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Dave Sappelt was drafted in the 9th round last year out of Coastal Carolina. He was big in talent, despite playing in a weaker conference, but he was the Big South Player of the Year and a 3rd team All-American. Possessing power and speed, the fact that he fell to the 9th round is still a mystery.
- In his senior year, he batted .349/.415/.636 with 18 HR and 70 RBI.
- He then went to Billings, where he hit .299/.354/.496 with 7 HR in 62 games. Very solid for a his pro debut.
- He started this season at Dayton, where he batted .269/.322/.392 and stole 26 bases. He's been the anchor of a weak Dayton lineup, batting leadoff and playing CF most of the time.
- Recently he was promoted to Sarasota (with the addition of Josh Fellhauer to Dayton), and caught fire there. In his first 5 games, he's batting .350/.391/.500 with 1 HR, 3 RBI, and 3 SB.
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Louisville lost a pitchers' duel against Toledo 2-1. Kevin Barker continued his hot hitting, going 3-for-4 with a solo HR. Ramon Ramirez pitched a good game, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits in 7 innings of work. Unfortunately, no run support. Up next: Ben Jukich tries to build off of his great outing last time at 7.
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Lee Tabor came up big time as Carolina blanked Tennessee 6-0. Filling in the decimated rotation, Tabor gave up only 4 hits in 6 innings. Canadian sensation Phil Valiquette and Ramon Geronimo closed out the shutout. El Nino Destructor went 2-for-3 with a homer. Up next: The Mudcats have the day off.
- After leading 1-0 going into the 9th, Sarasota lost a tough one 2-1 to Charlotte in 12 innings. Scott Carroll continued his dominance on the mound, going 6 innings of shutout ball. Denis Phipps, Jason Bour, and Shane Carlson all had two hits each as well. Up next: Jeremy Horst takes on Fort Myers at 7:05.
- Dayton lost to West Michigan 5-4. Enrique Rojas had three hits and drove in three runs, and Tony Brown added two doubles. Up next: The Dragons take on Clinton at 8, with Matt Fairel likely to start.
- Despite their best efforts, Billings held onto an early lead to beat Orem 8-7. Alexis Oliveras was the star for the offense, going 3-for-5 with a HR. Sean Conner and Mariekson Gregorius added two hits each. Tim Crabbe and Bryan Gardner combined for 5 innings of a solid start, before the bullpen gave up 6 runs in the final 4 innings to make it close. Up next: Justin Walker takes on Orem at 9:05.
- The GCL Reds beat the GCL Rays in 8 innings, 3-1. Billy Hamilton had two hits to lead the way, and on a rehab start from Sarasota, Alex Buchholz went 1-for-4 in the DH spot. Good to see. Tzu-Kai Chiu had a good start, going 5 innings and giving up 1 unearned run, and Nathan Driessen and Raul Rodriguez closed out the game with three scoreless. It looks like they were supposed to get a second game in, but it didn't happen. Up next: They take on the GCL Orioles at noon, with Blair Carson likely to start.
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Roster Moves: The Reds appear to have signed RHP Kip Wells and assigned him to AAA Louisville. He was 0-2 with a 6.29 ERA in 23 relief appearances in Washington.
