Stage Set For First Annual Fall World Series Draft Tonight
11/17/2015 | Baseball
TUCSON, Ariz.--- The University of Arizona baseball team is set to hold its first annual Wild vs. Cats World Series draft, tonight at 8:30 pm MST inside the Arizona Stadium Club. The results of the draft will determine who will represent what team this weekend in the first annual Wild vs. Cats World Series.
The two sides will get an equal number of picks, while seniors Zach Gibbons and Tyler Crawford will make the picks and serve as the captains for team Wild and seniors and Nathan Bannister and Cody Ramer have been named captains for the Cats squad.
Team Wild has reason to be optimistic heading into draft day, as the team is led by two veterans who have certainly been around the block. Crawford knows a thing or two about winning a World Series, as he's the lone member remaining from Arizona's 2012 College World Series Championship team. Gibbons brings a great deal of experience to the club as well, making 50 starts for Arizona last year, while batting .287 from the dish, collecting 54 hits, 22 RBI, and scoring 26 runs.
“We're honored to represent team Wild in the first annual Wild vs. Cats Fall World Series,” said Crawford on behalf of the Wild organization. “We feel that we have a superior eye for evaluating talent and have been spending day and night with our analytics department (Arizona baseball assistant director of operations Michael Bradshaw) and fully expect to put a winning product on the field.”
The Cats will undoubtedly be a worthy opponent, as they're also hungry to claim to the first annual Wild vs. Cats Fall World Series title. Bannister is a more than worthy team captain, as he comes off a 2015 Arizona campaign, where he collected a team-best seven wins and struck out 59 batters in 83.2 innings pitched. Co-captain Ramer will also provide a nice balance for the Cats, as he'll serve as more of an offensive mind for the organization during the draft. The Simi Valley, Calif. native appeared in 27 games for UA last year, while making 12 starts.
“Banni and I are humbled to represent the Cats squad in the very first Wild vs. Cats Fall World Series,” Ramer said on behalf of the Cats. “This series won't be about the best players, it'll be about the best team, and that's what we are going to establish come draft time.”
Arizona assistant director of operations Michael Bradshaw will serve as the general manager for the Wild, while director of player development Jimmy Van Ostrand claims the honor of general manager for the Cats.
“All I know is I've worked my entire life to get to this day and I know the right team will draft me,” 2015 All-Pac-12 First Team member Bobby Dalbec said. “I'm just grateful and hope to find myself on a squad by the end of the night.”
Dalbec and the rest of the Wildcats will find out which team they'll land on tonight at 8:30 pm MST. For live coverage of the 2015 Wild vs. Cats Fall World Series Draft follow @ArizonaBaseball on Twitter and visit ArizonaWildcats.com
Game one of the series will be this Friday at 2:30 pm MST at Hi Corbett Field. The full series schedule is listed below.
Wild vs. Cats Fall World Series Schedule
Game 1: Thursday, Nov. 19, 2:30 pm MST | Hi Corbett Field
Game 2: Friday, Nov. 20, 5:00 pm MST | Hi Corbett Field
Game 3: Sunday, Nov. 22, 1:00 pm MST | Hi Corbett Field.
Follow the Cats!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Arizona athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/ArizonaAthletics), Twitter (@AZATHLETICS), Instagram (azathletics) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/ArizonaAthletics). In addition, the baseball team has established its own official Facebook (Facebook.com/ArizonaBaseball), Twitter (@ArizonaBaseball), and Instagram (ArizonaBaseball) accounts.
