WILLMAR - Two weeks from the season opener, the Willmar Stingers pushed their roster to 28 with four new signings, including one of the best base stealers in the country.
Illinois State outfielder Sean Beesley is tied for 10th in Division I with 27 steals on the season to go with a .270 batting average and .375 on-base percentage out of the leadoff spot.
Joining him in the Stingers’ outfield will be another leadoff hitter in UC-Riverside junior Devyn Bolasky, who leads his team in at-bats and hits, and is second in batting average at .330.
The Stingers also shored up the pitching staff with a pair of Loyola Marymount hurlers in Brandon Horth and Tyler Cohen.
Junior lefthander Horth has a .431 ERA in 31.1 innings with 23 whiffs, mostly in a relief role.
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Cohen, also a bullpen arm, has a 3.54 ERA in 20.1 innings.
The freshman righty can also play the corner infield spots, and has 87 at-bats with a .230 average for Loyola this season.
The roster is nearly at full capacity now, with 28 full-time players and eight temporary players.
Roster subtractions
The Stingers also lost several players off the 2014 roster due to injuries and other concerns: USC’s Jeremy Martinez, West Florida’s Alex Greene, Cal-State Northridge’s Jordan Johnson, Cal-State Northridge’s Anthony Cortez, Kentucky’s Max Kuhn and Montevallo’s Trent Higginbotham are no longer part of the team, though Martinez could still come later in the summer.
Murray, Suchy take Atlantic Sun awards
Florida Gulf Coast pitcher Michael Murray won his fourth Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Week on Monday after setting a team record with 12 wins
The 2013 Stinger pitcher’s 1.41 ERA is tied for 20th in Division I.
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A week prior, FGCU outfielder and former Stinger Michael Suchy took the Atlantic Sun’s Player of the Week award after going 8-for-12 with eight RBIs and three homers.
Suchy is batting .322 with eight home runs and 47 RBIs.
Brennan Atlantic 10 co-Player of the Week
St. Louis’ outfielder and 2013 Stinger Danny Brennan took home co-Player of the Week on May 6 with a 7-for-14 week.
The senior is hitting .273 on the season with three home runs.
Moyer WCC Player of the Week
Pepperdine infielder and future Stinger Hutton Moyer was named the West Coast Conference’s Player of the Week with five hits and three runs scored.
He’s hitting .303 for the year.
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Stinnett climbing the draft board
Maryland senior righthander and former Stingers’ pitcher Jake Stinnett continues to improve his stock for the June draft. According to Baseball America’s scouting report, Stinnett’s fastball sits in the 92-95 mph range and has a hard slider at 78-83 mph. BA ranked him as the No. 24 righthander in the draft class on Wednesday. They also ranked him as the No. 66 player available overall in their updated draft board.
Stats roundup
Batting statistics listed as batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage
Brady Anderson (FGCU): 2.47 ERA, 41 K, 54.2 IP, 7 saves
Colton Bottomley (FGCU): .366/.430/.549, 5 HR, 22 RBI
Bret Dahlson (Loyola): 2.03 ERA, 27 K, 31 IP, 9 saves
Marc Flores (Hawaii): .290/.392/.444, 5 HR, 39 RBI
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Reagan Fowler (Creighton): .356/.459/.479, 0 HR, 23 RBI
Jake Gronsky (Monmouth): .335/.382/.419, 0 HR, 24 RBI
Chris Kubitz (St. Cloud State): 1.59 ERA, 56 K, 51 IP
Max Kuhn (Kentucky): .309/.428/.444, 5 HR, 40 RBI
Troy Kuhn (Ohio State): .291/.385/.462, 6 HR, 33 RBI
Sheldon Lee (San Francisco): 3.24 ERA, 30 K, 50 IP
Richie Navari (La. Tech): 2.16 ERA, 47 K, 87.1 IP
Colin Poche (Arkansas): 1.56 ERA, 25 K, 34.2 IP
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A.J. Puckett (Pepperdine): 1.63 ERA, 35 K, 38.2 IP
Nick Rivera (FGCU): .311/.416/.492, 5 HR, 41 RBI
Jake Stinnett (Maryland): 2.56 ERA, 111 K, 95 IP
Zack Tillery (FGCU): .327/.406/.477, 4 HR, 34 RBI
Andrew Woeck (NC State): 2.17 ERA, 41 K, 29 IP
