Six Blue Sox Selected to 2011 Western Division All-Star Team

By Joshua Koch
Holyoke Blue Sox Media Director

Holyoke, MA- The Holyoke Blue Sox will be well represented at this years All-Star Game as six Blue Sox players got the nod to represent the Western Division in the 2011 NECBL All-Star Game in Lynn, Massachusetts, the home of the North Shore Navigators.
Among the six players that got chosen for the game there are three starters in Ronnie Freeman, Trey Mancini and Paul McConkey.

Ronnie Freeman Catcher Kennesaw State Sophomore
Freeman will start the game behind the plate for the Western Division and he has been a weapon in the batter’s box as well as the catcher out of Kennesaw State is batting .347 on the season with seven doubles, four home runs and has driven in 15 runs this season as well.

Trey Mancini 1B Notre Dame University Freshman
Mancini, who will start the game for the Western Division at first base, enters the game leading a couple offensive categories for the Blue Sox including home runs and RBIs. The first baseman out of Notre Dame University is batting .324 on the season with seven home runs and a league leading 32 RBIs, and Mancini is on track to break the NECBL RBI record which is 42 and was set last season. Mancini has earned the NECBL Player of the Week award once this season and his biggest game for him came on July 4th where he went 3-for-4 hit two home runs and a double driving in six of the Blue Sox’s nine runs in that game.

Paul McConkey 2B University of Kentucky Freshman McConkey, out of the University of Kentucky, is the final starter for Holyoke and will take the field at second base, where he has played a couple of times this season already. McConkey is a utility player for the Blue Sox having played all across the infield and outfield while batting .305 driving in 10 runs and has drawn eight walks as well.

Along with the starters Holyoke got three players selected to the team as well incluuding Tom Murphy, Alex Sherrod and Ben Mount.

Tom Murphy Catcher University of Buffalo Sophomore
Murphy,out of the University o Buffalo, got the nod as he is just having a fantastic summer thus far as he was selected to Team NECBL for the game at Fenway earlier this season where Murphy hit the lone home run of the game against Team USA, which soared into the Green Monster. Followig his impressive performance at Fenway Park he was signed by Team USA for their series against Team Japan.
Since returning to the Blue Sox lineup Murphy has lit it up hitting five home runs, and on the season he is batting .299 and is second on the team with 18 RBIs just behind Mancini.

Alex Sherrod OF USC Junior
Another player that has made an impact on the Blue Sox, but in the outfield, has been Sherrod out of USC. In just 19 games played he is batting .338 having 10 RBIs so far and is in a three-way tie for the team lead in doubles with eight. Sherrod is tied with fellow All-Stars Mancini and Murphy.

Ben Mount Pitcher USC Junior
The final All-Star that will take the field for the Western Division in a Blue Sox uniform is Ben Mount, who is a teammate of Sherrod at USC.
Mount is a starting pitcher for Holyoke and has been one of Blue Sox’s aces so far as he is a perfect 4-0 with a 1.41 ERA, and in 32 innings pitched he has allowed only five runs and struck out a team-high 34 batters. Opposing hitters have only been able to muster up a .193 batting average against Mount this season.