GBL's (First) Players of the Week
The Golden Baseball League has awarded its first players of the week for the 2007 season. Who's shocked they're both members of the (10-1 and first-place) Yuma Scorpions? More on that below, but a heads up for those wrapped up in Yuma's rocket start to the season: A five-game series this weekend against the Orange County Flyers (7-5), who have proven to be a respectable group at the very least, should provide a nice little test for Yuma and its spry offense.
From the GBL home office in Walnut Creek:
OF Maikel Jova of the Yuma Scorpions was selected as the Spalding Player of the Week during the first week of the 2007 GBL season. The Cuban outfielder, who played with the Toronto Blue Jays AAA farm team in Syracuse last season, destroyed GBL pitchers as he led the league with a .468 batting average as he racked up a league leading 22 hits, was second in runs scored, and in the top five in most offensive categories. He hit safely in nine of his team's eleven games and collected 4 hits in three of those contests.
RHP Steve Soja of the Yuma Scorpions took home the Spalding Pitcher of the Week award during the first week. The 26 year old righty, out of Coastal Carolina College, is in his fifth year of pro baseball after spending the last four seasons in the independent Frontier League. He was one of four GBL pitchers to post a record of 2-0 during the first week, but his league-leading E.R.A. of 0.64 and his 10 strikeouts and only a single walk in 14 innings pitched earns him the award.