'ALASKA 50 TOUR'
FIRST SIX
ROSTER SPOTS FOR MIDNIGHT SUN GOLDPANNERS ANNOUNCED
The Midnight
Sun Goldpanners of Fairbanks today named the first six roster
members for the team's three-week barnstorming odyssey across Canada
and the mountain west into America's heartland, concluding at
Wichita, KS.
The first
six roster members include a catcher, four pitchers, and a center
fielder. Named by Manager Jim Dietz are pitchers Carey Schwartz (Stanford), Patrick McClain (Cal-State
Monterey Bay), Tom Hoenshell of Cypress College and Brett Williams
of Orange Coast College. The catcher is Kevin Wooldridge
of South Mountain College in Phoenix, AZ, and the center fielder is
Mykal Stokes, who like Williams is from Orange Coast.
The team -
which is a travelling split squad of the Alaska Goldpanners of
Fairbanks, the most successful amateur team in the history of
baseball - will spend the entire month of July touring the
Northwestern United States and Canada, playing at several different
stops along the way. The team will be coached by longtime
Goldpanners field general Jim Dietz and assisted by Steve Dietz and
Randy Barber.
Dietz and
his assistants will take the team on a trip that includes two stops
in Canada -- one to take part in the 47th Kamloops International
Baseball Tournament -- and through 10 states. The trip
concludes on August 1 when the Midnight Sun team meets the Liberal
BeeJays of Kansas in the ceremonial opening game of the 75th
National Baseball Congress World Series.
Also
traveling with the team will be General Manager Don Dennis, his wife
Ann and broadcaster Aaron Torres along with Touching the Game:
Alaska filmmaker Anthony Keel.
The Midnight Sun Goldpanners
will meet on July 6 in Longview, WA at Lower Columbia College and
will first participate in live game action in the Kamloops
Tournament July 9-12.
After that, the Midnight Sun
Goldpanners travel through several western states and Canada,
culminating with the National Baseball Congress Tournament in
Wichita, KS, starting August 1. At that point, the Midnight Sun
Goldpanners will pass the torch to the Alaska Goldpanners of
Fairbanks, who will arrive in Wichita at the conclusion of their
Alaskan League season.
Here is the full Midnight
Sun Goldpanners Barnstorming Schedule:
July 9-12: Kamloops
International Tournament (Kamloops, British Columbia)
July 13-15: Kelowna Falcons
(Kelowna, British Columbia)
July 16: Spokane River Hawks
(Coeur d’Alene, Idaho)
July 17: Belgrade Bandits
(Belgrade, Montana)
July 18: Sturgis, South
Dakota
July 20: Dodge City A’s
(Dodge City, Kansas)
July 21-24: Beatrice Bruins
& Clarinda (IA) A’s (Beatrice, Kansas)
July 25-26: Junction City
Generals (Junction City, Kansas)
July 27: Hays Larks (Hays,
Kansas)
July 28: Liberal Beejays
(Liberal, Kansas)
July 29: El
Dorado Broncos (El Dorado, Kansas)
July 30: Derby Twins (Derby,
Kansas)
August 1-15: National
Baseball Congress (Wichita, Kansas)
June 25, 2009
