The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
One former Longhorn claims minor league crown, three still hunting
09.12.2006 | Baseball
Nine former Longhorns began a hunt for minor league titles in the beginning of September. One aided his team claim a crown and three others are still chasing their respective titles. Kip Harkrider assisted the Fort Worth Cats in toppling the St. Paul Saints in five games to win the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball title. Gerrit Simpson has helped pilot the Huntsville Stars to the Class AA Southern League Championship Series. Buck Cody and David Maroul are in the Class A South Atlantic League (SAL) Championship Series as members of the Augusta GreenJackets.
Harkrider helped the Cats win the title by batting .391 (9-for-23) with three doubles in the best-of-five championship series, including going 9-for-16 (.563) in the first three games. In best-of-five divisional series win over the Shreveport Sports, he batted 11-for-23 (.478) with four doubles, four runs and four RBI. In 10 playoff games he was 20-of-46 (.435) with seven doubles. During the regular season, Harkrider led the Cats with a .317 batting average. He ranked third on the squad with 51 runs and added 14 doubles, two home runs, one triple and 31 RBI in 82 games.
Simpson, playing for the Stars, an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, begins a best-of-five series against the Montgomery Biscuits on Tuesday evening. He made one pitching appearance in a three-game Southern League Southern Divisional Series sweep over the Chattanooga Lookouts, pitching one inning of two-hit ball. During the regular season, Simpson appeared in 51 games for Huntsville, including 50 relief appearances. He logged a 3-3 record with a 2.61 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 76.0 innings.
Buck Cody and David Maroul, both members of the GreenJackets, an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, find themselves down 1-0 to the Lakewood BlueClaws in the best-of-five South Atlantic League Championship Series that began Monday. August logged a two-game sweep of the Rome Braves in the best-of-three SAL Divisional Series. In the two games against Rome, Maroul went 2-of-6 with one double and one run scored. Cody did not make appearance in the series. During the regular-season, Cody owned a 2-0 record and a 4.19 ERA in 23 relief appearances. Maroul ranked third on the team with 11 home runs in the regular season and he amassed 67 RBI in 106 games.
