Tuesday, July 22, 2008

 

SIX PIONEERS CHASING THEIR BASEBALL DREAMS THIS SUMMER

 

                GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- It has been a busy summer for six former Tusculum Pioneers who are currently pursuing their dreams in professional baseball.

 

                Ben Swaggerty (Wilmington Blue Rocks), Brandon Dickson (Palm Beach Cardinals) and Brandon Tuten (Inland Empire 66ers) are pitching at the Class A Advanced level.  Christian Rosa is playing for the Class A Short-Season Batavia Muckdogs, while Maikol Gonzalez is presently assigned with the DSL Rockies in the Rookie Dominican Summer League.  Carlos Rivera made his professional debut last weekend with the Rockford RiverHawks of the Frontier League.

 

                Ben Swaggerty, who was signed as a non-drafted free agent with the Kansas City Royals last summer, has posted a solid 3-1 record with Wilmington in the Carolina League.  He has a 1.98 earned run average in his 18 relief appearances with the Wilmington, N.C. team.   The Knoxville, Tenn. native has pitched in 27.1 innings with the Blue Rocks, recording 35 strikeouts and limiting the opposition to a .212 batting average.

 

                Swaggerty started off the season with the Burlington Bees in the Midwest League where he posted a 1-0 mark in his 12 outings.  He started his professional career last summer with the Idaho Falls Chukars in the Pioneer League as he went 1-0 with a 3.03 ERA.  He made 24 appearances out of the bullpen, including a save with 51 strikeouts in his 35.2 innings of work.

 

                Swaggerty posted an impressive 5-0 record and a team-best six saves in his 24 appearances in his senior campaign at Tusculum.  During that 2007 season, his save tally was 35th in the nation (NCAA Division II), while posting a 1.69 ERA with 61 strikeouts.  He especially shined during TC’s postseason run, recording a pair of saves during the 2007 NCAA II South Regional.  He tossed three innings in Tusculum’s 4-1 win over nine-time national champion Florida Southern.  The following day, he scattered two hits and struck out four in TC’s 7-6 win over nationally-ranked Florida Gulf Coast.  He led the Pioneers to the championship game of the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament.  In his three appearances, he pitched eight innings, allowed two hits, struck out seven and recorded a save.  For his efforts, he was named to the SAC All-Tournament Team.

 

                During his collegiate career, Swaggerty appeared in 44 games, which are tied for ninth in school history.  His 117 career strikeouts are tied for eighth, to go along with a solid 8-2 record on the mound.

 

                Brandon Dickson is in his third year of professional baseball since being picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006.  The Marbury, Ala. native is in his first year with the Palm Beach Cardinals of the Florida State League.  He has a 7-8 record with a 3.62 ERA in the Cardinals rotation.  He has made 16 starts and has been credited with a complete game and a save.  In 2008, he has pitched in 109.1 innings where he has posted 63 strikeouts.  Palm Beach is 14-15 in the second half of the FSL season, but won the league crown in the first half.

 

                He made his professional debut in 2006 with the Johnson City Cardinals in the Appalachian League where he posted a 1-0 record in his nine appearances with the Red Birds.  In 2007, he pitched with the Swing of the Quad Cities where he went 11-7 in his 31 outings, including 23 starts.  He amassed a 3.50 ERA in his 144 innings, including 84 strikeouts.

 

                In his first and only season at Tusculum (2006), Dickson went 5-2 with a 3.39 ERA.  His 24 mound appearances are tied for the second most in a season at Tusculum.  He tallied four saves in his 58.1 innings to go along with 37 strikeouts.  Dickson garnered SAC Pitcher of the Week honors and played in important part in Tusculum’s 40-14-1 campaign, including a conference championship.

 

                Brandon Tuten is also in his second season of professional baseball.  Tuten is currently playing for the Inland Empire 66ers, the Class A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  He has made seven relief appearances, while posting a 1-0 record and a 4.22 ERA.  He has struck out 12 in his 10.2 innings of work with the San Bernardino, Calif. club.  Tuten started the season with the Ogden Raptors (Advanced Rookie) in the Pioneer League before being moved up to the 66ers.  Tuten made his professional debut in 2007 with the Dodgers in the Gulf Coast League.  He played in eight games where he went 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA.  He accounted for a pair of saves and a dozen strikeouts.

 

                In his only season with the Pioneers (2007), he posted a 5-4 record with a 2.20 ERA which was third best on the team.  Tuten made 15 appearances, including 11 starts as he tossed 61.1 innings, walked 17 and struck out 61.  The Mt. Pleasant, Tenn. native pitched a complete game victory against Lenoir-Rhyne in the 2007 Food Lion SAC Tournament earning him a spot on the SAC All-Tournament Team.

 

                Christian Rosa is in his first year of professional baseball since being picked up as an undrafted free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals after making is pro debut with the Rockford RiverHawks.  Rosa is currently playing for the Batavia Muckdogs where he has a .318 batting average and has played in 13 outings.  He has recorded three doubles, two home runs and seven runs batted in.  The Muckdogs, located in Batavia, N.Y. are currently 18-14 and are second in their division in the New York-Penn League.

 

                Rosa, a utility player from Toa Boa, Puerto Rico, split time at catcher and in the outfield this past year with the Pioneers.  He finished third on the team hitting .390 with 15 doubles, seven triples and a team-best 12 home runs, including a solo shot in his final collegiate at-bat in the NCAA Division II Tournament.  Rosa’s dozen homers are tied for the fourth most in school history.  His 21 career round-trippers are tied for fifth all-time in the TC record book.

 

                Rosa was named to the 2008 Daktronics All-America Second Team as selected by members of the Division II College Sports Information Directors of America.  Rosa was tabbed to the 2007 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-America team, earning honorable mention recognition.  He was named to the All-South Atlantic Conference First Team on two occasions, while also garnering All-Region status from Daktronics, NCBWA and the American Baseball Coaches Association.

 

                Maikol Gonzalez is also in his first professional season after leading NCAA II in batting average this past season (.468).  Gonzalez, a native of Maraca Ibo, was selected in the 35th round by the Colorado Rockies in the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.  He made his professional debut with the DSL Rockies in the Dominican Summer League last month when he went 2-for-2.

 

                Gonzalez’s .468 average was a school and South Atlantic Conference record, claiming NCAA II National Statistical Champion honors.  He also broke the TC and SAC single-season record with his 103 hits in 2008.  For his efforts, he was named the Daktronics South Region Player of the Year for a second straight season.

 

                He was a consensus All-American for a second year in a row, being recognized in 2008 by the American Baseball Coaches’ Association, D-II Sports Information Directors of America (Daktronics) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.  The two-time All-SAC honoree accounted for 21 doubles, seven triples, five home runs and a team-best 58 RBI.  His 30 stolen bases were also a new school record in 2008.

 

                During his two-year career at Tusculum, Gonzalez established new TC record for batting average (.457), triples (21) and on-base percentage (.522).  His batting average is currently ninth all-time in NCAA II history, while his triples tally is tied for 12th in the national record book.

 

                Carlos Rivera’s professional career is barely a week old, but is off to a solid start.  In his first four games with the Rockford RiverHawks, he is batting .364 with three doubles and a pair of RBI.

 

                The Leesburg, Va. product garnered All-Region honors the past two seasons at Tusculum, including 2007 when he earned All-American distinction by the American Baseball Coaches Association and the National Baseball Writers Association.  In 2008, Rivera batted .392 with 12 doubles, seven triples, eight home runs and 47 RBI.  During his two-year career in Greeneville, he batted .395, which is the fifth best average in school history.  He also accounted for 15 career triples, which are the second most ever by a Pioneer.

 

                In 2008, the Pioneers posted a 41-15 record and ended the season ranked 30th in the country, marking the fourth straight year Tusculum has finished the season nationally ranked.  Tusculum closed out the season on a 17-4 run, including four in a row to win the Food Lion SAC Tournament title, earning TC its second straight trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament and fourth postseason berth in six years.

 

                During the last four years, Tusculum has accounted for an impressive 175-60-1 combined record, including four consecutive 40-win campaigns.  During that four-year span, Tusculum has captured three South Atlantic Conference regular season titles, two SAC Tournament crowns and have made three trips to the NCAA Tournament.

 

                Tusculum College, located in Greeneville, Tenn. is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, USA and is a NCAA Division II member of the South Atlantic Conference which is comprised of nine colleges and universities in Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

                                          

- TC -