Fall league showcases the top prospects in Minor League Baseball

Rochester, Minn. – Starting next week, thirty-four former Northwoods League players will be competing over the next two months in Arizona against the top players in Minor League Baseball. Nearly 60 percent of AFL players will at some point make a Major League roster. Last season twenty-eight former NWL players participated and eight of those players played in MLB during the 2018 season.

There are six teams in the Arizona Fall League: Scottsdale Scorpions, Mesa Solar Sox, Salt River Rafters, Glendale Desert Dogs, Peoria Javelinas and the Surprise Saguaros. The names of the teams were picked by Major League Baseball to reflect the Southwestern desert traditions in the state.

The teams are broken into two divisions, East and West and each Major League Baseball team sends six top prospects to the Arizona Fall League. Most of the players are Double-A and Triple-A Minor League players. Each team can choose to send one player considered a Class A player.

The former Northwoods League players and their AFL team are as follows:

Glendale Desert Dogs

Tanner Banks     Willmar ’11-‘12

Jay Flaa               St. Cloud ‘13

Joran Foley         Waterloo ‘12

Laz Rivera           Battle Creek ‘14

Steven Sensley    Kenosha ’14-‘15

Steve Wilkerson   La Crosse ‘11

Connor Marabell   Madison ‘14

Peoria Javelinas

Buddy Reed          Kenosha ‘14

Brandon Lawson    La Crosse ‘15

Phoenix Sanders   Willmar ‘14

Ryan Boldt           Rochester ‘14

Joe McCarthy       Madison ‘13

Salt River Rafters

Adam Bray          Waterloo ‘14

Griffin Jax           Eau Claire ‘15

Hector Lujan       Wis. Rapids ‘14

Tyler Mark          Mankato ‘14

Jordan Mills         Madison ‘13

Dom Miroglio       Duluth ’14-‘15

Daulton Varsho    Eau Claire ’15-‘16

Drew Ellis            Rochester ‘16

Jake Noll             Lakeshore ‘14

Luke Raley          Lakeshore ‘15

Mesa Solar Sox

John Schreiber       Kalamazoo ‘14

Josh Taylor            St. Cloud ‘14

Nico Hoerner         Madison ‘16

Scottsdale Scorpions

Matt Blackham       Thunder Bay ‘13

Austin Orewiler       Wisconsin ’13-‘14

Mark Kolozsvary      Lakeshore ‘15

Peter Alonso          Madison ‘14

Austin Listi       Alexandria ‘13/Eau Claire ‘15

Surprise Saguaros

Zach Jackson           Wis. Rapids ‘14

Evan Kruczynski       Lakeshore ‘14

Will Craig                St. Cloud ‘14

Charles Leblanc       Kalamazoo ‘15

More information on the Arizona Fall League can be found here: Arizona Fall League

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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 25-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 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 (MIL). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.