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	June 12
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By Mark Derewicz

June 21

FRONTIER LEAGUE

• Former Chillicothe righthander Brian Tollberg was the first former Frontier Leaguer to play in a major league game when he guided the San Diego Padres to a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Tollberg, 27, struck out seven, walked three and allowed one unearned run on one hit over seven innings. In 1995, Milwaukee picked up Tollberg, who went 6-0, 2.73 with 60 strikeouts and 11 walks in 76 innings at San Diego's Triple-A Las Vegas this year before being called up. He was traded to the Padres in 1997 despite putting up good numbers in the Brewers' system, a minor league chain with a bunch of missing links. He had a few decent years and was a solid minor leaguer before exploding this year. He wasn't drafted out of the University of North Florida in 1994, but he fit in perfectly with Chillicothe. He went 7-4, 2.85 with the Paints and never returned to independent baseball. He finished eighth in the Frontier League in ERA in 1994. This season, he was in the Pacific Coast League top 10 in ERA for most of the season.

• Dubois County first baseman Fran Riordan was the first Frontier Leaguer to get 6 hits in one game. He went 6-6 with a double, homer, 4 singles, 6 RBIs and 5 runs scored. Riordan is leading the league and all of independent baseball in hitting at .455-2-20 in 55 at-bats. His .691 slugging percentage leads the league, as do his 20 RBIs.

• Chillicothe righthander Josh White was second in the league in pitching at 3-0, 0.96, only two tenths of a point behind teammate Sean Boesch. White, 23, has 36 strikeouts in 28 innings with 15 walks and 15 hits allowed. Boesch, 24, is 1-1, 0.76 with 18 strikeouts, 11 walks and 18 hits allowed in 24 innings. Both pitchers were huge reasons for the Paints' first place 12-6 record and league leading 2.99 ERA, nearly a point better than second place Johnstown at 3.95.

• Marathon games are abounding in the league. Through June 19, there have been games of 13, 15, 16 and 17 innings. The Cook County Cheetahs have had games of 11, 13, 16 and 17 innings--a league record. Canton defeated River City 1-0 in 15 innings on June 18. It was the second game of a doubleheader.

NORTHERN LEAGUE

• Former Sioux Falls righthander Chuck Smith was traded from the Texas Rangers to the Florida Marlins where he got a shot in the big leagues for the first time. Before the trade, Smith had spent the entire 2000 season with Triple-A Oklahoma where he went 5-3, 3.78 in 11 starts, and was tied for third with 73 strikeouts. As a part of the Marlins' major league staff, the 30-year-old Smith is 0-1, 1.98 with 17 strikeouts in 13 and two-thirds innings. In a 2-0 loss to the Brewers last night, Smith struck out 11, walked one and allowed two runs (both earned) on four hits over seven and two-thirds innings.

• New Jersey Jackals righthanders Kevin Pincavitch and John LeRoy combined to retire 30 straight batters in the course of a doubleheader sweep of Waterbury. Pincavitch, 29, retired the final 14 batters he faced in a three-hit 5-0 shutout. Leroy, 24, sat down the first 16 batters in the second game but left in the six inning after allowing one hit and no runs. He struck out six but got a no-decision. The Jackals rallied to win 4-1.

• Madison Black Wolf righthander Andy Zwirchitz won his third consecutive start to improve to 3-0, 3.94. He has 29 strikeouts in 32 innings. He has allowed 30 hits and 12 walks.

• Adirondack lefthander Joey Eischen improved to 5-0, 1.36 with 33 strikeouts in 33 innings with an 8-2 win over Albany-Colonie last week. He fanned eight and walked two over seven shutout innings. Eischen, 29, leads the league in wins and ERA and is second in strikeouts.

• Allentown rookie righthander Brain Gaal, 23, was second in the league at 2-0, 1.62 with 20 strikeouts in 17 innings. He could be a key for the Ambassadors if they are to improve on their league-worst 6.19 ERA.

• Albany-Colonie's ERA is second worst at 5.48 but their rookie lefthander Scott Guess is 1-0, 1.69 in 16 innings. The 23-year-old got his professional start in 1999 for Springfield (Frontier) where he gave up nine earned runs in nine innings of relief work.

• Schaumburg first baseman Jack Voigt extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the fifth inning of a 8-6 Schaumburg win over Fargo-Moorhead. He went 4-for-4 in an 11-10 loss to Fargo-Moorhead the previous night.

• Once again, the Eastern Division of the Northern League's Central Division is playing second fiddle to the Western Division. None of the four teams in the Eastern Division are over .500, with Duluth-Superior leading the way at 12-12, a game and a half ahead of Madison. Sioux Falls, consistently at the bottom of the Western Division standings, were back in the basement again. The Canaries were 8-14; eight games behind first place Fargo-Moorhead (16-6). If the Canaries were in the Eastern Division, they would be a half game behind St. Paul, and just three games behind Duluth-Superior. As it stands, the Canaries are looking forward to the second half.

ATLANTIC LEAGUE

• The Somerset Patriots lead the league with a 3.32 ERA thanks to fast starts by Ray Davis (4-2, 1.82), Wayne Hoy (4-3, 1.78), Rick Steed (6-1, 3.13), Darrin Winston (2-1, 2.19 with five saves) and Robert Luce (1-1, 3.23 with three saves). The Patriots won a league record 15 consecutive games before dropping three straight to Bridgeport and two straight to Nashua. They have now lost five in a row.

• The Aberdeen Arsenal swept the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds despite six home runs in one game by the Black Diamonds. Lehigh Valley lost that game 13-8 due in part to a grand slam by Danny Perez. Arsenal outfielder Gil Martinez was named the player of the month for May and the latter part of April. He hit .413-5-25 during the span and is second in the league at .355-6-53 in 154 at-bats. Teammate T.R. Lewis leads the league at .372-2-15 in 129 at-bats

• In a 21-6 drubbing of Aberdeen, Atlantic City shortstop Jose Olmeda went 5-for-6 with eight RBIs and three runs scored. Teammate Joe Rodriguez went 4-for-6 with seven RBIs and two runs scored. Olmeda hit a pair of homers and Rodriguez hit one of his own. The Surf scored nine runs in the first inning, four in the second, three in the third and five in the eighth.

WESTERN LEAGUE

• Yuma's Justin Mashore is leading the league in hitting at .416-4-28 and hits with 47. His 28 RBIs tie him with Tri-City's Mark Charbonnet for second behind Chico's Ray Brown (37). Mashore went 5-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs in a 9-7 win over Tri-City.

• The Chico Heat, 19-8 and five games ahead of Tri-City in the North Division, have four pitchers in the top 10 in ERA. Righthander Mike Zipser leads the league at 2-0, 1.57 with 22 strikeouts in 29 innings, and fellow righthander Randy Phillips was right behind him at 5-1, 1.75 with 33 strikeouts in 36 innings. Righthander D.J. Johnson is fifth in the league at 1-1, 2.78 and lefthander Dallas Mahan is eighth at 3-0, 3.15. Brown is the only Chico hitter in the top 10 (eighth) but the Heat is hitting .295 as a team, tied for first with Zion. Brown is hitting .349-3-37 in 106 at-bats.

• Feather River's Jason Olsen is 2-1, 2.48 with 43 strikeouts in 40 innings. The 25-year-old righthander is one strikeout behind league-leader Jim Converse, who was 3-2, 8.44 with 44 strikeouts and 48 hits allowed in 32 innings for the Solano Steelheads. He has 25 walks.

• Solano righthander Brett Cederblad struck out five and allowed no runs and five hits in six and two-thirds innings to help the Steelheads defeat Sonoma County 2-0. Cederblad improved to 4-1, 2-82. Sonoma County starter Tim Davidson didn't fair too poorly either. He fanned 11 and didn't allow an earned run while absorbing the loss. He fell to 3-1, 1.94. Sonoma County second baseman Eric White botched a double play ball in the third inning. In the seventh, the Crushers had Darontaye Hollins caught in a rundown but he escaped when first baseman David Mowry threw the ball away.

TEXAS-LOUISIANA LEAGUE

• Greenville's Derek Vaughn is leading the league in hitting at .378-3-20 with Alexandria's Marvin Cole right behind him at .377-2-25. Alexandria has two other players in the top 10 in hitting. Andre Johnson is fourth in the league at .363-7-37, and Robert Hewes is fifth at .357-1-22. Amarillo also has three players in the top 10. Jared McAlvain is third at .367-5-34, Shawn Hughes is sixth at .357-4-29 and Mike Harge is ninth at .350-7-36. Johnson's 37 RBIs ties him for first with Amarillo's Matt Dettman, while Dettman's eight dingers ties him for the lead with Rio Grande Valley's Malvin Matos, San Angelo's J.D. Taylor and Alexandria player/manager John O'Brien.

• Ozark's Jim Wollsheid, who tossed a seven-inning no-hitter during a doubleheader earlier this year, is leading the league with a 2.66 ERA. He is 5-3 with 60 strikeouts, 26 walks and 48 hits allowed in 61 innings. Wollsheid's teammate Mike Smith is 3-6, 3.65 and leads the league with 84 strikeouts in 74 innings.

• The Jackson Generals, who spent 25 years in the Texas League, left for a reason. The Jackson DiamondKats are averaging 619 fans a game through 19 openings, second worst to Lafayette's 576 average. Greenville is averaging 657 in 14 openings. Aside from those three struggling operations, league-wide attendance is steady with Ozark leading the way with a 3,239 average in 20 openings.