The State College Spikes exploded for 14 hits on Tuesday evening en route to a 6-2 victory over the Batavia Muckdogs. Eight of the nine Spikes starters collected at least one hit with Justin Byler pacing the squad with a 2-for-3 evening with two runs scored.
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- Texas Christian C Andrew Walker, the Pirates’ fifth-round draft pick, signed on Tuesday and will be assigned to short-season Class A State College in the New York-Penn League. Walker hit .328 with 12 homers and 58 RBIs in 60 games this spring for the Horned Frogs and was a two-time All-Mountain West Conference selection.
This blurb appeared in the Pirates Report
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Make the 2007 season a summer to remember with the State College Spikes and the Schlow Library. On select dates, children grades K through 6 can come to Medlar Field at Lubrano Park with their favorite book from 11 AM – Noon and have a chance to win a GREAT PRIZE each time you come!
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TONIGHT’S STARTER: LHP Tony Watson will make his second professional start when he toes the rubber for the Spikes this evening. In his first start of the season, Watson struck out nine over his five innings of work and didn’t allow a run or a hit. Watson’s nine strikeouts matched a Spikes franchise high. During his junior year at Nebraska, Watson was named Second-Team All Big-12, and was a three-time Big-12 Played of the Week. He received the honor for the third time this season after a two-hit complete game, shutout against #4 Texas on April 20. In 2006 he was named 1st-team All American after going 10-2 with a 2.78 ERA. He finished his career ranked sixth on Nebraska’s career list with 22 wins.
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After one season as a farm club for the St. Louis Cardinals, the State College Spikes will start their first year as a minor league affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Spikes’ home season began Wednesday against the Williamsport Crosscutters. The rivalry between the Spikes and the Crosscutters, which are both in the New York-Penn League, has been nicknamed the “Saw Buck Series.”
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Before the New York-Penn League reached large markets, rivalries, not expensive stadiums, incited debates.
Games such as Geneva-Auburn, Oneonta-Utica and Welland-St. Catharines developed into events that produced civic pride and sometimes envy between cities.
The league has almost outgrown its roots and many rivalries ended when teams left for bigger markets.
Still, a few savvy front offices are attempting to begin a new generation of rivalries.
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UNIVERSITY PARK — Tony Beasley is a manager, really.
Sure, he wears a Pittsburgh Pirates jersey with his last name on the back. The jerseys are reserved for roving coordinators, men senior director of player development Brian Graham calls the “backbone” of the farm system.
The Pirates call Beasley their roving infield coordinator. He travels to the organization’s six minor-league affiliates, throws batting practice, hits groundballs and analyzes infield play.
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UNIVERSITY PARK — They could have been at this level earlier or maybe even somewhere else by now.
Some might already be in full-season baseball. Others might already be out of the game, mingling in life’s other work.
The State College Spikes have their share of players who had chances to begin their professional careers at a different time and place.
The current roster includes 11 players who were drafted multiple times.
Go to the rest of the story
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UNIVERSITY PARK — His right arm ached because he landed on the concrete, the foundation and trademark of the cavernous stadium.
The play also represented the foundation of State College Spikes manager Turner Ward’s baseball values.
Ward ran through the right field wall at Three Rivers Stadium on May 3, 1998, because of a vow he made to himself when he signed his first professional contract.
The Turner Ward bobblehead.
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BATAVIA, N.Y. — Mark DeJohn 1, State College Spikes 0.
The Spikes faced their former manager for the first time Monday and started the 10-game season series with Batavia by losing 6-2 before 1,393 fans at Dwyer Stadium.
DeJohn, who led the Spikes to a 39-36 record in their inaugural season, became the Muckdogs manager when the St. Louis Cardinals moved their New York-Penn League affiliate to Batavia last fall. The Cardinals went to Batavia after the Spikes signed a four-year Player Development Contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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The State College Spikes continued their struggles on Monday evening falling to the Batavia Muckdogs by the count of 6-2. The trip to Batavia was the Spikes’ first game against their former manager Mark DeJohn and several former Spikes players who are now with the new St. Louis Cardinals NYPL affiliate in Batavia.
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UNVERSITY PARK — When the ball dips and swerves, adjusting to a new level can be a methodical process.
This concept applies to pitchers and hitters.
The State College Spikes’ pitchers couldn’t get the ball to dip and swerve in ideal locations and the offense couldn’t hit pitches that moved vertically and laterally during an 11-1 loss to the Jamestown Jammers before 5,251 fans Sunday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
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