LA CROSSE, WI – Five former La Crosse Loggers heard their name called during the past two days when Major League Baseball conducted their annual First Year Players Draft. 2019 Logger outfield Levi Usher (Kirkwood CC/Louisville) was the first of the five to get the call when the Kansas City Royals selected him in the 10th round. He was followed by a foursome on Day #3 of the draft that included Graham Pauley (Duke), Tanner O’Tremba (Texas Tech/Arizona), Blake Klassen (Arizona/UC Santa Barbara) and Braylen Wimmer (South Carolina).
Usher spent the first half of the 2019 campaign with the Lumbermen following his freshman season at Kirkwood Community College. The left-handed hitting outfielder, who won a gold glove at Louisville this past spring, hit .259 with one home run and eight RBI’s for the Loggers in 2019 over 81 at-bats and 21 games played.
Pauley, O’Tremba, Klassen and Wimmer were all teammates on the 2020 Logger team that played a shortened season due to the Covid restrictions that were in place that summer. Pauley hit .184 over 38 at-bats that summer following his freshman season at Duke. O’Tremba came to La Crosse following a season at Texas Tech before he was set to transfer to Arizona. In the summer of 2020, the right-handed hitting outfielder hit .109 with five RBI’s over 64 at-bats. This past spring for Arizona, O’Tremba hit .351 with 11 home runs and 54 RBI’s. Blake Klassen came to the Loggers following his first season at Arizona before transferring to UC-Santa Barbara. In the summer of 2020, the left-handed hitting first baseman hit .270 with one home run and four RBI’s. This past spring with the Gauchos, Klassen hit .352 with 10 long balls and 27 RBI’s.
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The La Crosse Loggers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 28th 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, over 250 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. 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.