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May 28, 2008

26 players report to Slashers

By Jim Henry

jhenry@joplinglobe.com

Twenty-six players reported to Joe Becker Stadium on Wednesday afternoon as the Joplin Slashers began preparations for another summer baseball season.

The Slashers are playing their fourth season in Joplin and their 10th season overall. The team was founded in Springfield in 1999 and relocated to Joplin in 2005.

“I’m very surprised we’ve had as many kids as we’ve had show up already,” head coach Denny Vilela said.

The Slashers have 35 players on their roster, but Vilela expects the number to decrease during the first month of the season.

“They know if they don’t play well, they’re going to have to go home,” he said. “The kids know, too. If they’re not going well, usually they kind of weed themselves out. They find out this league is a little bit tougher than what they are ready for right now.”

Again this year, the Slashers are members of the Jayhawk League along with Nevada and five teams in Kansas — Liberal, Derby, Dodge City, El Dorado and Hays.

The Slashers finished in sixth place last season with a 14-30 record, ahead of the Dodge City A’s (8-36). The Derby Twins won the league at 33-13, followed by Hays 29-15, El Dorado 27-19, Nevada 25-21 and Liberal 22-24.

Some Slashers haven’t reported because their college seasons either aren’t over or recently ended.

Infielder Colby Rice is a reserve on the Oral Roberts University team that plays this weekend at an NCAA Division I regional in Lincoln, Neb. Rice is batting .250 (4-for-16) in 38 games for ORU and has handled 38 chances in the field without an error.

Pitchers who have yet to report include Ben Brown of Iowa Western, which was eliminated Tuesday night with a 28-19 loss to Central Arizona on Tuesday in the NJCAA Tournament, and Joe Bartlinski and Colin Feneis of Kean University, which went 0-2 in the NCAA Division III series.

The Slashers’ includes two pitchers who are Joplin High School graduates — right-hander Ben Hays, who just completed his freshman year at Illinois State in the Missouri Valley Conference, and left-hander Brenden Hoag, who played at Allen County Community College in Iola and has signed with Missouri Southern.

Another left-hander, C.J. Maffei, has also signed with MSSU. He pitched the last two springs for Vilela at Labette Community College after prepping at Parsons.

As the Slashers arrived, their home field wasn’t ready for action. The infield at Joe Becker Stadium was recently sodded, but Vilela has been told the field will be ready in time for next week’s home opener.

While the new sod takes hold, the Slashers will practice at 4 p.m. today and Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday at Barnes Field in Webb City.

Vilela, in his second year as the Slashers head coach, is assisted by Jim Ritter, Kevin Nelson, Danny Weaver and Scott Quinly.

The Slashers’ front office consists of Scott Wright (general manager), Jon Tupper (marketing director), Josh Tupper (finance director), Mark Rains (housing director), Randy Steel (promotions director) and Jim Hogelin (umpire coordinator).

The Slashers open their season Sunday night at Chillicothe. After another road game on Wednesday against Springfield, the Slashers make their home debut on June 5 against the Nevada Griffons.

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