Here are the 2008 Continental Baseball League players and pitchers of the week:
Week Ending August 17th
| Joe Hicks | CF | BAY AREA TOROS | Hicks posted a .381 batting average (8-for-21), adding a double and home run on the way to driving in 6. He also picked up 3 stolen bases on the week. Hicks finishes the season with a .266 average and 26 RBI in 39 appearances for the Toros. |
| Russell Revere | P | BAY AREA TOROS | Revere started the week on Tuesday by pitching a scoreless ninth to earn the save in Bay Area’s come-from-behind win at McKinney, and topped it off by tossing a three-hit shutout against Corpus Christi on Saturday, striking out 8 BeachDawgs. Revere finishes the regular season with 8 wins and 3 saves, ranking second in the CBL in ERA at 1.84 and first in innings pitched at 107.2. |
Week Ending August 10th
| Earl White | OF | CORPUS CHRISTI BEACH DAWGS | White hit .467 for the week, going 7-for-15 with two extra-base hits. Combined with his 5 walks and 4 stolen bases, he plated 6 runs for the BeachDawgs. |
| Ryan Kondratowiz | P | CORPUS CHRISTI BEACH DAWGS | Kondratowiz tossed 10 scoreless innings over two outings for Corpus Christi, including a complete-game 4-hit shutout at Texarkana on the 4th. Kondratowiz’ 6 victories place him among the CBL leaders. |
| Jayson Rachuig | P | BAY AREA TOROS | Rachuig shut down McKinney on the 4th, tossing a two-hitter and allowing only an unearned run while striking out 9 Blue Thunder batters, to lower his season ERA to 1.17 after 30.2 innings pitched. Since joining the Toros mid-season, Rachuig has struck out 28 batters while walking only 8. |
Week Ending August 3rd
| Jason Diaz | IF | BAY AREA TOROS | Diaz hit .419 on the week, with 13 hits in 31 official at bats, and made it happen on the basepaths for the Toros, stealing nine bases and scoring seven runs as the Toros finished the week back atop the CBL standings. Diaz is now batting .313 for the season, and is third in the CBL in stolen bases in only 24 games played. |
| Tyler French | P | TEXARKANA GUNSLINGERS | For the week, French posted a 0.69 ERA and a victory. In 13 innings of work, he allowed only 12 baserunners and one run, while fanning 10 batters. French has a season ERA of 2.55, and is second in the CBL in fewest hits allowed per nine innings. |
Week Ending July 27th
| Grant Massie | OF | BAY AREA TOROS | Massie paced CBL batters with a .429 average, going 6-for-14 with a home run, driving in 4 runs and scoring 5. For the year, Massie is fifth in the league with a .295 average, and ranks second in runs scored with 35. |
| Justin Drabek | P | MCKINNEY BLUE THUNDER | Drabek threw a complete-game three-hitter on Thursday against Bay Area in McKinney’s 3-1 victory, his second time going the distance for the Blue Thunder. Drabek has posted a stingy 1.26 ERA in 43 innings for the season, striking out 27 while allowing just over one baserunner per inning. |
Week Ending July 20th
| Kyle Wells | C | BAY AREA TOROS | Wells led all CBL batters with a .417 average, going 15-for-36 while driving in a league-best 11 runs since the All-Star break. For the season, Wells is among the leaders in batting average (second, .328), on-base percentage (third, .407), and slugging percentage (.406). |
| Jack Tilghman | P | TEXARKANA GUNSLINGERS | Tilghman, the Texarkana relief ace, has appeared in seven games for the Gunslingers since the All-Star break, picking up two victories and two saves. In eight innings of work, he has allowed no earned runs and only 5 hits, striking out 13. Tilghman is far and away the CBL leader in games pitched (31) and saves (11), and has struck out 48 batters in 36.1 innings, posting a 1.49 ERA. |
| Kevin Cooper | P | BAY AREA TOROS | Cooper threw 8 innings of shutout ball against Texarkana on Saturday, July 11, striking out 11 Gunslingers while garnering his third win of the season. For the week, Cooper posted a 0.60 ERA in 15 innings with 14 strikeouts. Cooper is the CBL ERA leader at 1.42, and also leads the league in strikeouts (60) and fewest hits (5.54) and runners (9.81) per nine innings. |
Week Ending July 6th
| Anthony Edwards | OF | TEXARKANA GUNSLINGERS | Edwards led the red-hot Gunslingers on a 6-game home-and-home sweep of McKinney to open the second half of the CBL season. For the week, Edwards batted .385 (10-for-26) with a triple and a home run. His 8 RBI were tops in the circuit for the week, and he struck out only once while coaxing four walks. Edwards’ name is plastered all over the CBL offensive leaderboards this season; he is tops in batting average (.335), RBI (28), slugging percentage (.443), runs scored (33), triples (4), and total bases (70), and is second in on-base percentage at .414. Edwards also leads CBL right fielders with a .986 fielding average, and is tied for the lead in assists with 5. |
| Justin Drabek | RHP | MCKINNEY BLUE THUNDER | Drabek set a CBL record on Friday, July 5, becoming the first pitcher to turn in a 10 inning outing, at home against Texarkana. The Gunslingers could not tally against Drabek, who struck out nine while scattering 4 hits and 3 walks. Drabek’s fine work earned him only a no-decision as the Gunslingers eventually won the game in the 12th inning. Drabek, the son of 1990 Cy Young Award winner Doug Drabek, has fashioned an 0.83 ERA in 21 2/3 innings of work for the Blue Thunder, striking out 16 batters. |
Week Ending June 29th
| Pedro Catala | CF | CORPUS CHRISTI BEACH DAWGS | Catala hit .350 for the week (7-for-20) and had an on-base percentage of .480. He also scored six runs, tops in the CBL for the week, adding three stolen bases and two RBI. In Wednesday’s 3-2, 13 inning win over McKinney, his two-out RBI single tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth inning. In Sunday’s 8-7, 12 inning win over Texarkana, he scored in part of the rally that saw the Beach Dawgs go up 6-4 in the eighth inning. Later in the 12th and down by one, 7-6, his walk started the winning rally and saw him score the tying run as part of the comeback win. Catala also saw time at three key defensive positions, playing shortstop, second base, and center field this week. |
| Brian Barr | P | TEXARKANA GUNSLINGERS | Barr tossed a 4-hit shutout against Bay Area on Thursday, June 26, striking out 8 Toros while walking only 1. The Toros only managed to get one runner as far as second base in the game. The victory made Barr the first 5-game winner this year in the CBL. |
Week Ending June 22nd
| Joe Pagan | C | MCKINNEY BLUE THUNDER | Pagan batted .385 (5-for-13) with a double and home run, driving in 3 and scoring 2. In addition to slugging .692 for the week, Pagan reached 5 times on walks, bringing his on-base percentage to .556 over the six-game span. Through Sunday’s games, Pagan leads the CBL in doubles (7) and walks (19). |
| Markus Markray | P | MCKINNEY BLUE THUNDER | The Blue Thunder’s Markray spun a 4-hit shutout Friday night (6/20) against the Bay Area Toros, striking out 8 while walking only 1. Markray (3-2 on the season) is fifth in the CBL with a 2.19 ERA, and is second in the league in fewest walks per nine innings (1.70). |
| Jack Tilghman | P | TEXARKANA GUNSLINGERS | Texarkana’s workhorse reliever Tilghman appeared in five games during the week, posting three saves for the resurgent Gunslingers. Tilghman has worked in 16 of Texarkana’s 29 games, to give him the league lead in that category. He has posted a 2.89 ERA in 18.2 innings of work for the season, and his 23 strikeouts are tops among CBL relievers. |
Week Ending June 15th
| Pat Burgess | 3B | TEXARKANA GUNSLINGERS | Pat Burgess wasted no time upon joining the Gunslingers this week. In his first six games with the club, Burgess batted .393 (11-for-28) with three doubles and a home run. His six RBI tied for the league lead for the week. Burgess had four multiple-hit games, closing the week by going 3-for-5 with double, home run, and 4 RBI in the Gunslingers’ 12-0 rout at McKinney on Sunday, June 15. |
| Rene Recio | P | CORPUS CHRISTI BEACH DAWGS | Rene Recio pitched the first one-hit game in CBL history Friday, June 13, shutting out the Bay Area Toros. Recio struck out nine Toros, with the sole safety being a leadoff single in the first inning. Recio then went on to retire 24 consecutive batters before allowing two walks in the ninth inning. Recio leads the CBL in winning percentage (4-0) and fewest runners per nine innings (7.28), is second in strikeouts per nine innings (8.19), and currently ranks third in ERA (1.21). |
Week Ending June 8th
| Nick Shay | 1B | CORPUS CHRISTI BEACH DAWGS | Shaking off an early-season mini-slump, Shay paced the league this week with a .421 batting average (8-for-19) with a double, as Corpus Christi turned in a perfect 6-0 record. Shay opened the week with a 3-for-4 performance in the BeachDawgs’ come from behind extra-inning win on June 3 against McKinney, singling and scoring the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth to force the extra frame. Shay also featured against Texarkana to close out the week on June 8, going 2-for-4 and again singling and scoring the tying run as Corpus Christi took the lead for good in the sixth. |
| Brandon Sisk | P | BAY AREA TOROS | Sisk turned in the CBL’s first complete-game shutout, outdueling Ryan Leger of McKinney on June 8 to win a classic 1-0 game. In the contest, Sisk scattered 5 singles, striking out 8 while walking 3, with no member of the Blue Thunder advancing past second base. For the week, Sisk allowed only one earned run, striking out 13 batters in 14 innings of work and posting a tidy 0.64 ERA. |
Week Ending June 1st
| Gene Filyaw | 3B | MCKINNEY BLUE THUNDER | Filyaw finished the week batting .395 (15-for-38) with 2 HR and 14 RBI as McKinney got off to a fast 8-2 start. |
| Travis Parker | P | CORPUS CHRISTI BEACH DAWGS | Parker allowed only one earned run in 13 innings of work for an 0.69 ERA, over two games for the BeachDawgs, striking out 9 batters while earning the win in the franchise’s first victory. |
| Kevin Cooper | P | BAY AREA TOROS | Cooper fanned 14 batters in 16 and a third innings over three appearances, posting a victory and 1.65 ERA. |