safken (P - Grand Junction, CO), Will Carr (P - Atlanta, GA), Justin Moore (SS - Broken Arrow, OK).

Yuma Scorpions: Chris Langlois (P - Daytona Beach, FL), Kristopher Gibson (1B - Vallejo, CA), Zach Silvera (P - Covina, CA), Kevin Spaulding (P - Carlsbad, CA).

Golden Baseball League Contract (non-team specific): Jason Howerton (P - Tempe, AZ), Roger Acuna (3B - Hawaiian Gardens, CA), Jordan Ramos (INF - Monmouth, OR).

About the Golden Baseball League

The Golden Baseball League, Presented by Safeway Inc./VONS, is a professional baseball league operating under a single-entity ownership model, with the League owning all the individual teams. Charter Golden Baseball League teams include the Chico Outlaws in Chico; CA, the Fullerton Flyers in Fullerton; CA, the Long Beach Armada in Long Beach; CA, the San Diego Surf Dawgs in San Diego; CA, the Yuma Scorpions in Yuma; AZ, and the Reno Silver Sox in Reno; NV. The season consists of 80 games per team and will begins the first of June and ends in early September. Each team will have a 23-player roster.

For general information, please visit our League web site at www.goldenbaseball.com.

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Golden Baseball League Stories from December 16, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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