6/13/2006 – Valley Baseball League News

Valley Baseball League News Southern Division Nick Utley (Madisonville, Ky.) from Lee University was named the Southern Division Player of the Week for the opening week of the season. The junior shortstop hit .303 over eight games to lead the Covington Lumberjacks to a 6-2 start and tied for the lead in the division. Utley leads the league by a wide margin with 13 RBIs and also ranks first with a .667 slugging percentage and shares the lead with four doubles. In addition, his 22 total bases rank second and his two home runs are tied for third in the league. He has also scored six times, tripled, walked four times, and is 3-for-3 on stolen base opportunities. Covington pitcher Corey Young (Shrewsbury, N.J.) earned Southern Division Pitcher of the Week honors for the first week. The freshman southpaw from Seton Hall was one of three pitchers to go 2-0 in the opening week. He allowed no runs on nine hits in 13 innings over two starts. He tied for second in the league with 15 strikeouts and held opponents to a .188 batting average on six singles and three doubles. He had two of the Lumberjacks’ six wins en route to a 6-2 start for the team for the season. Northern Division Tusculum’s Brandon Dickson (Marburg, Ala.) garnered Northern Division Pitcher of the Week honors after recording five saves as New Market jumped out to a 7-2 record, the best in the league, to start the season. After an opening day loss, Dickson saved five wins over the next six games, allowing no runs and just two hits in five and two-thirds innings. The senior has struck out eight and limited opponents to a .100 batting average. Last season, the league leader for the entire year had 11 saves and just six pitchers reached five for the season. Luray Wranglers outfielder Jamie McOwen (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) ended the first week of the season on a six-game hitting streak to earn Northern Division Player of the Week honors. The sophomore Florida International product hit .378 with 14 hits, two doubles, seven RBIs, six runs, four steals, and a .429 on-base percentage. His 14 hits ranked second in the league for the week.