Ready for more
Despite forming their roster relatively late, the Butler BlueSox stayed close in the Prospect Baseball League East Division race until the final week last season.
Now the team is back for season No. 2, which commences at 6:35 p.m. today against Lorain County (Ohio) at Pullman Park.
"Our roster wasn't finalized until late December last year and most college guys know where their summer destination is sometime in the fall," BlueSox manager Jason Wuerfel said. "Still, we found some pretty good players and had a pretty good season."
The BlueSox finished 28-26, three games behind division-leading Chillicothe.
The league has expanded from 11 teams and two divisions last year to 15 teams and three divisions this time around.
The BlueSox remain in the East and hope to contend for the division title again.
"That's always hard to project," Wuerfel allowed. "I know we've gotten better, but some of the other teams in the league have gotten better, too."
Wuerfel agreed to return as BlueSox skipper during the offseason.
"This was my No. 1 option," he said. "The only way I wouldn't have come back is if I got a chance to manage in the Frontier League.
"We came so close (to the playoffs) last year. This year, I want to get there."
Six batters in Butler's starting lineup hit over .300 for their respective college teams this spring. An eighth, first baseman and No. 4 hitter Kody Campbell, hit .295 for Southeast Missouri University. Right fielder Max Vogel hit .293 at Winthrop.
Zach Duggan hit .346 with 52 RBI at Pitt, designated hitter Austin Wulf hit .340 at Tennessee Tech, catcher Kevan Smith hit .361 with 46 RBI at Pitt, third baseman Adam Jury hit .320 at Slippery Rock, shortstop Tyler Sciacca hit .309 at Villanova and left fielder Cameron Squires hit .354 in 65 at bats at Yale.
The BlueSox have seven players with direct Butler County ties. Duggan and Smith are Seneca Valley graduates. Jury plays at SRU. Catcher Ryan Geibel, now at Penn State-Behrend, is a Butler graduate.Seton Hill pitchers Brian Warheit and D.J. Cannon graduated from Butler and Mars, respectively. Relief pitcher Derek Peluso of Point Park University is a Seneca Valley graduate.Warheit and Peluso are the lone returnees from last year's team."We have 13 pitchers on the roster compared to nine last year," Wuerfel said. "Brian won't have to log quite as many innings or throw 110 pitches a game."Warheit threw 63 innings for the BlueSox in 2009, second on the squad to Tom Kahl's 66."We play 56 games with only nine off days," pitching coach Glenn Sharrar said. "We need the luxury of having a lot of arms and we've got them."Left-hander Ben Rawding will start tonight's opener. He was 5-4 with a 3.22 earned run average at Mercyhurst of the PSAC this spring.Geibel hit .315 with 30 RBI for PSU-Behrend and figures to see time behind the plate when Smith is used at DH.Geibel played in the Eastern Collegiate Baseball League in New York last summer."It will be nice staying at home with family and friends around all summer," Geibel said. "I know I'll be seeing good pitching in this league, based on catching some of our guys in the bullpen Tuesday."
