Eau Claire, Wis. – The Express front office today announced the second round of verbal commitments to the 2014 roster in Baylor pitcher Daniel Castano and outfielder Darryn Sheppard. The two freshmen join three from San Diego State and bring the Express roster to five for the coming season.
Castano is a 6-foot-4-inch, 215-pound lefthander from Austin, Tex. The Lake Travis High School product was a four-year letterwinner and was the 66th ranked pitcher (11th ranked lefthander) in Texas by Perfect Game. He was named district MVP and team MVP in 2013 to go along with receiving All-Central Texas First Team honors. He threw 67.2 innings as a senior in 11 appearances, finishing with a 6-3 record and 1.03 earned run average.
Sheppard is a 6-foot-1-inch, 185-pound outfielder for the Bears. The Sugar Land, Tex. native was a 24th round draft pick by the Texas Rangers in the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of high school, but chose to attend school rather than sign a professional contract. Sheppard lettered all four years at Dulles High School and was named a 2013 Rawlings third-team All-American and also received Rawlings first-team All-Texas Region honors.
Baylor has just gotten their season underway, with seven games completed thus far. Sheppard has started all seven games in left field and Castano has appeared in three on the mound, including one start. Sheppard is off to a hot start with a .346 batting average, six runs batted in and a .469 on-base percentage. Castano has impressed also, throwing 6.1 innings and giving up only four hits and one earned run. The southpaw is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA, with his win coming out of the bullpen in Baylor’s season-opening win at Arizona State.
The Express begin their 10th season of play in the Northwoods League on Tuesday, May 27 versus the Lakeshore Chinooks. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM with gates opening at 5:30. Season tickets and voucher packs are on sale now. Single-game tickets will go on sale May 1. The full promotional schedule for 2014 will be announced on April 1.
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.