The month of July was good to the League 1 leaders. The Knights and Firecats widened their division leads over the Mudcats and Firecats, respectively. It was a different story in League 2, however. The Corals overtook the Maples for the division lead while the Slam edged the Crusaders for a slim one game lead.

There is sometimes furious activity as the trade deadline of July 31 approaches. This year, a big trade between the Brooklyn Knights and Cornfield Axemen occurred on the final day of July. Cornfield sent infielder Flavio Marquez and minor league starter Gary Chisholm to Brooklyn. In exchange, the Knights sent center fielder Jeromy Bezanson and six minor league players to Cornfield. The minor leaguers dealt to Cornfield were the following: C Danny Dygert, RF Dustin Madson, P Steven Donoghue, 1B Rian Proud, P Bob MacGowan, and P Jaime Escobar.

July 2011 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Hooks Goetz (Brooklyn Knights)
Pitcher of the Month: Rico Haros (Brooklyn Knights)
Rookie of the Month: Roberto Jerrano (Las Vegas Luck)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Charles Attaway (Washington Allies)
Pitcher of the Month: Porfiro Quiñones (Washington Allies)
Rookie of the Month: Victorio Zavaca (Washington Allies)

Mario Torralbo started for the League 2 All-Stars and Tyler Stivers was named the starter for the League 1 All-Stars. League 2 pitching held the powerful League 1 lineup in check. League 2 cruised to a 4-0 shutout victory after chipping in runs one at a time in four different innings. The Sky Chiefs’ Dick Moran had two hits for the League 2 All-Stars and was named the player of the game.

                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R  H  E
League 2 All-Stars   0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1   4  8  1
League 1 All-Stars   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   0  5  0

W: T. Peters
L: T. Stivers
S: J. Hallman

In June, the Brooklyn Knights reclaimed first place from the St. Rock Mudcats while the Nashville Firecats extended their division lead to an impressive seven games. In League 2, the divisional races tightened up. The Key West Corals closed to within two games of the Stade Maples. In the other division, the Richmond Slam and St. James Crusaders are now in a first place tie.

June 2011 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Roberto Jerrano (Las Vegas Luck)
Pitcher of the Month: Ronaldo Mijangos (Brooklyn Knights)
Rookie of the Month: Roberto Jerrano (Las Vegas Luck)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Tony Rodarte (Richmond Slam)
Pitcher of the Month: Paul Pole (Quebeck Sky Chiefs)
Rookie of the Month: Edward Younkin (Phoenix Rattlers)

The 2011 NALB All-Star rosters have been announced. The Nashville Firecats lead all teams with seven players on the League 1 roster. The Richmond Slam and the Stade Maples lead League 2 with six players selected from each team. There were some players who would certainly have made the team, were it not for injury. That list includes such notables as Cornfield’s Roque Cordero and Brooklyn’s Hsiao-lou Yeh.

League 1 Pitchers:

SP Bris Clark (NSH)
SP Robert Givens (NSH)
SP Billy Martinez (COR)
SP Ronaldo Mijangos (BRO)
SP Tyler Stivers (SR)
MR Gail Hernandez (NSH)
MR Rigo Hurtado (BRO)
MR Jesús Montufar (LUI)
CL Mike Conigliaro (NSH)
CL Rob Muncy (SR)
CL Joe Pendarvis (COR)
CL Ellis Sherling (LUI)

League 1 Fielders:

C Dacey Rager (NSH)
C Ted Pollet (BRO)
1B Pete Porter (LUI)
1B Scott Koch (DUN)
1B Paul Lyons (NSH)
2B John Edwards (COR)
3B Hooks Goetz (BRO)
SS Charles DiFranco (NSH)
SS Gary Cooper (SR)
LF Pat Greene (DUN)
LF Dee Fletcher (COR)
LF John Friddle (SR)
CF Kalvin Fricke (LUI)
CF Oscar Barrientes (SR)
RF Roberto Jerrano (LV)
RF Kid Detherage (BRO)

League 2 Pitchers:

SP Max Brown (STD)
SP Paul Pole (QUE)
SP William Rambo (QUE)
SP Justin Seymour (SJ)
SP Douglas Smiley (WSH)
SP Mario Torralbo (KW)
SP Markus Wright (PX)
MR Tim Fisher (RMD)
CL Jeffrey Hallman (VAN)
CL Walt O’connell (RMD)
CL Thornton Peters (KW)
CL Walt Suarez (STD)

League 2 Fielders:

C Matthew Loy (KW)
C Matty Byers (RMD)
1B Jason Walton (VAN)
1B Travis Araoz (STD)
2B Norberto Salguero (VAN)
2B Dick Moran (QUE)
2B Ted Rambo (SJ)
3B Héctor De Echevarría (RMD)
3B Hsiao-lou Yuan (SJ)
SS Chick Veras (RMD)
LF Tony Rodarte (RMD)
LF Javier Mejia (QUE)
LF Alonso Martucci (KW)
LF Shayne Kimpel (STD)
CF Mark Huff (STD)
RF Roberto Rentería (STD)

The Nashville Firecats and Stade Maples remained atop their respective divisions. The St. Rock Mudcats edged a game ahead of the Brooklyn Knights. Likewise, the Richmond Slam broke a tie with the St. James Crusaders to go up by one game.

A couple of notable altercations occurred in May. On May 20, Nashville’s Charles DiFranco and Dayton’s Cy Harper exchanged punches after a Harper pitch nailed DiFranco. A bench clearing brawl ensued, which drew ejections for both players. The league office suspended both players for 8 games each. Another alternation happened in the May 30 game between the Brooklyn Knights and the Luisville Beasts. In the fourth inning, Luisville’s George Rodriguez drilled Brooklyn’s leadoff hitter, Kid Detherage, with a pitch. That ignited a bench clearing brawl. Both players were ejected. After the game, the league commissioner took action and suspended Rodriguez and Detherage for 13 games each.

May 2011 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Hooks Goetz (Brooklyn Knights)
Pitcher of the Month: Ralph Kerfoot (Brooklyn Knights)
Rookie of the Month: Jesús Pacheco (Nashville Firecats)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Héctor De Echevarría (Richmond Slam)
Pitcher of the Month: Douglas Smiley (Washington Allies)
Rookie of the Month: Steven van der Goor (Quebeck Sky Chiefs)