Blue Crabs wrap up first half with wins
La Plata graduate Thompson among players chosen
The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs had seven players selected to the Atlantic League All-Star Game, which is scheduled for 7:30 tonight at PeoplesBank Park in York, Pennsylvania.
Position players Charlie Valerio and Cory Vaughn along with pitchers Mat Latos, Kevin Munson, Craig Stem and Daryl Thompson were all chosen to participate in the All-Star game at York. Stem has missed his last two starts with arm soreness and is not expected to pitch tonight, but the other five players will likely get into the game at some point. Outfielder Rubi Silva was selected to play but has opted not to participate for personal reasons.
“It’s definitely exciting for all these guys who were chosen to play in the All-Star Game,” Cliburn said. “Our pitchers have been outstanding since the start of the season. Daryl just goes out there and gives you seven solid innings every time and Stem was among the leaders in almost every category.”
Thompson (6-6) earned the win on Sunday at Long Island by limiting the Ducks to two runs on four hits in seven innings. He fanned seven Ducks and did not yield a walk and threw strikes on 70
of 95 pitches. The La Plata High School graduate and former Major League hurler with the Cincinnati Reds is also in his first season as the pitching coach with the Blue Crabs.
Thompson sports a 3.79 ERA to go along with his 6-6 mark, collecting 81 strikeouts in 95 innings. Stem is 4-3 with a 2.56 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 71 innings pitched. Latos owns a 0.79 ERA with eight saves and 19 strikeouts in 23 innings of work.
Silva is batting .255 (68 for 267) with 13 doubles, three triples and six home runs and 28 RBIs. Valerio is hitting .303 (53 for 175) with 11 doubles, two triples and five homers and Vaughn is batting .278 (58 for 209) with nine doubles, two triples, 12 homers and 34 RBIs through Sunday.
Southern Maryland (24-44, tied for third with Lancaster in the Atlantic League’s Freedom Division) concluded the first half of the Atlantic League schedule on Sunday with a 15-2 victory over Long Island (42-27), which clinched the Liberty Division first-half championship
the day prior despite losing to the Blue Crabs.
The Blue Crabs will have six players on the Freedom Division roster, while the host York Revolution (34-35, second in the Freedom Division) with have eight. First-half Freedom Division champion and defending league champion Sugar Land (35-35) will send four, while Lancaster (24-44, tied for third with the Blue Crabs) will have five.
“Our fans again stepped up and championed their favorite players to create two great rosters,” said Atlantic League president Rick White in a July 5 news release announcing the All-Star selections. “We want to thank the thousands of fans who voted and the team officials who helped us shape another terrific All-Star Game, and we congratulate the players selected. It’s going to be a great event.”
The Liberty Division will have 25 players on the roster, with the Somerset Patriots (42-28, second in the Liberty Division) leading the way with eight. The High Point Rockers (40-30, third) will send seven in its inaugural season, while the New Britain Bees (35-34, fourth) will have four.
Tonight’s All-Star Game will also mark the introduction of an experiment that will continue throughout
the second half of the Atlantic League schedule.
In an experiment in conjunction with Major League Baseball, tonight’s contest will be the first game played using an automated balls and strikes radar known simply as Track Man that will assist home plate umpires with calling those pitches.
“The working relationship between Major League Baseball, ABS Vendor Track Man, the umpires and our teams has been tremendous,” White said in a July 3 release announcing the debut of the system. “After carefully installing, testing and tweaking the system to make the transmission of the information to the umpire quick and reliable, we feel ABS is ready for prime time.”
Cliburn added: “Anything that our league can do in conjunction with Major League Baseball can only bring good publicity to the Atlantic League. A lot of the credit has to go to our league president, Rick White, who has a great relationship with Major League Baseball Commissioner, Rob Manfred. It speaks highly of our league that Major League Baseball would want to experiment something in the Atlantic League this season.”