La Crosse, Wis. – The La Crosse Loggers front office announced today that they have secured a trio of left-handed pitchers for the upcoming 2017 season with the signings of Michael Plassmeyer and T.J. Sikkema from the University of Missouri and Orlando Razo from UC-Davis.
Michael Plassmeyer is off and running in his sophomore season at Mizzou, looking to build upon an impressive freshman campaign in 2016 that saw him go 4-7 with a 5.12 ERA over 58 innings in the rugged SEC. The 6-2, 200 pound left also struck out 42 batters while only walking nine. Plassmeyer was a standout at DeSmet High School in St. Louis, Mo. where he earned 2015 Central Region Honorable Mention honors and 2014 Underclass Honorable Mention honors by Perfect Game. Missouri is off to a 7-1 start this spring and Plassmeyer is responsible for two of those victories, having limited opponents to a .179 batting average while posting a 1.64 ERA over his first two starts.
Joining Plassmeyer will be fellow Tiger southpaw T.J. Sikkema, who is dominating thus far in his debut season at Missouri. The DeWitt, Iowa native currently leads Mizzou in innings pitched (12.1), strikeouts (19) and ERA (0.73) while limiting opponents to a .171 batting average over three appearances. The 6-0 lefty was a standout at Central DeWitt High School, playing for his dad (Shane Sikkema) where he was named to the All-State Super Team in both 2015 and 2016 while amassing 30 victories and 370 strikeouts during his high school career.
Much like Plassmeyer and Sikkema, red-shirt junior Orlando Razo is off to a very fast start in 2017 with the Aggies of UC-Davis as he was recently named the Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week. The San Mateo, Calif. native won for the second time in as many starts, allowing just one hit while striking out a school record 13 batters over 7 shutout innings in 9-4 win over Utah Valley. For the young season, Razo is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 13 innings of work and has struck out 16 batters while walking only three. This is Razo’s first action since 2015, having missed the entire 2016 season due to injury but the 5-11 lefty was a key cog in the Aggies bullpen during his first two years at UC-Davis. As a sophomore in 2015 he went 4-2 with a 3.27 ERA while striking out 29 batters in 41.1 innings of work and during his freshman campaign in 2014 he posted a team-best 1.34 ERA over 19 relief apperances.
14th Winter Baseball BBQ …
The Loggers will be hosting their 14th Winter Baseball BBQ this Thursday, March 2 at the AmericInn Hotel & Conference Center in La Crosse as they welcome in featured guest, former Brewer pitcher Jerry Augustine. Tickets are still available for their hot stove event with doors opening to the public at 6 p.m. and the BBQ program commencing at 7. Tickets are just $15 for adults and $5 for kids twelve and under and do include a ballpark-style meal and the program itself. Members of the La Crosse Loggers and UW-L baseball teams will be on hand and the La Crosse Area Baseball Hall of Fame committee will also induct their Class of 2017. Tickets can be purchased at the Loggers ticket office (1225 Caledonia St., La Crosse) or by calling 608-796-9553.
The La Crosse Loggers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 160 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.lacrosseloggers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Loggers as your favorite team.
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