Miners assemble talented group of position players

PALMER — The dozen position players on the Mat-Su roster all have one thing in common. They’ll all be ditching the aluminum in favor of the wood bats this week, some for the first time.

And assuming they make the transition from the metal to the maple, first-year head coach Russell Raley believes he has a group of guys who should be able to knock the ball around Alaska Baseball League ball parks all summer long.

“I’m sure every other (ABL) team feels the same way, but we should be real competitive this year,” Raley said Monday.

Mat-Su features six players who hit .300 or better during the college season and two of those players — Western Oklahoma State Junior College sophomore Danny Almonte and Central Florida junior Shane Brown — led their teams in batting average.

Almonte, who will also bring his 9-0 pitching record to the mound for the Miners, hit a team-high .472 en route to leading his team to the NJCAA Division II World Series. The lefty also posted 18 home runs and 76 RBI.

Brown, who was at .381 at one point during this season, finished with a team-best .341 at Central Florida. Brown also scored 39 runs and drove in 44 more.

St. Mary’s junior Jonathon Cisneros (.363), Cal Poly sophomore DJ Gentile (.304), Stony Brook sophomore Chad Marshall (.354) and Chipola Community College freshman Blake Newalu (.326) also finished above .300.

Gentile and Newalu also have the benefit of an ABL season under their belts. Both finished among team leaders in several statistical categories with the Miners last summer.

Gentile led the Miners with a .370 batting average. His mark was good enough to finish second in the ABL in batting, but finished just short of the required number of plate appearances to be recognized by the league.

Newalu, who made his ABL debut before his freshman season of college baseball, was third on the team with a .270 batting average and 19 runs scored. He also posted a team-high 30 singles.

While the Miners should be able to swing the bat, Raley feels his position players should be solid in the field also.

Newalu finished second in the ABL voting for the league’s gold glove award last year after seeing time at shortstop, second base, third base and center field. This summer, Raley said Newalu has been penciled in as the team’s starter at short.

Newalu is just one of a handful of versatile players on the Mat-Su roster.

“We’ve probably got three or four guys who can move around three different infield spots,” Raley said.

Brown is expected to start at third, while Marshall and Loyola Marymount sophomore Jonathon Johnson will both see time at second. Cisneros could anchor the right side of the infield at first base.

Texas A&M freshman Scott Arthur can play in the infield and outfield, Raley said. He was a regular off the bench for the Aggies, starting nine games, but seeing time in 32 others.

Arthur’s teammate at A&M, sophomore David Alleman, will start opening day in left field.

Raley believes his center fielder is Columbia sophomore Nick Cox, who hit .390 and stole 16 bases during the college season.

Also in the outfield is Florida State freshman James Ramsey, who hit .294 during his first season of college baseball.

Hawaii freshman Nick Croce will get the opening day start behind the plate. Mat-Su also has touted freshman catcher James McCann on the roster, but McCann’s college season was extended when Arkansas advanced to the NCAA College World Series earlier this week.

McCann has started 30 games at catcher as a freshman. He has 25 hits and has scored 17 runs.

The Miners feature five left-handed hitters — Almonte, Johnson, Cisneros, Marshall and Ramsey. Alleman and Newalu are switch-hitters.

“We definitely wanted our fair share of left-handers in there, and it kind of worked out that way,” Raley said.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.