Huskies catcher starting professional career
Duluth, Minn — Duluth Huskies Catcher James Free II will begin his professional baseball career shortly as the University of the Pacific product signed a free agent contract yesterday with the Cincinnati Reds organization.
Free II played three years for the Tigers as he slashed an impressive .320/.404/.543. He had 180 career hits; 34 of which were doubles and logged 29 home runs while earning triple digit RBI totals with 121 to his name.
The switch hitter displayed great presence at the plate during his ten games as a Husky, as he showed the ability to hit corner to corner and provided pop in the batting order for Manager Marcus Pointer; often being slotted as the 3, 4, or 5-hole hitter. He also showed a good eye in both sides of the box as he frequently worked deep counts against opposing pitchers while being an excellent receiver behind the dish.
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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 26th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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, more than 200 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.duluthhuskies.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Huskies as your favorite team.
