Catch current and former Cotton
Kings in the NCAA Regionals this weekend!
Former Cotton Kings Ryan Honeycutt, Mike LaChapelle, and Kenny Held of the
New Mexico Lobos are participating in the Fullerton regional in
California, hosted by Cal State Fullerton. There was plenty of speculation
as to whether or not the Lobos would make the field of 64 after falling
short in the Mountain West conference tournament, losing in the
championship to Texas Christian University (TCU). In the tournament, Ryan
Honeycutt homered in an opening round loss to UNLV. The Lobos battled back
and beat the offensive juggernaut BYU thanks to Mike LaChapelle’s 7 2/3
inning long-relief appearance. Congratulations to Ray Birmingham and his
staff on the Lobo’s first regional appearance in 48 years.
Unfortunately, Jerome Pena did not participate in the tournament for the
TCU Horned Frogs as a precautionary measure for a sore back. Knowing they
were a lock for an NCAA regional berth, it wasn’t worth the risk to run
him out there less than 100%.All indications are Jerome, a first team
all-Mountain West second baseman, will be ready when TCU hosts their own
regional. Which brings us to our next Cotton King connection, newcomer for
2010 Bobby Rinard, will be at the TCU regional for the Arizona Wildcats.
We wish all these young men the very best and hope to see them on TV at
Omaha! Last year former Cotton Kings outfielder, Andrew Darr, caught fire
late and helped propel his Arkansas Razorbacks to a dramatic super
regional victory over the Florida State Seminoles with a walk off double
off the wall.
Pena, Hennessey receive
post-season honors
2009 Cotton King Jerome Pena was named the first team
Mountain West Conference second baseman for the TCU Horned Frogs. Jerome
transferred to TCU as a second baseman after playing his first two
collegiate seasons as a catcher/outfielder at 2009 Juco World Series
participant Western Nevada CC, where he was named to the all-tournament
team as well as second team all-region XVII as a designated hitter. He
went on to get drafted in the 40th round by the New York Mets as an
infielder.
Needless to say, Jerome made quite a transition from playing catcher, DH,
and outfield at the junior college level to earning first team
all-conference honors in what is emerging as one of the elite conferences
in college baseball.
Kevin Hennessey was named first team all Sooner Athletic Conference as a
third baseman for the Wayland Baptist (WBU) Pioneers. Kevin was the third
consecutive Cotton King to break the single-season homerun record at WBU
with 24. He follows 2006-2008 Cotton King Franky Busani’s record-breaking
23 in 2009 that was preceded by 2007-2008 Cotton King Brett Cook’s 20, set
in 2008 (all three hailing from Arizona). Hennessey finished the regular
season as the NAIA leader; however, he has been surpassed by two others
who have gone deeper in the post-season for their respective team and
current sits tied for third nationally.
In 166 at-bats Kevin hit, a team leading, .428 with 24 homeruns, 70 RBI,
16 doubles, while slugging .958. Equally impressive is the fact that he
almost walked twice as many times as he struck out (30 BB/18 K). He also
took the mound for the Pioneers finishing with an ERA of 2.45, with one
win, no losses, two saves, 5 k, 3 2/3 innings pitched, in 4 appearances.
Check out the Cotton Kings in school this spring!
The previous season(s) Cotton Kings are having plenty of
on-field success in the 2010 season. We encourage you to follow them this
spring as we wish them continued success at their respective programs.
Click here for a complete list!
Living the dream!
Over the years the Cotton Kings have had a number of
players go on to play professional baseball. We're thankful for the
opportunity to be a stop along the way and enjoyed having them play for
us. Check out the link below to see a complete listing...
Pro Cotton Kings
The Cotton Kings will face
Jayhawk league powerhouse Derby Twins in their opener in the 75th Annual
NBC World Series
Monday, 8/3/09, 5:00 PM - The
Casa Grande Cotton Kings will be put to the test right out the gate as
they take on the Derby Twins in their opening game of the NBC World
Series. The Twins are one of the most successful programs in all of summer
college baseball having won the Jayhawk league title in 2007, were
runners-up in 2008, and were NBC World Series runners-up in 2006. Former
Cotton King Collin Murphy played for the Twins last summer after two
seasons with Casa Grande. The Twins are 16 - 15 on the season, but will be
fully loaded and well-prepared for their opener Monday. Expect a huge
crowd at Lawrence Dumont stadium as Derby has a huge following.
Click here for the 2009 NBC World
Series tournament bracket
The Cotton Kings are headed to
the NBC World Series in Wichita, KS for the 3rd straight season!
The Pacific Southwest League regional
tournament yielded the league representative for the 75th Annual NBC World
Series in Wichita, KS. The Cotton Kings beat the Bisbee Copper Kings in
their opener on Friday and made their way to the championship by defeating
the regular season champion Garden of Gears on Saturday. The Gears battled
back to beat the Tucson Nationals and forced the if necessary game
by beating the Cotton Kings 4 - 3 in the first of two on championship
Sunday. Thankfully, the Gears needed to beat the Cotton Kings twice and
Casa Grande came back in the if necessary game to beat the Gears 10
- 0.
Tucson Nationals GM, Manny Romo, did an
excellent job of promoting the tournament and ensuring all Pacific
Southwest League affiliates were taken care of. Tucson Electric Park was
the perfect venue for this event. For details, please check out the link
to a video clip of the news story on Tucson KGUN 9 News.
http://www.kgun9.com/Global/category.asp?C=129845&nav=menu1456_5
Also, photos were taken throughout the
tournament by Fuego Fotos. To preview and purchase, visit their site at
www.fuegofotos.smugmug.com
.
Congratulations to the Garden of Gears,
Tucson Nationals, and Bisbee Copper Kings on another great season of
summer collegiate baseball.
Pacific Southwest League
Tournament to be held at Tucson Electric Park
The double-elimination tournament will
consist of the Bisbee Copper Kings, Casa Grande Cotton Kings, Garden of
Gears, and Tucson Nationals. The Garden of Gears are the #1 seed and will
face the Tucson Nationals (#4) in the 7 pm game. The Bisbee Copper Kings
(#2) will host the Casa Grande Cotton Kings (#3) in the opener at 4 pm.
Click here for the
tournament flyer
Click here for the
tournament bracket
Six current and former Cotton
Kings selected in the 2009 draft!
Cotton Kings take home post
season honors for the Spring of 2009
Cotton
King Marcus Bradley takes home two prestigious post-season honors after a
successful spring at Central Arizona. Marcus was named first-team all
Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC), 3rd Team NJCAA Div.
I All-American, and Rawlings Big Stick Winner (West District). The
freshman outfielder from San Diego, CA stole 22 bases in 26 attempts, with
40 RBI, and a .420 average.
Peter Gehle was a member of the 2008 Cotton
Kings NBC World Series team. After completing his first two years at
Bellevue (NAIA) Peter transferred to Azusa Pacific University for his
Junior year. As a Cougar he went 6 - 4 with a 3.54 earned run average, striking
out 70 in 96 2/3 innings pitched, earning first-team All-Golden State
Athletic Conference team.
Nico Rosthenhausler played for the Cotton
Kings in 2008 and played corner infield. Nico got to work in
the fall and made a physical transformation losing
over
50 pounds, which enabled him to move to the outfield. Nico earned
first-team All-ACCAC honors for the South Mountain Cougars in the spring
of 2009 hitting a team-leading 6 homeruns, a .419 batting average, driving
in 31 runs, and stealing 15 bases. He also earned the ACCAC Gold Glove in
the outfield. The Detroit Tigers selected Nico in the 50th round of the
2009 MLB Draft and signed with the Oklahoma State Cowboys for 2010.
Thomas Brendel, Sophomore of the Glendale Gauchos, took home the second team All-ACCAC Utility
honor. On the mound he had a 5 - 5 record, 2.73 earned run average, and
struck out 56 batters in 79 innings. At the plate, Thomas hit .349 with 35
RBI. Thomas signed with the New Mexico State Aggies for 2010.
Two Cotton Kings receive NAIA
All-American honors!
Brett Cook was named First Team NAIA
All-American after a senior year at Wayland Baptist Pioneers that
included a .473 batting average, 14 homers, and 17 doubles.
Cook
was an instrumental part of the Cotton Kings in the summers of 2007 and
2008. In the spring of 2008, after his first summer with the Cotton
Kings, Cook belted a then school record 20 homers. He finished his
career as a Pioneer with the career batting average leader with a .426
average.
Franky Busani also earned national
recognition with Honorable Mention NAIA All-American honors. A year
after belting 16 homers with a .324 batting average while driving in 60
runs for the New Mexico State Aggies in 2008 Franky decided to transfer
to Wayland for his senior season. Things could not have worked out any
better as he became a force in the Pioneer lineup and helped them get
within a game of reaching the NAIA World Series, losing to eventual NAIA
champion Lubbock Christian in the regional tournament. Franky hit a
school- record 23 home runs with 84 RBI and a .380 batting average.
In
the summer of 2004 the Cotton Kings took the field for the first time in
40 years returning to the NBC as an affiliate of the Pacific Southwest
League (PSWL). The team consisted of current college, ex-college, and
ex-professional players. Affiliates of the PSWL included the Palm Springs
Power (CA), Orange County Outlaws (CA), Las Vegas Lightning (NV), Havasu
Heat (AZ), and the Las Vegas Blues (NV). The teams used wooden bats and
played four, nine innings games each series. At the conclusion of the
regular season all affiliates participated in the Regional Tournament held
in Palm Springs. Despite a challenging regular season (5-16) the Cotton
Kings came on strong in the tournament (2-2) receiving a berth to the
World Series in Wichita, KS. Due to financial constraints the Cotton Kings
could not make it to the World Series and the bid was passed down to the
Las Vegas Lightning. It was disappointing for the players to miss out on
the opportunity to represent Casa Grande on a national level.
