For the second year in a row, Joe Pendarvis was credited with a win over Ronaldo Mijangos in the NALB All-Star Game. This year, the League 1 All-Stars beat the League 2 All-Stars by a score of 5-2. League 2 actually jumped on top 1-0 in the first inning. They quickly gave up the lead in the bottom half of the inning, however, and fell behind 2-1. Mijangos walked in a run in the second inning and gave up two more on a John Edwards home run in the third inning. Mark Huff hit a solo homer for League 2 off of Tracy Corkhill in the top of the fifth and that was the end of the scoring. Pitching was strong down the stretch and 5-2 remained the final score.

The division leaders held onto first place during the month of June. In fact, each team extended the lead over their second place rivals with the exception of the Cornfield Axemen. The Luisville Beasts cut into the Axemen’s lead by two games. Powered by their explosive offense, the Beasts hope to capture the division crown during the second half of the season.

June 2007 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Yale Burns (Brooklyn Knights)
Pitcher of the Month: Fred Millard (Brooklyn Knights)
Rookie of the Month: John Edwards (Cornfield Axemen)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Travis Araoz (Stade Maples)
Pitcher of the Month: Max Brown (Stade Maples)
Rookie of the Month: Pete Porter (Vancouver Wild)

Here are the official All-Star rosters. The starters, relievers, and fielders for each league are ranked by the number of votes received. The Knights lead all teams with 11 players selected to the League 1 roster.

League 1 Starting Pitchers:

SP F. Millard (BRO)
SP H. Bedford (COR)
SP A. Berger (COR)
SP K. Oran (NSH)
SP D. Hambright (BRO)
SP T. Corkhill (BRO)

League 1 Relief Pitchers:

CL J. Pendarvis (COR)
CL E. Sherling (LUI)
MR J. Coleman (BRO)
CL D. Eiteljorge (SR)
CL J. Ramirez (BRO)
MR W. Bouton (COR)

League 1 Fielders:

1B D. Kelley (BRO)
LF K. Detherage (BRO)
CF G. MCcreery (BRO)
3B H. Goetz (BRO)
SS Y. Burns (BRO)
RF G. Richter (LUI)
2B J. Edwards (COR)
C D. Clarkson (LUI)
C R. Genins (DAY)
CF J. Stoneman (DAY)
RF D. Kelly (COR)
RF B. Scott (SR)
RF A. Carpenter (BRO)
2B C. Ferraro (LUI)
1B J. Hamrick (LV)
SS J. Linz (COR)

League 2 Starting Pitchers:

SP M. Brown (STD)
SP W. Pemberton (STD)
SP R. Snyder (SJ)
SP R. Mijangos (KW)
SP T Martell (VAN)
SP K. Wilson (SJ)

League 2 Relief Pitchers:

CL C. Cimpson (SJ)
CL E. Sullivan (PX)
CL R. Muncy (STD)
CL R. White (WSH)
CL J. Hallman (VAN)
CL B. Clark (RMD)

League 2 Fielders:

1B T. Araoz (STD)
SS S. Schultz (PX)
CF M. Huff (STD)
3B I. Cahill (SJ)
RF R. Renteria (STD)
LF A. Cadore (STD)
C T. Blefary (STD)
2B D. Andrews (KW)
C C. Daley (RMD)
CF P. Relaford (QUE)
SS G. Cooper (RMD)
2B C. Walton (QUE)
1B L. Grimsley (SJ)
LF K. Pavlas (SJ)
LF A. Stella (KW)
LF Q. Hernandez (QUE)

On June 15, 2007, the NALB held its rookie draft. There was a pretty good amount of talent in this year’s draft. Juan Fuentes from Havana, Cuba earned the honor of being the first player selected.

Here were the first round picks:

Round 1, Pick 1 - St. Rock Mudcats: SP J. Fuentes
Round 1, Pick 2 - Nashville Firecats: C D. Rager
Round 1, Pick 3 - Key West Corals: C M. Brown
Round 1, Pick 4 - Dayton Grizzlies: SP J. Sandoval
Round 1, Pick 5 - St. James Crusaders: LF F. Canales
Round 1, Pick 6 - Dunedin Otters: SS W. Walmesley
Round 1, Pick 7 - Richmond Slam: RF K. Wilson
Round 1, Pick 8 - Quebeck Sky Chiefs: C M. Hammond
Round 1, Pick 9 - Las Vegas Luck: SP B. MacKay
Round 1, Pick 10 - Vancouver Wild: SP L. O'Hagarty
Round 1, Pick 11 - Luisville Beasts: SP Á. Cuxava
Round 1, Pick 12 - Washington Allies: SP J. Urista
Round 1, Pick 13 - Stade Maples: 1B R. Valdés
Round 1, Pick 14 - Vancouver Wild: LF P. Hernández
Round 1, Pick 15 - Dunedin Otters: 2B K. Richey
Round 1, Pick 16 - Brooklyn Knights: RF C. Garfield

The Brooklyn Knights bolstered their organization’s depth in the outfield with several promising young picks. Cleveland Garfield, a 20 year old right fielder from Central Point, Oregon, looks like a future star.

Here are all of the Knights’ draft picks:

Round 1 - RF C. Garfield
Round 2 - LF D. Carson
Round 3 - RF G. Guerra
Round 4 - SP E. Lagden
Round 5 - LF H. Katayama
Round 6 - LF M. Quirino
Round 7 - RF G. Lacey
Round 8 - MR C. Foust
Round 9 - RF D. Pepin
Round 10 - MR J. Esobar
Round 11 - 1B M. Amaya
Round 12 - SP D. Luxton
Round 13 - MR S. Pak
Round 14 - MR R. Bodnar
Round 15 - MR T. Yoshida

The NALB division leaders stayed hot for the second month of the 2007 season with the notable exception of the Dayton Grizzlies. The Grizzlies played horribly in May and won only 8 out of 29 games. The Phoenix Rattlers were disappointed with their poor start and shook up their front office. They fired general manager Sonny Fitzsimmons and then fired manager José Bencosme four days later. The Washington Allies were frustrated with the direction of their ball club as well. Manager Rafael Urueta was fired for the lack of progress made by the Allies.

Several players suffered season-ending injuries in May: Rafael Maria (Vancouver Wild), Brian Hamburg (Richmond Slam), Matty Byers (Richmond Slam), Bobby Souliere (Dunedin Otters), Jose Pascua (Vancouver Wild), Chick Radatz (Dunedin Otters), Roy Mosqueda (Nashville Firecats)

May 2007 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Dan Kelley (Brooklyn Knights)
Pitcher of the Month: Ozzie Valera (Brooklyn Knights)
Rookie of the Month: John Edwards (Cornfield Axemen)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Travis Araoz (Stade Maples)
Pitcher of the Month: Wally Pemberton (Stade Maples)
Rookie of the Month: Martin Swader (St. James Crusaders)