Silva and Kendall bring speed, versatility to 2018 roster
La Crosse, Wis. – The La Crosse Loggers Baseball Club announced Monday that two position players from the University of California-Los Angeles will be joining its roster for the 2018 season. Outfielder Jarron Silva and infielder Kevin Kendall will continue the tradition of UCLA Bruins in La Crosse for the upcoming summer.
Both Silva and Kendall are California natives, with Silva out of Stockton and Kendall hailing from La Mirada. Silva is a 5-foot-10 redshirt-freshman that appeared in seven games for the Bruins last spring before season-ending injury. He recorded five at-bats early in the season and collected his first career hit at Texas on March 12. As a senior at St. Mary’s High School, Silva hit .370 with 34 runs and 25 RBIs, earning him 2016 Rawlings-Perfect Game Honorable Mention All-American and California All-Region First Team recognition. Silva was also a member of the St. Mary’s clubs that reached the championship game of the CIF Sac Joaquin Division I playoffs in 2014 and 2015. Silva offers good speed and hitting ability as a left-handed outfielder for the Bruins.
Kevin Kendall is a left-handed hitting freshman that attended La Mirada High School in southern California. In his 2017 senior season, Kendall was named Whittier Daily News Baseball Player of the Year after finishing with a .416 batting average, 20 runs scored and 18 stolen bases. As a junior, he led the team to a league title as he hit .453 with 28 runs and 30 RBIs while only striking out five times in 31 games. Kendall’s phenomenal junior season earned him 2016 First Team All-CIF SS Division II recognition. Rawlings-Perfect Game selected Kendall to the 2017 Honorable Mention All-American Team and California All-Region First Team. Kendall shows great versatility and arm strength as a middle infielder that can also play strong defense at third base, and he enters the UCLA program ranked as the number 11 shortstop in the state of California for the class of 2017.
Silva and Kendall join a UCLA roster very familiar with Loggers Baseball, as it includes 2016 Loggers Gavin Johns and Jack Ralston, as well as Jake Hirabayashi and Jeremy Ydens from the 2017 club. The La Crosse Loggers will begin their 2018 season on the road against the Waterloo Bucks on Tuesday, May 29. The updated Loggers roster and schedule are available online at www.lacrosseloggers.com!
The La Crosse Loggers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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 185 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). 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.