Palm Springs, Calif. – The California Winter league is well represented in the 2019 Frontier League Playoffs having both players and coaches filling out the staffs on four of the ten clubs.
Travis McQueen and Trevor Achenbach have been productive for the River City Rascals in their respective roles. McQueen, a right-handed pitcher from Midlothian, Virginia, has seen 18 games in River City, posting a 5 – 2 record for the Rascals. He has walked 22 in 85.1 innings of work, with 76 strikeouts. He has recorded one save and started 13. During his time at the California Winter League, he recorded a 2.40 ERA with the British Columbia Bombers, posting a 2 -2 record, with 40 strikeouts in 8 games pitched.
Trevor Achenbach, a 25 year old second baseman, from Billings, Montana has been effective in the field but also at the plate for River City. Achenbach, a Frontier League All – Star, played in 83 games, posting a .259 batting average with 78 hits; 14 of those hits being homeruns, 14 hits being doubles, and three being triples. He has recorded 45 runs batted in and crossed the plate 55 times this season.
In the field, Achenbach has a fielding percentage of .98, recording 123 putouts in 171 attempts.
The 2019 Frontier League West Division Champion Evansville Otters have Boots Day on the bench, coaching in his ninth season. Day played in Major League Baseball for six seasons as an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Montreal Expos. He was the Frontier League Coach of the Year in 2012, his first year back with Evansville after being named the Otters’ first manager in 1995. Boots serves as an instructor and manager during the California Winter League.
River City defeated the Evansville Otters in Game 3 of the Frontier League Division Series to advance to the Frontier League Championship Series.
The Florence Freedom has a strong representation of CWL players during this season’s playoff push with CWL instructor and manager, Dennis Pelfrey at the helm. Pelfrey returned to the Freedom for his fifth season as Manager. In 2017, he led the team to their first 60 – win season in franchise history. Prior to his stint with Florence, Pelfrey spent four seasons coaching with the Gary SouthShore RailCats with the American Association.
Joining Pelfrey are pitcher Mike Castallani and catcher Ryan Rinksy.
Castallani, a left- handed pitcher from Bucknell University, joins the Freedom in his second season, pitching in 21 games, posting a 9 – 2 record. Castallani recorded a 2.65 earned run average over 128.2 innings, with 72 strikeouts and 25 walks. He faced Lake Erie in the first round of the playoffs, holding the Crushers to two runs, on eight hits, over eight innings. Castallani recorded the win. The lefty will start game one of the championship series for the Freedom as they take on the River City Rascals.
Ryan Rinksy, the twenty – five year old catcher from North Caldwell, New Jersey, joined the Freedom for his second season of professional baseball. Rinksy has recorded eight runs batted in on 20 hits and crossed the plate eight times. He has six stolen bases on the season.
Cam Roth found himself as the Lake Erie Crushers Manager this season after serving as the pitching coach for the Schaumburg Boomers, where he served for three seasons. The former Baltimore Orioles farmhand retired from playing baseball in 2012 and found himself coaching. Roth serves as an instructor and manager for the California Winter League.
The foursome of former CWL players signed in the Frontier League after participating in the California Winter League. Frontier League teams have each signed at least two CWL players every year since an agreement was forged between the two leagues in 2015, plus dozens more before that. That means that well over 100 players have begun or continued their professional playing careers in the Frontier League by way of the California Winter League. The CWL is the only competitive development league or camp that has an agreement with a professional league to maximize opportunity for its players.
The goal of the California Winter League is to get players signed to professional contracts before spring training begins as well as help each athlete develop before they report to their professional teams. Players work directly with Major League Baseball scouts and independent league managers for a month in Palm Springs, CA. Over the last 10 years, the CWL has seen over 700 professional contracts offered to its players. Whether you are a professional player looking to get a jump on the competition before reporting to spring training or you are right out of college and looking to jump start your professional career, the CWL will help you GET BETTER AND GET SIGNED!
Our 2020 CWL season runs from January 20th – February 17th. To register for the 2020 California Winter League, visit www.californiawinterleague.com/cwl-registration/
For more information about the California Winter League, please visit www. CaliforniaWinterLeague.com.
