June 24, 2009

Cullowhee, N.C. - As the summer moves along towards the rapidly approaching fall athletic seasons, Western Carolina is remaining in the news in a variety of sports. Here is a brief look around at Catamount names in the headlines:

Jennifer Spivey Named Assistant Coach at Colorado State-Pueblo
Former Western Carolina women's track & field four-year standout and graduate assistant coach, Jennifer Spivey, was announced as the new assistant coach at Colorado State University-Pueblo women's track and field coach Chad Perry announced on Tuesday.

At WCU, Spivey specialized in sprints, hurdles and relays for the men's and women's squads. Throughout her four seasons with the Catamounts, Western Carolina won Southern Conference indoor and outdoor titles in the men's and women's 4x100-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay. Spivey contributed to the advancement of five sprint relays, twelve provisional NCAA East Regional qualifiers and five NCAA National qualifiers.

Sexton Earns Win in First Start with Aberdeen Ironbirds
Opening the season with the Aberdeen Ironbirds, the Baltimore Orioles' short-season A club in the New York-Penn League, former Western Carolina left-hander Tyler Sexton earned a victory in his first start of the year. The High Point, N.C., native worked six innings only allowing one unearned run on six hits with six strikeouts in the 6-1 win over the Hudson Valley Renegades, a Tampa Bay Rays' affiliate.

Sexton moved from rookie-league Bluefield to Aberdeen after finishing 3-5 with a 4.19 ERA, recording 42 strikeouts a season ago.

Catamount Draftees Open Professional League Play
WCU's four most recent players taken in Major League Baseball's first-year player draft received their assignments and have opened play with their clubs:

* Brent Greer started at shortstop for the Yakima (Wash.) Bears of the Northwest League, the Class A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. After going hitless in his debut (0-for-4 with 2 K's), the Manassas, Va., native went five for his next nine with a pair of runs and two doubles. After Tuesday night's games, Greer is hitting .313 with two runs scored and five strikeouts;

* Chris Masters earned his first professional victory on Tuesday night, tossing three and two-thirds innings of no-hit relief, striking out eight in a win for the Appalachian League Danville (Va.) Braves;

* Nick Liles opened his professional career with the Arizona League Giants in rookie ball, going 1-for-5 with an RBI in his debut on Tuesday (June 23) night. Liles was able to see a former WCU teammate as the Giants faced the Cubs with Corey Martin on the roster. Martin opened his professional career by tossing the sixth and seventh in two innings of one-hit relief, surrendering his only hit to the first batter he faced. He did also have an error on a failed pick-off attempt. Martin and Liles did square off in the sixth, with Martin inducing a groundball out.

Catamounts in Summer League Baseball Highlights
* Ross Heffley is hitting .269 with a double for the Orleans Firebirds in the prestigious Cape Cod League ... WCU teammate Daniel Ottone is pitching for the same squad, currently with a 7.50 ERA after working his first three appearances without allowing a run;

* Matt Johns is hitting .233 with three doubles and a triple for the Wilson Tobs of the Coastal Plains League. He has started 21 of the 23 games in which he has played with six RBI ... WCU teammate Jason Sullivan, who is closing for the Tobs, is enjoying a strong summer. Sullivan (3-0) currently boasts a 0.76 ERA, having given up one earned run in 12.1 innings pitched. The right-hander has also struck out 17 in limiting opponents' hitters to a .116 batting average;

* In the Northwoods League, Kyle Stewart currently is 1-2 on the season with a 3.50 ERA for the Duluth (Minn.) Huskies ... He boasts a team-leading 25 strikeouts in 18 innings of work, just outside of the top 10 in the NWL;

* Matt Benedict leads the Haymarket (Va.) Senators with a 1.32 ERA among pitchers with more than 10 innings thrown on the season. He has four appearances including two starts with a 1-0 overall record. He has struck out 14 and has not allowed an extra base hit thus far this summer. Benedict worked six innings of two-hit action, working around a pair of walks with six strikeouts to earn his victory over Winchester back on June 15 ... Also in the Valley League, left-hander Vance Chavis continues his rehab from surgery that limited him in 2009. The Laurinburg, N.C., native has thrown seven and a third innings in four appearances thus far with eight walks and seven strikeouts.

Printer-friendly format	Email this article

Catamount Sports Baseball