Eau Claire, Wis. – The Express front office today announced the first roster commitments for their 10th Anniversary 2014 season. All three come from San Diego State, a familiar program for Field Manager Dale Varsho. Freshmen Orlando Meza and Brett Seeburger are the first two additions to the Express pitching staff. Joining them is sophomore infielder Ty France.
Meza is a 6-foot-1-inch, 190 pound pitcher for the Aztecs. The Temecula, Calif. native was a three-year letter winner at Great Oak High School and a two-time All-Southwestern League selection. The right-hander served as a team captain in his senior year, finishing with a record of 8-3 to go along with a 1.82 earned run average. Meza was named to the 2013 Rawlings/Perfect Game California Region All High School Senior Second Team and will pitch out of the Aztec bullpen this spring.
Seeburger is a left-hander who will likely work out of the San Diego State bullpen as a freshman. The 6-foot-1-inch, 220-pound southpaw is originally from Oceanside, Calif. and attended Vista High School. He was named to the All-Avocado League First Team twice and was the league’s Pitcher of the Year his last two seasons. Seeburger tallied nine wins as a senior along with a 1.40 ERA. Over 80 innings pitched, he struck out 93 batters while only walking 11. His junior season was even better as he finished with a 10-1 record, 0.64 ERA and 103 strikeouts in 85.2 innings pitched. These stellar numbers earned him an All-State honoree selection both years.
France begins his second season with the Aztecs after starting every game at third base as a freshman. He was a second-team Freshman All-America selection by Baseball America after batting .280 with ten doubles, three home runs and 28 runs batted in. France walked 23 times and was hit by pitches 12 times, leading to a solid .386 on-base percentage. He continued his solid play in the postseason, setting a Mountain West Tournament record with 16 hits on the way to being named tournament MVP. France will continue his role as starting third baseman as a sophomore in 2014.
The Aztecs just began their season on Friday and finished their first series of the season 2-1. Seeburger earned the win in Sunday’s contest after coming out of the bullpen and pitching 7.2 innings. He gave up four runs on seven hits, struck out four and didn’t walk a batter. France started all three games at third base and collected hits in each game. He collected four hits in 11 at-bats, including two doubles, in the series. Meza did not pitch over the weekend.
The Eau Claire Express are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live and free of charge via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visit www.eauclaireexpress.com.
2014 Rosterhttp://northwoodsleague.com/eau-claire-express/roster/