Diamond Notes

Murphy Smith Photo Courtesy of MLB.com

RHP Murphy Smith (Binghamton, Kutztown Rockies, 2007) had his contract selected by the Toronto Blue Jays and he did not allow a run or hit in 1.1 innings of relief in the Toronto 7-0 loss to the Orioles on Monday evening.

Murphy posted a 3-2 record with a 0.67 ERA in 27 innings for the ACBL champion Kutztown Rockies in 2007. He was a 13th round pick of the Oakland A’s in the 2009 draft and played ten seasons in the minors with Oakland and Toronto. This year he posted a 3.69 ERA in 62.2 innings for Buffalo prior to his promotion.

He joins Tim Mayza (Millersville, Quakertown Blazers, 2011) in the Blue Jays’ bullpen and is the fourth former ACBL pitcher to make a MLB debut this year.

Lou Trivino (Slippery Rock, Quakertown Blazers, 2011), Heath Fillmyer (Mercer County College, Trenton Generals, 2013) and Matt Festa (East Stroudsburg, Staten Island Tide, 2014, 2015) made debuts with Oakland, Kansas City and Seattle respectively in 2018.

Shayne Fontana (Lynn, Allentown Railers) was selected for the Santy Gallone Most Valuable Player Award in a poll of the field managers.

Fontana topped the ACBL in runs (31), RBIs (26), and tied for first with five triples and seventeen stolen bases. He was second in hits (42) and tied for third with six home runs and a .632 slugging average. His batting average of .359 was fourth in the league.

Jimmy Kingsbury (Villanova, Quakertown Blazers) and Nick Snyder (West Virginia, Trenton Generals) were co-winners of the Darrin Winston Most Valuable Pitcher Award.

Kingsbury posted a league leading six wins and a 2.73 ERA which was fifth best in the ACBL. Snyder tossed a seven inning no-hitter against North Jersey and struck out all four batters he faced in the NYCBL-ACBL All-Star game. He topped the ACBL in strikeouts with 47 and posted a 3.18 ERA in 28 innings.

Charles Barebo (DeSales, Allentown Railers) won the Hitting Award with a .391 batting average which included a league leading eleven doubles, four triples and two home runs.

Bret Williams (PSU-Harrisburg, Allentown Railers) was awarded the Slugging Award with a .688 slugging average. Williams tied for the league home run title with seven home runs and added five doubles while hitting .351.

Tyler Guidos (Mansfield, Allentown Railers) earned the Relief Pitcher of the Year Award with six saves. Guidos made 13 appearances with a 2.49 ERA in 21.2 innings. He struck out 34 while walking eight batters.