June 3, 2005
Complete Gameday Release in PDF Format
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Complete Pre-Tournament Notes in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader
Complete Stats (including season linescores, each player’s game-by-game stats, etc.) in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader
NOTRE DAME BASEBALL GAMEDAY NOTES – vs. North Carolina (NCAA Gainesville Regional; June 3, 2005) … note that release is best viewed in PDF format
PLAY BALL! – Junior LHP Tom Thornton (4.50, 6-5, 39 Ks/19 BB, 106 H/.298, 92 IP) is slated to start today’s game vs. UNC while the Tar Heels will counter with sophomore RHP Robert Woodard (2.22, 7-0, 75 Ks/17 BB, 76 H/.226, 89.1 IP) … Friday’s second game will see Florida start junior RHP Adam Horne (4.16, 7-2) while Stetson will country with sophomore LHP Chris Ingoglia (4.56, 8-3).
Tom Thornton CAREER STATS (LHP, Jr., 6-6/220; Middleboro, MA … 2nd Team All-BIG EAST in ’05; see PDF for stats)
THORNTON’S SITUATIONAL PITCHING – Has allowed 42% of leadoff batters to reach (avg. of 3.8 per 9 IP) while allowing opponents to hit .309 with runners on base but just .239 with 2 outs … has totaled nearly the same number of groundouts (115) as flyouts (102) … averaging 6.1 IP per start … his 9-inning averages include 3.8 Ks, 1.9 walks, 10.4 hits allowed and 11.3 groundouts … LH batters are hitting .295 vs. him in ’05 (.299 by RH batters).
THORNTON 2005 GAME-BY-GAME (Second Team All-BIG EAST Selection; see PDF for stats)
GAME-1 STARTER – Nearly half of Thornton’s starts in ’05 have been in the first game of a series/tournament, etc. (listed above, vs. Dayton, A&M, Georgetown, Rutgers, Villanova, Cleveland State, and BC in the BET) … Thornton has met with mixed results in those games, compiling a 4.78 ERA, 3-2 record, 17 Ks, 12 walks and 52 hits allowed (3 HR, 8 2B) in 43.1 innings (his only 2 WP of the season also have come in game-1 starts) … his most impressive game-1 outing in ’05 came in the Friday-night opener vs. Villanova at Eck Stadium (9 IP, 2 R, 10 H, BB, 2 Ks, 5-2 win).
BIG GAME PITCHER – Tom Thornton made a name for himself as a big-game pitcher during the 2004 season, capped by a stellar outing vs. Kent State in an NCAA elimination game (career-high 12 Ks in 8.1 IP, 3 H, R, 2 BB, 29 BF/4 over min.) … Thornton took a no-hitter into the 5th inning of that game and 21 of his 25 outs came via Ks, groundouts (7) or infield popups (2) as he allowed just six balls to leave the infield (two through the left side) … he located nearly 70% of his pitches for strikes (81 of 118), allowed just two leadoff batters to reach, held Kent State to 2-for-8 batting with runners on and allowed no 2-out hits (0-for-8) … Thornton’s five career postseason appearances (BIG EAST and NCAA) include a 2.59 ERA, 2-0 record (3 GS) and a 4-to-1 K-to-walk ratio (20/5) with four more IP (24.1) than hits allowed (20).
THORNTON’S CAREER POSTSEASON APPEARANCES (see PDF)
TALL TOM TERRIFIC – Junior LHP Tom Thornton is the first pitcher in the 11-year Paul Mainieri era to toss three consecutive 9-inning complete-game victories (vs. Boston College, UConn and Villanova) … Thornton’s season ERA dropped from 5.59 to 3.84 during that stretch of three straight 9-inning CGs.
LEADER OF THE PACK – Thornton has been the season-long leader of a 2005 ND pitching staff that has coped with the departure of three key regulars (Grant Johnson, Chris Niesel and Joe Thaman) and the injury limitations of three current pitchers (Jeff Manship, John Axford and Jess Stewart). HOME BOY – Tom Thornton posted a 4-0 record and 2.25 in 2005 home games (15 Ks, 5 BB, 38 H/.277 opp. avg. in 36 IP) but he enters the NCAAs with just a 2-5 record and 5.95 ERA in all ’05 road games (24 Ks, 14 BB, 68 H/.311 in 56 IP)
AMONG THE BIG EAST’S BEST – Thornton is tied for 1st among the league’s pitchers in starts (15), also ranking 4th in innings (92), 6th in complete games (4) and 10 in wins (6-5) … in BIG EAST games only, he finished 13th among the league’s pitchers with a 2.83 ERA, also ranking 4th in wins (5-2) and 5th in innings (54.1).
DON’T WALK – Thornton entered the 2005 postseason with just 2 walks in his previous 47.1 IP (avg. of 0.38 BB per 9 IP in those 7 GP) … he did issue a pair of walks in the BET vs. Boston College but still has totaled just 19 walks in 92 IP this season (1.86 BB per 9 IP) … his career avg. of 2.08 walks per 9 IP ranks 7th in the ND record book (see PDF for list):
JUST THE STATS – Thornton leads the ’05 staff in starts (15) and innings (92), also 2nd in wins (6) and 3rd in Ks (39) and K-to-walk ratio (2.1) … situationally, he leads the staff in groundouts (115) and IP per outing (6.1), also 2nd in low walks per 9 IP (1.9), 3rd in groundouts per 9 IP (11.3), 4th in opp. 2-out batting (.239) and 5th in leadoff on-base (.421).
SEASON RECAP – Thornton bounced back from a 1-3 start to win 4 of next 5 decisions … his top ’05 outings include a no-decision at UCF (5 IP, 5 H, R, 3 BB, 3 Ks), 9-inning CG wins vs. BC (3-2; 8 H, 1 ER, 5 Ks), UConn (7-1; 6 H, 4 Ks) and Villanova (5-2; 10 H, BB, 2 Ks), and the win over WVU in the final series (5-1; 6 IP, 7 H, R, BB, K) … he was in line to win the BET opener last week vs. Boston College but the bullpen lost the lead before the Irish rallied to win, 6-5.
STEADY STARTER – A start vs. UNC will give Thornton 16 starts for the season, making him just the seventh ND pitcher to start 16-plus in a season (four have started 17-plus), with the others including fellow LHPs Tom Price, Chris Michalak and Tim Kalita, plus RHPs Brian Piotrowicz, Eric Madsen, Alex Shilliday … Thornton already is one of six ND pitchers ever to log 15-plus starts in multiple seasons (also 15 in ’04), joining Price, Madsen, Michalak and RHPs Pat Leahy and Chris Niesel in that distinction … Thornton also is one of 13 all-time ND pitchers to post 20-plus wins in their career (see PDF for record-book lists):
ALL-CONFERNCE (finally) – Tom Thornton’s all-BIG EAST honors in 2005 (2nd team) ostensibly arrived a year late, as he turned in a more consistent and statistically impressive season in 2004 (when he was overlooked even for 3rd team all-BIG EAST) … he is the 10th different Notre Dame pitcher to earn all-BIG EAST honors, joining a group that includes current big-leaguers Aaron Heilman (2nd team in ’98; 1st team in ’99-’01; ’00 and ’01 pitcher of the year) and Brad Lidge (1st team/pitcher of the year in ’98) … others who have been all-BIG EAST include (all RHPs): Darin Schmalz (2nd team in ’96 and ’97), Danny Tamayo (1st team, ’01), J.P. Gagne (3rd team in ’01 and ’03), Chris Niesel (1st team/pitcher of the year in ’03, 2nd team in ’04), Grant Johnson (1st team, ’04) and Ryan Doherty (2nd team, ’04).
ROLLER COASTER – Tom Thornton has endured a couple rocky 1st innings this season (5.40 ERA, .306 opp. batting in 15 IP) but he has come back strong on a consistent basis in the 2nd-4th innings, compiling a 1.70 ERA and .231 opp. batting avg. in those early innings (42.1 IP, 20 Ks/10 BB) with no runs allowed this season in the 3rd (14 IP, 9 H/.184, 6 Ks, 2 BB) … like many of his teammates, Thornton also has struggled in the 5th and 6th innings, with a 9.53 combined ERA and .400 opp. avg. in those two innings (plus just a 5/7 K-to-BB ratio) … ND’s best innings as a staff have been the 2nd (2.90, .265, 28/14), 9th (3.15, .238, 39/16) and 4th (3.20, .274, 29/19) but the Irish have struggled most in the 6th (7.02, .336, 31/31) and 7th (4.82, .284, 35/24).
Tom Thornton PITCHING STATS INNING-BY-INNING (see PDF)
TEAM PITCHING STATS INNING-BY-INNING (see PDF)
FOUR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER – The 4th inning has been the most productive for the 2005 ND offense, yielding the team’s best batting avg. (.338) and slugging pct. (.529) plus highest totals for runs (67), home runs (9) and doubles (17) of any inning this season:
TEAM OFFENSIVE STATS INNING-BY-INNING (see PDF)
MIDDLE-INNING MADNESS – The crucial middle innings have been a season-long bugaboo for the Notre Dame pitching staff, which has allowed 38 runs in the 5th, 54 in the 6th and 43 in the 7th inning this season (also 48 in the 1st, no other innings with more than 34 runs allowed) … that adds up to 135 runs allowed in the 5th-7th innings, with the Irish scoring 128 in those innings (-7 margin) … the 6th inning is easily ND’s worst scoring margin of the season (-18, 36-54) and is the only inning (1-9) in which ND has been outscored this season … the value of solid middle-inning pitching can be seen in the following won-loss breakdown:
* Record of team leading at the end of the 6th inning in ND’s ’05 games 48-6 (30-2 for ND)
* Record of team leading at the end of the 7th inning in ND’s ’05 games 42-6-1 (26-3 for ND)
* Record of team leading at the end of the 8th inning in ND’s ’05 games 44-3-1 (28-2 for ND)
INSIDE THE NUMBERS – As shown in the below statistical comparison, ND and UNC own some very similar numbers but differ in several key categories … ND enters the NCAAs 8-2 in its last 10 while UNC in 3-7 … UNC holds the power edge with 61 HRs (to ND’s 43) but the Irish have lived as an on-base team (.397-.371) and are +22 in the ratio of BB+HBP-Ks (compared to UNC’s -90) … UNC’s 3.16 staff ERA includes four regulars under 3.00 (ND’s 4.24 features just one) while the Tar Heels also have a big edge in opp. batting avg. (.236-.287) and Ks per 9 IP (8.1-5.6) … ND has played 11 more games away from home this season than UNC (31-20) and has just 6 freshmen on the roster (compared to UNC’s 14) … both teams own a 3-4-1 record in extra-inning games this season.
TALE OF THE TAPE (see PDF for detailed stat comparison)
BULLPEN REPORT
LOFTY STANDARDS – Junior RHP Ryan Doherty, who has failed to duplicate his 2004 All-America results this season, still remains firmly entrenched in the ND baseball record books … the 7-foot-1 Doherty enters the ’05 NCAAs with the 11th-best career ERA (7th-best since 1970) in the program’s recorded history while his 19 saves are one shy of the record held by 2000 graduate and current Eastern Kentucky pitching coach John Corbin … Doherty also has allowed just 6.36 hits per 9 IP in his career (3rd in ND record book, best in 40 years) and ranks 4th all-time with a 3.61 career K-to-walk ratio while his career average of 12.15 Ks per 9 IP ranks 2nd to Dan McGinn’s 12.69 way back in 1964-65 … Doherty has racked up 10.69 Ks per 9 IP this season, good for 5th on that ND top-10 list (his 12.18 in ’04 ranks 3rd) … he is one of three ND pitchers ever to post 6-plus saves in multiple seasons (12 in ’04, 6 in ’05; Corbin had 9 in ’99 and 11 in ’00, J.P. Gagne 6 in ’02 and 13 in ’03) … see PDF for record-book listings
QUICK NOTES ON THE ND BULLPEN
Jeff Manship – returned from offseason elbow surgery and then slowed by midseason finger injury (after fielding ball vs. UConn in mid-April) … saved 5-1 win over West Virginia on final weekend of regular season (3 IP, 2 BB, 4 Ks) … lost lead in BET opener vs. BC but bounced back for 6-5 win (3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 Ks, 3 WP) … first three starts were pre-determined short stints (1.0, 1.0, 1.1) … ultimately had 4-inning start at St. John’s (3 H, R, BB, 3 Ks) … known for a devastating curveball, a tough fastball and mental toughness after former Team USA pitcher (his brother Matt Manship is a top pitcher for Stanford).
Ryan Doherty – has not allowed a run or hit in his past 3 GP, vs. USC, West Virginia and Pitt (5.0 IP, 7 Ks, BB) .. saved 4-2 win at UCF (1.2 IP, H, 3 Ks, HB) and BIG EAST winners-bracket game vs. Pitt (also 4-2; 1.1 IP, 3 Ks).
Mike Dury – riding streak of 10 straight games without being charged for a run (13.1 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 10 Ks, ERA dropped from 3.38 to 1.50) … saved BIG EAST title game vs. Pitt, taking mound after 2-hour rain delay (3.1 IP, H, BB, 2 Ks).
Scott Bickford – LHP who threw total of 14.1 IP in ’02-’04 seasons but has been key situational reliever, with nearly a 5-to-1 K-to-walk ratio (19/4) … pitcher of record in 13-6 win over USC (IP, K).
Derik Olvey – was rated nation’s #22 prospect among 2004 freshmen but missed most of season due to tendonitis … looking to bounce back from rocky past two outings, vs. Michigan and USC (9.65 combined ERA).
Tony Langford – two-way player who has been used for key late-inning stints … worked out of jam to win 12-inning game vs. Purdue (0.2 IP, BB, K) and came back next day to save win over Valparaiso (1.2 IP, H, 3 BB, K) … helped beqat Pitt in BIG EAST winners-bracket game (4-2; IP, H, K).
MAINIERI AND FOX PART OF 800-WIN CLUB – Notre Dame’s Paul Mainieri became the 27th active Div. I head coach to reach 800 victories in his career as a college head baseball coach, after the 7-1 win over UConn on April 6, 2005 (he now is 817-473-3) … Arizona’s Andy Lopez and North Carolina’s Mike Fox also had eclipsed 800 career wins earlier in the ’05 season … the Gainesville Regional features yet another coach who has passed 800 wins: Stetson’s Pete Dunn (925) … during the 11-year Mainieri era at ND, his Irish teams have combined for a 53-47 record vs. teams coached by the current 800-win coaches, including games vs.: Rutgers (20-14), Virginia Tech (6-6), Illinois (4-1), Indiana (3-0), Florida State (3-1), Central Florida (3-1), Southwest Missouri (2-0), Miami (2-6), Arizona (2-1), Ohio State (2-1), South Alabama (1-0), Texas Tech (1-0), Indiana State (1-1), Minnesota (1-2), Arizona State (1-2), FIU (1-6), Stetson (0-1), Texas A&M (0-1) and Stanford (0-2) … teams led by five members of the current 800-win club – Augie Garrido (Texas), Mark Marquess (Stanford), Jack Leggett (Clemson), Ray Tanner (South Carolina) and Mainieri – were among the eight competitors at the 2002 CWS.
SPANNING THE GLOBE – Notre Dame traditionally logs more than 15,000 travel miles per season and 2005 has rated on the high end of that scale, as the trip to Gainesville will push the team’s total travel miles for ’05 over 18,000 (18,205) … that’s the equivalent of traversing nearly three-quarters around the earth’s circumference (24,000 miles) … here’s a breakdown of the 2005 travel miles, including bus mileage to O’Hare and from some other airports to the destination (i.e. flying into Orlando for this trip):
Notre Dame Baseball – 2005 Roundtrip Travel Miles (see PDF)
THIS LOOKS FAMILIAR – Notre Dame flew into the Orlando airport to start the season (for games at Central Florida vs. UCF and Florida A&M) and found itself back in the same airport this week, en route to Gainesville for the NCAAs … this marks the third time in the program’s history – but first since 1959 – that the ND baseball team has played its season opener and NCAA tournament games in the same state … the 1949 team opened at Indiana and later played NCAA tournament games at Purdue (that was ND’s first season in the NCAAs) … 10 years later, the ’59 Irish squad opened at Evansville and went on to be a host team for the NCAAs … Notre Dame’s 2000 team played in the memorable NCAA Regional at Mississippi State and the Irish then had the unique experience of starting their ’01 season back at Dudy-Noble Field (that weekend included taking both games from the host Bulldogs).
VS. THE ACC – Notre Dame owns a 29-44 all-time record vs. the teams that currently comprise the Atlantic Coast Conference, including: 7-6 vs. Virginia Tech, 1-0 vs. Clemson, 4-4 vs. Florida State, 4-5 vs. Duke, 4-6 vs. Georgia Tech, 2-3 vs. Virginia, 2-4 vs. Wake Forest, 5-14 vs. Miami and 0-1 vs. both North Carolina and North Carolina State … Maryland remains one of the few teams from major conferences that the ND baseball team never has faced .. in fact, ND has played 286 different opponents in the program’s 113-year history … the short list of noteworthy teams that ND never has faced also includes Cal Poly, Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston, East Carolina, Georgia Southern, Kansas, Lamar, Oklahoma State, Richmond, Southern Mississippi, UNLV and Virginia Commonwealth.
CREAM OF THE CROP – Notre Dame RHP Jeff Manship (#3) and North Carolina LHP Andrew Miller (#1) were among the top-rated freshmen entering the ’04 college baseball season, per Baseball America (USC RHP Ian Kennedy was #2).
STAYING IN CONTROL – The 2005 ND pitching staff has uncorked just 21 wild pitches all season (compared to 66 by ND’s ’05 opponents), for an average of 0.38 wild pitches per game … that WP rate would best the team record (0.39) set in 1993 … the ’04 pitchers also had a low WP rate (0.46, currently 2nd in the ND record book).
BRIGHT FUTURE – Pending the 2005 MLB draft, Notre Dame is set to return virtually its entire team for the 2006 season … in fact, righthanded reliever Tyler Jones (7.1 IP in ’05) is the only player who will run out of eligibility at the end of the ’05 season … the 11 players who have drawn most of the position-player starts include senior 1B Matt Edwards, six juniors, sophomore C Sean Gaston and three freshmen (Edwards can apply for a 5th year of eligibility, after missing most of the ’02 season due to a broken leg) … the pitching staff’s 522.1 innings this season have the following class breakdown: 34.1 IP by three seniors (RHP John Axford and LHP Scott Bickford have eligibility left), 125.2 by five juniors, 251.1 by two sophomores and 111.0 by four freshmen.
POSTSEASON POISE – Junior LF/DH Steve Andres, who shook off a .202 regular-season batting avg. to hit 4-for-9 as ND’s leading hitter in last week’s BIG EAST Tournament, has consistently elevated his offense in the postseason the past three seasons … for his career, Andres is just a .262 hitter in the regular season but those numbers take a big 130-point jump in postseason action (.392 combined; .345 in the BET, .455 in NCAAs) … he also owns a .480 career slugging pct. in the regular season but checks in nearly 200 points higher in the postseason (.667; .690 in BET, .727 in NCAAs) … here’s a look at Steve Andres’ career stats with the Irish, broken down into the three “seasons”:
Steve Andres CAREER STATS (see PDF for regular-season/postseason breakdown)
TRACKING ‘EM DOWN – Junior CF Alex Nettey has averaged nearly three putouts per game in the 2005 season, entering the NCAAs with 170 total putouts for the 2005 season … that total already makes Nettey the runaway leader during the 11-year Paul Mainieri era (’95-’05) for most putouts in a season by an ND outfielder … the previous Mainieri-era high was 155 putouts by future All-America CF Steve Stanley, during the 2000 season (in 64 GP; he then had 155 in 69 GP during the 2002 CWS season) … here’s a top-10 list of the most OF putouts by ND players, since ’95:
Most Putouts by a Notre Dame Outfielder (Mainieri era, 1995-2005; see PDF)
DOUBLE DOZEN – Senior 1B Matt Edwards (12 in ’04, 14 in ’04) is the fourth ND player to hit 12-plus home runs in multiple seasons, joining Mike Amrhein (13 in ’96, 14 in ’97), Jeff Wagner (17 in ’97, 14 in ’98) and Brant Ust (18 in ’98, 17 in ’99) in that distinction (see PDF):
SUPER SLUGGER – Senior 1B Matt Edwards (14 HR, 20 2B) is one long ball shy of becoming the third Notre Dame player ever to reach 15 home runs and 20 doubles in a season … CF Dan Peltier had 15 HRs and an NCAA-leading 32 doubles during his All-America 1989 season while C/DH Jeff Wagner had 17 HR, 21 2B in his big 1997 season.
TURNING TWO – Notre Dame enters the NCAAs with a near-team-record 63 double plays, good for 14th-most in the nation this season (and 6th-best among teams in the ’05 NCAAs, behind Creighton, Virginia, UNLV, Furman and Texas) … the 2002 CWS team holds the ND record with 66 DPs (in 69 GP)
Most Double Plays in 2005 (*indicates teams in he ’05 NCAAs; see PDF)
BRUISE BROTHERS – Notre Dame is the only school in Division I history to feature two different players who have totaled 26-plus times hit-by-pitch in a season … current junior RF Cody Rizzo had 28 HBPs in the 2003 season (now 9th in NCAA history) while freshman 3B Brett Lilley enters the ’05 NCAAs with 26 HBPs (good for 15th on the NCAA all-time list) … FAU’s Gabe Sommariba had 27 HBPs in both the ’01 and ’02 seasons (see PDF):
JOIN THE CLUB – The Notre Dame list for career HBPs quickly is becoming populated by members of the 2005 team (each could return for at least one more season; see PDF):
WE OWE YOU – A potential matchup vs. Stetson would make the Hatters the eighth team that the ND baseball team has faced in multiple NCAA tournaments (Stetson beat ND 7-6 at the ’96 NCAA South I Regional, held at the University of Alabama) … ND has won previous NCAA “rematch” games vs. Valparaiso (in ’63), Mississippi State (’02) and Florida State (’02) … here’s the list:
Notre Dame Baseball – NCAA “Rematch” Opponents (see PDF)
RECORD BOOK UPDATES – Here’s a look at several ND record-book lists that Matt Edwards is beginning to enter (see postseason guide/pre-tournament notes for the career RBI, HR and batting avg. lists; see PDF)
NOTRE DAME BASEBALL ALUMS – PRO BASEBALL UPDATE (stats as of May 30, 2005)
RHP Aaron Heilman (’98-’01) … New York Mets … 4.17, 3-3, 48.2 IP, 42 Ks, 14 BB, 41 H (5 HR), 12 GP/7 GS, shutout
IF Craig Counsell (’89-’92) … Arizona Diamondbacks … .310 (52-for-168), 15 RBI, 28 R, 2 HR, 15 2B, 31 BB, 21 Ks, 9-12 SB, .424 OB, .435 slug
RHP Brad Lidge (’96-’98) … Houston Astros … 3.27, 1-2, 10 SV (12 opp.), 22 IP, 33 Ks, 8 BB, 22 H (3 HR)
RHP Danny Tamayo (’98-’01) … Omaha Royals (AAA, Royals) … 4.64, 3-3, 54.1 IP, 34 Ks, 20 BB, 58 H (6 HR), 10 GS
LHP Chris Michalak (’93-’93) … Tucson Sidewinders (AAA, Diamondbacks) … 5.63, 2-4, 56 IP, 30 Ks, 16 BB, 69 H (10 HR), 10 GP/9 GS
OF Steve Stanley (’99-’02) … Midland Rockhounds (AA, A’s) … .280 (47-for-168), 19 RBI, 27 R, 2 HR, 3B, 7 2B, 20 BB, 23 Ks, 4-7 SB, .356 OB, .369 slug, 0 Es
OF/1B Brian Stavisky (’00-’02) … Midland Rockhounds (AA, A’s) … .322 (59-for-183), 29 RBI, 28 R, 3 HR, 3 3B, 12 2B, 21 BB, 23 Ks, 0-1 SB, .390 OB, .470 slug., 1 E
RHP Christian Parker (’95-’96) … Tulsa Drillers (AA, Rockies) … 1.19, 4-1, 45.1 IP, 37 Ks, 11 BB, 32 H, 8 GS
3B Matt Macri (’02-’04) … Modesto Nuts (A, Rockies) … .298 (57-for-191), 27 RBI, 32 R, 5 HR, 3B, 15 2B, 27 BB, 50 Ks, 3-3 SB, .395 OB, .466 slug
RHP Chris Niesel (’02-’04) … Lake County Captains (A, Indians) … 4.53, 4-2, 51.2 IP, 55 Ks, 15 BB, 56 H (4 HR), 10 GS
C Paul O’Toole (’99-’02) … Daytona Cubs (A, Cubs) … .294 (5-for-17), RBI, 2B, 3 R, 4 BB, 3 Ks, 0-1 SB, .353 slug, .455 OB … played with double-A West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx from April 8-May 30 (3-for-36, 4 RBI, 2B, 4 BB)
2B Steve Sollmann (’01-’04) … Brevard County Manatees (A, Brewers) … .239 (43-for-180), 14 RBI, 21 R, 3B, 6 2B, 15 BB, 25 Ks, 7-13 SB, .337 OB, .283 slug
IF Brant Ust (’97-’99) … Wilmington Blue Rocks (A, Red Sox) … .225 (31-for-138), 15 RBI, 14 R, 2 HR, 5 2B, 12 BB, 42 Ks, 1-2 SB, /292 OB, .304 slug
C Javi Sanchez (’01-’04) … Beloit Snappers (A, Twins) … .269 (25-for-93), 11 RBI, 20 R, 7 2B, 9 BB, 16 Ks, 3-3 SB, .337 OB, .344 slug
Note: RHP Grant Johnson (’02-’04) is expected to begin his pro career soon with the Cubs affiliate in Peoria