Diamond Notes

Tampa Bay field manager Kevin Cash (Florida State, Sussex, 1997) and reliever Aaron Slegers (Indiana, Riverhead, 2011) have advanced to the World Series after the Rays defeated the Houston Astros 4-2 in game seven on Saturday.

Cash signed as a free agent with the Toronto Blue Jays in August 1999 and made his MLB debut in September 2002 as a catcher for the Blue Jays. His success as a field manager for the Rays is well documented.

Slegers, a former ACBL All-Star, was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round of the 2013 MLB draft. The 6-10 RHP made eleven appearances during the regular season and recorded two saves in two save opportunities. He posted a 3.46 ERA and 0.88 WHIP over 26 innings. Thus far in the post season he has three relief appearances with a 1.80 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in five innings.

RHP Lou Trivino (Slippery Rock, Quakertown Blazers, 2011) closed out the Oakland A’s 6-0 win over the Houston Astros with a three pitch ninth inning.

All three pitches resulted in outfield putouts by centerfielder Ramon Laureano. This was the 188th three pitch inning in MLB history.

The last pitcher to throw one was reportedly Mike Minor in September 2019. Info on when all three outs went to the same player is not available at present.

Trivino now has eight consecutive scoreless relief appearances with a 2.76 ERA for the division leading A’s who host the Astros in a doubleheader today.

The recent assignment of shortstop Ryan Vilade to the Colorado Rockies alternate training site sparked an inquiry as to the current status of his father, former ACBL All-Star Jim Vilade (Baylor University, Jersey Pilots, 92-94). Ryan was a second round draft pick of the Rockies out of Stillwater, Oklahoma HS in 2017 and a California League All-Star in 2019 after hitting .303 with ten triples, 12 home runs, 71 RBIs and 24 stolen bases.

Jim was a First Team All-State player at Bernards High School and played for the Pilots for three years under Glen Gardner as field manager. He was captain of the Baylor University Bears when they won the Southwest Conference championship in 1993.

Vilade started two NCAA programs from the ground up. He guided the University of Dallas for four seasons before leading the University of Texas at Tyler for their first seven years. In these eleven seasons he compiled a 348-117 record and is the second winningest coach in NCAA baseball in Texas and trails only Cliff Gustafson, the former University of Texas coach.

For six seasons he worked for the Texas Rangers AA affiliate, the Frisco Rough Riders. He then served as an assistant coach for Oklahoma State University for four years. Most recently he has rejoined the Miami Marlins as a scout. He has always been very active in community affairs and is the founder of the Keeper of the Game foundation for kids with special needs and disabilities. The organization provides special baseball experiences and fosters their love of baseball.