Pro baseball: Valley players hoping to move up

By William Bowman
The Daily Item

July 02, 2009 05:09 am

— A half-dozen baseball players with local ties continue to live out the dream of every kid in America: Their job is to play baseball.
A trio of Bucknell alums are part of the group, including reliever Matt Daley, who turned a dominating performance in Class AAA earlier this season into a regular spot in the Colorado Rockies' bullpen.
In addition, local high school products Bobby Felmy, Matt Wright and Travis Smink are all continuing their professional careers.
Wright, out of Midd-West, recently picked up his first career victory while Smink, a Line Mountain grad, earned his first save.
Here is a look at how the local players have fared recently (statistics are through June):
n Mark Angelo, AZL Mariners
The 2008 Bucknell grad who was drafted out of East Stroudsburg, has two hits in his first 15 at-bats with the Arizona League Mariners.
Seeing time in both the outfield and at first, Angelo is batting .133 with two runs scored and drove in his first professional run with an RBI single in the first inning of Saturday's game against the Indians. Despite hitting just .133 Angelo has an on-base percentage of .350 thanks to four walks.
At 4-4, the Mariners are in fourth place in the Arizona Rookie League's Western Division.
n Jason Buursma, Palm Beach Cardinals
Since getting promoted to Palm Beach after a dominating nine-game stint at Quad Cities, the former Bucknell All-American has lowered his ERA in every appearance this season.
After allowing two runs in 2/3 of an inning in his debut with Palm Beach, Buursma has allowed just one run in his next five appearances, pitching 10 1/3 innings. He has allowed just one run in his last 11 innings and has a 2.45 ERA in six appearances in the Florida State League. In nine games in Quad Cities, Buursma allowed just one run on six hits and the former 25th-round pick was promoted on June 11. He has a combined ERA of 1.59 in 22 innings with 18 strikeouts and just five walks in two stops within the Cardinals' system.
Palm Beach is 31-44 overall in the Florida State League South, including a 2-3 mark in the second half.
n Matt Daley,
Colorado Rockies
The Bucknell grad, who turned 27 last week, has made 18 appearances out of the Rockies' bullpen after being called up following a stellar start in Class AAA.
Daley had a chance to make the big club out of spring training, but was sent to Colorado Springs to start the season. Daley dominated the first few weeks of the season, making the most of his time in the minors, striking out 19 batters in seven games, and was called up on April 22, making his Major League debut three days later.
In 18 games with the Rockies, Daley as an ERA of 4.32, but he has given up just three earned runs in his last 10 appearances.
n Bobby Felmy, Connecticut Defenders
One of the top fielding outfielders in the San Francisco Giants' system, the Shikellamy grad caught fire in his first-ever trip back to Pennsylvania as a minor leaguer.
Starting with a triple in the series opener in Altoona on June 19, Felmy had two hits in five consecutive games in the middle of an eight-game hit streak for the first-place Defenders, the AA affiliate of the Giants. The starting left-fielder raised his average more than 20 points during the hit streak and his now batting .250.
For the season, Felmy has 13 doubles, three triples, three homers and 32 RBIs. Over the past 10 games, he's hitting .359.
He makes the second of three trips to Pennsylvania this weekend when the Defenders visit the Reading Phillies for three games beginning Saturday.
n Ryan Keefer, None
A former American Legion State player of the year, Keefer, who turns 29 next month, was released by the Bowie Baysox on June 20.
Drafted right out of Southern Columbia High School, Keefer had pitched in 18 games this spring for the Baysox, the Orioles' AA affiliate, but had trouble finding the plate. He walked 29 batters in 25 2/3 innings and had an ERA of 7.36 with an 0-1 record.
At the time of his release, Keefer was coming off back-to-back scoreless outings.

n Travis Smink, Greeneville Astros
The Line Mountain and Virginia Military Institute grad has been solid since making his professional debut in the Appalachian League last week. Smink, a left-handed pitcher, has come out of the bullpen in his first two appearances without allowing a run.
Pitching for the Appalachian League, the Astros' short-season Class A team, Smink has appeared in two games. He earned his first professional save in Saturday's 5-4 win over the Danville Braves, pitching a scoreless ninth to preserve the victory.
In two appearances, he's pitched three innings, allowing two hits and striking out a pair for the Astros, who are in third place in the West Division of the Appalachian League.
n Matt Wright, Auburn Doubledays
The Midd-West and Shippensburg product earned his first professional victory last week and the lefty has been nearly perfect in his first three appearances for the Blue Jays' New York-Penn League representative.
Wright, who was 0-5 last year despite a 3.58 ERA, got his first victory on June 24 when he worked four scoreless innings, striking out three at Jamestown. His most impressive pro performance came Monday night when he allowed an unearned run in five innings of work, striking out six and scattering two hits.
In three appearances this season, Wright has pitched 11 innings, allowing just six hits while striking out 14 and not walking a batter. He has allowed two unearned runs.
Auburn is 4-7 in the New York-Penn League's Pinckney Division. Wright's lone trip to Williamsport comes on the final weekend of the season when the Doubledays visit the Crosscutters Sept. 5 and 6.

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