Eight Blue Eagles Named To Western All-Star Team
Web Posted July 8, 2010
Cameron Aiken

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Going into Thursday night the Spartanburg Blue Eagles were tied for first place in the Western Division of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League with a record of 11-5 within the division and 18-14 overall.

Their record translated into All-Star selections as the Blue Eagles led the amount of players selected in the division with eight taken. Four pitchers and four position players from the Blue Eagles will be given the honor to play and work out in front of numerous professional scouts on July 14th at Spartanburg’s own Russell C. King Field at Wofford College.

Both the Eastern and Western divisional teams are made up of 28 players, 4 of which are alternates that will dress out, only to be used if needed. Every Spartanburg selection is guaranteed to play though, as no Blue Eagle was picked as an alternate.

The four pitchers that will represent the Blue Eagles are USC- Upstate’s Gaither Bumgardner, (3-0, 1.71 ERA) Wofford’s Ryan Traylor, (4-1, 1.95 ERA) Furman’s Dylan Cole, (3-3, 3.41 ERA) and USC-Upstate’s Chris Knauff (1.88 ERA, 7 saves). Bumgardner, Traylor, and Cole have primarily been used in the starting rotation for Spartanburg while Knauff has served as the Blue Eagles closer as he leads the Southern Collegiate Baseball League in saves.

The four position players that are representing the Blue Eagles are Charleston Southern’s Jaren Sustar as a third baseman, (.282, 17 RBI’s, 1 HR) The Citadel’s Josh Pless as a second baseman, (.328, 8 RBI’s, 1 HR) Furman’s Paul Nitto as a catcher, (.288, 7 RBI) and USC-Sumter’s Alex Dozier as the designated hitter. (.333, 23 BB, 8 RBI’s)

The Blue Eagles will also send Jesse Dunn (Pfeiffer College) and Zac McCarthy (Erskine College) to represent them in the league’s annual homerun derby that will precede the All-Star game. An exact time will be determined later.

The All-Star game is scheduled to begin at 7:15pm on July 14th, and a schedule of events for the entire day will be available shortly on www.blueeaglesbaseball.com