Locals in Pros End Seasons with Highs, Lows

Chris Mobley’s last pitch of the 2008 season for the Carolina Mudcats was one he’d just as soon forget, but he still emerged this summer as one of the Florida Marlins’ top pitching prospects.

In Game 5 of the Class AA Southern League championship series, Mobley’s wild pitch and an ensuing errant throw by catcher Brad Davis in the bottom of the 10th inning allowed
J.C. Holt to score the run that gave the Mississippi Braves a 3-2 win and the title.

Otherwise, Mobley had a fine postseason for the Mudcats. He was 0-0 with two saves and a 1.80 earned-run Average in five games.

The former Dobyns-Bennett High School star had a solid regular season, too. He went 5-3 with a 2.93 ERA and saved a franchise-record 28 games in 53 relief outings for Carolina.
Mobley also had a brief stint with the Class AAA Albuquerque Isotopes, making five appearances before returning to Carolina.

The 25-year-old Mobley, who might earn an invitation to spring training with the Marlins in 2009, is 17-15 with 79 saves and a 3.45 ERA in 235 career minor league games.

Belcher’s bat
Former Virginia High star Tyler Belcher compiled a .256 batting average with two home runs and 15 RBIs in 52 games for the Low-Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers.

He hit .310 in his final 10 games for the Florida Marlins’ farm team.

“I started off kind of rocky and kind of up and down and not knowing what was going to happen,” Belcher said. “I just kind of stuck with it, rode the wave and ended up finishing pretty strong.”

Belcher displayed his versatility this summer, splitting time between first base and catcher. He also pitched in a game for Greensboro.

When in Rome
Outfielder C.J. Lee hit .235 with two home runs and 27 RBIs in 95 games for the Low-Class A Rome (Ga.) Braves.

The former Virginia High and East Tennessee State University standout also had a brief stint with the High-Class A Myrtle Beach Pelicans in early August, going 1-for-4 in his only game with the club.

“I felt that this season was pretty good,” Lee said. “It felt good to get my first full season under my belt. Six months is a long time, but I felt I played pretty well. I had my ups and downs at the plate and battled a couple of injuries, but overall it was pretty good.”

In the Army now
Former Sullivan East High School star Nick Hill has begun serving a two-year service term with the U.S. Army that will temporarily suspend his professional baseball career.

However, the left-handed pitcher went out in style in the Seattle Mariners’ farm system.

Hill got a win and a save in his final two appearances for the High-Class A High Desert (Calif.) Mavericks. He earned a win in relief against Rancho Cucamonga on Aug. 27 and a save against Lake Elsinore on Aug. 31.

In his second season as a professional, Hill went 2-8 with one save and a 4.93 ERA in 44 games and 10 starts between High Desert and Class AA West Tennessee.

Best of the rest
Here is how other local players finished this seasons in the minor leagues:

-In his 14th professional season, Virginia High graduate Kevin Barker hit .258 with 21 homers and 77 RBIs for the Louisville Bats, the Class AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

Barker led the team in homers and RBIs and was named team co-MVP, along with pitcher Jon Garland.

Including his 97 games with Milwaukee, San Diego and Toronto, Barker has appeared in 1,535 professional games. He has 1,470 hits, including 232 home runs, and 950 RBIs.

-Former Sullivan Central High School and King College star Eric Allen went 2-1 with a 5.21 ERA in 14 relief outings for the Mesa Cubs of the Arizona Rookie League.

-Another former King College pitcher, Jace Smith, had an exceptional first season as a pro. The right-hander went 1-0 with two saves and a 1.15 ERA in 13 appearances out of the bullpen for the Surprise Royals of the Arizona Rookie League.

-Jeremy Hall was one of the hottest pitchers in the Tampa Bay Rays farm system during the final month of the season.

Pitching for the Low-Class A Columbus (Ga.) CatFish, Hall won his final six starts to finish 10-3. He had a 4.61 ERA in 21 games, including 19 starts. The former Daniel Boone High School and ETSU star led Columbus in victories.

-After starting the season on an independent league team, ex-ETSU pitcher Josh Kite signed a free-agent deal with the Detroit Tigers.
He didn’t disappoint his new team. Kite was 3-0 with two saves and a 0.75 ERA in nine games for the Class AA Erie SeaWolves.

-Former Dobyns-Bennett High School and Milligan College standout Nathan Fritz went 0-1 with an 8.38 ERA in nine relief outings for the Elizabethton Twins of the rookie-level Appalachian League. Fritz was a member of the Twins’ Appy League title team.

-ETSU alumnus Steven Calicutt’s season ended in May because of a shoulder injury. He was 2-3 with a 4.25 ERA in 10 games (eight starts) for the Low-Class A Augusta (Ga.) GreenJackets.

Gobble watch
Since returning to the Kansas City Royals from the disabled list, former John Battle High School star Jimmy Gobble has put together four scoreless relief appearances.

On Sunday afternoon, Gobble allowed one hit and struck out one in one inning of Kansas City’s win in Cleveland.

Gobble is 0-2 with one save and a 9.85 ERA in 35 appearances this season for KC.

Former BriSox update
Three former Bristol White Sox standouts were in Oakland’s starting lineup on Sept. 2, when the Athletics played at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

Gio Gonzalez was the starting pitcher, Aaron Cunningham got the nod in left field and Ryan Sweeney started in right field in a 5-2 loss to the Royals.

Gonzalez pitched seven games for Bristol in 2004, when he was 1-2 with a 2.25 ERA. He’s 1-4 with an 8.70 ERA for Oakland.

Cunningham played 56 games with the BriSox in 2005, and he hit .315 with five home runs and 25 RBIs. He made his major league debut on Aug. 31 for Oakland and is hitting .304 with one home run and 10 RBIs in his first 12 games.

Sweeney played 19 games in Bristol in 2003, and he hit .313 with two home runs and five RBIs. He’s hitting .294 in his third season in the big leagues.

| (276) 645-2570