Revere Named Midwest League MVP and Top Prospect

Beloit Snappers Press Release

Ben Revere has definitely received his fair share of awards this season and the speedy outfielder picked up two more honors on Tuesday. Revere was named by the 14 managers of the Midwest League as Most Valuable Player and as Prospect of the Year. Ben was also tabbed a starter on the MWL’s Postseason All-Star Team.

In last month’s issue of Baseball America, Ben was also named by the MWL Managers as best in the league in four different categories. The four categories include:

- Best Batting Prospect
- Best Strike Zone Judgment
- Fastest Baserunner
- Most Exciting Player

Revere also received honors earlier this year as Co-Topps Midwest League Player of the Month for the month of May along with Kane County’s Craig Italiano. Revere picked up the honors after hitting a league-best .433 with 11 doubles, five triples, one home run, 18 RBIs and 14 steals during that time span.

Revere currently leads the league in batting average (.379) and on-base percentage (.433), while also tied for second in stolen bases (44) and third in slugging percentage (.497). Ben also leads the Snappers in average, hits (129), doubles (17), triples (10), stolen bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

Ben was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (28th overall) of the 2007 First-Year Player draft. He spent the 2007 season as a member of the GCL Twins, where he hit .325 with 10 triples, 46 runs and 21 stolen bases.



Brian Kirwan will rejoin the Snappers tonight after spending the last few months on the disabled list with a right shoulder/elbow injury. Kirwan will be in uniform in time for tonight’s game, as the Snappers take on the Kane County Cougars in game two of a four-game set at 7:00pm.

Prior to his injury, Brian was 4-4 with a 5.06 ERA in 13 appearances. Kirwan started 12 of those games totaling 64 innings and 30 strikeouts. The right-hander has allowed 77 hits and 36 earned runs during his time as a Snapper this year.

Brian was drafted by the Twins’ in the 11th round of the 2005 First-Year Player draft. He went 2-8 for the Snappers last year with a 5.30 ERA in 18 starts with 67 strikeouts and 37 walks. Kirwan is the lone returning starting pitcher from last year’s Western Division Championship club.

The move, effective today, puts Beloit’s active roster back at 24, one below the MWL maximum.

Beloit offense just not poppin'; Snappers blanked by Kernels

Cedar Rapids 4 at Beloit 0

W: E. Jimenez (2-2, 3.48); L: B. Kirwan (4-4, 5.17)
HR: None.

Brian Kirwan found out the hard way that a pitcher can't win games by himself. The Beloit Snappers managed only five hits in support of their starter, no runs, as they were blanked by the Cedar Rapid Kernels, 4-0.

Andrew Romaine would single with one out on the board in the first inning, and Hector Estrella would follow him onto the bags with a single of his own. Romaine then stole 3rd, and came home when catcher Greg Yersich threw past 3rd baseman Chris Cates.

Clay Fuller would single in the top of the 3rd, and Romaine would triple him in for the 2nd Kernel run.

With one out on the board in the top of the 4th, Gordon Gronkowski reached on a throwing error by Cates. He'd go to 2nd on the play when the ball bounced into the dug out. Brossman took a walk, before Julio Perez singled to load the bags. Tyler Johnson would be called out on strikes before C.J. Broussoud walked to force in Gronkowski.

Kirwan would allow the 3 runs, 2 earned on six hits and a pair of walks while fanning 2 in 4.0 innings.

Charles Nolte would take over the mound in the sixth, and in the 7th allowed a ground ball single to Chris Parmelee. Broussoud's ground out moved Johnson to 2nd, and he'd then advance to 3rd on a balk. A ground ball single to Fuller scored plated Johnson for the final Beloit marker.

Mark Dolenc had a walk to go with his single, and Jair Fernandez had a double on his hit. Ben Revere, Garrett Olson, Parmelee were the one hit wonders in the contest.

With the loss, the Snappers are elminated from playoff contention for the first half of 2008. They will try again after their All-star break.

The series concludes tonight with a 7:00 PM start.

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DSL Twins 3 at DSL Diamondbacks/Reds 5

W: M. Pena (1-0, 2.70); L: C. Ciurcina (0-1, 6.48); SV: E. Santana (2)
HR: DSL TWI: J. Perez (3).

The DSL Twins could not bounce back from an early 4-2 DSL Diamondbacks/Reds lead, with the DSL Twins' Cesar Ciurcina giving up 5 runs, 4 earned, on 7 hits and 1 walk while fanning 7 over 3.1 innings.

Yorby Martinez would get on base with a double in the top of the 2nd, and score on a pair of wild pitches by Miguel Pena. Jair Perez would homer for the DSL Twins in the 3rd.

The Twins were stuck playing catch up however, going down3-2 early and trying to come up with the final 2 after the bottom of the fourth.

Juan Blanco would single in the 9th, then move to 2nd on Xavier Gonzalez's walk. A fielding error by Edwin Acevedo let Willy Gil reach and Juan Blanco to score.

The DSL Twins host the DSL Cubs1 on Thursday for a 10:30 AM (Dominican Time) game.

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Snappers bat past Kane County

Beloit 8 at Kane County 4

W: B. Kirwan (4-3, 5.22); L: S. Deal (3-2, 3.53); SV: S. Steedley (7)
HR: BEL: C. Parmelee (11), S. Singleton (4). KCC: C. Brown (9), G. Dowling (5).

The Beloit Snappers overcame an early deficit and batted their way to victory as they doubled up the Kane County Cougars, 8-4.

Ben Revere and Chris Cates hit back to back singles to start out in the top of the 1st inning. Garrett Olson would ground into a double play, but Revere still crossed the plate to put Beloit on the board.

Adam Klein bunted his way onto base for Kane County. Following a pop out by Matt Ray, Greg Dowling took Snappers starter Brian Kirwan deep, sending a ball over the right field wall to put the Cougars on top. Larry Cobb would be called out on strikes, but Justin Frash was issued a walk. Corey Brown then launched a ball over the center field wall to make it 4-1 Cougars.

Steve Singleton decided to play launch-a-ball as well, putting a Scott Deal pitch over the right field wall to cut the Snappers lead in half.

With one out on the board, Ozzie Lewis' ground ball to center got him on base while Singleton and Jair Fernandez drew walks. Danny Lehmann would pop out before a Ramon Santana line drive brought in Lewis and Singleton to tie up the game.

Cates doubled in the top of the 5th, then moved to 3rd on a passed ball by Jonathan Johnston. Olson walked and Parmelee said goodbye to his 3rd ball in two days, putting his 11th home run over the left field wall. He would also say goodbye to Deal, who was dealt off the mound in favor of Charles Kerfoot.

Kirwan would give up 4 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5 over six innings before Charles Nolte came in for the next 2.2 innings.

In the top of the 7th, Parmelee would walk, and come home on an Ozzie Lewis double to finish off the scoring for the Snappers.

5'3" Cates was 3-for-5 at the plate with a run, Lewis was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Parmelee was the hero for the second straight game, going 1-for-3 with a walk, 2 runs and 3 RBIs. Singleton was 1-for-3 with 2 runs, 1 walk and 1 RBI, while Santana was 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

Kane County's Scott Hodsdon (3-4, 4.38) will face Snapper Santos Arias (2-2, 2.59) Saturday for game 3 of the series, with a 6:00 central time start.

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BDN - Cates & Van Mil

Cates and Van Mil on ESPN: Chris Cates and Loek Van Mil have been making quite a splash in the national spotlight recently. The two have been in local publications around the Beloit area, www.mlnsportszone.com and even appeared in the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated. Now the duo is gearing up for their biggest coverage yet.

ESPN's popular morning show "First Take" will be in Belot to talk with Cates and Van Mil this Monday morning. ESPN First Take is on the air from 9:00am to 11:00am central time and then again from 11:00am to 1:00pm central on ESPN2.

Cates, at 5'3" is the smallest and Van Mil, at 7'1" the tallest professional baseball players in the country. While it's nice that the duo is getting coverage, I'd rather it would be for their baseball prowess than because of their size.

DSL Twins 7 at DSL Orioles 3

W: R. Acosta (1-0, 0.00); L: J. Nunez (0-1, 36.00)
HR: None.

The DSL Twins staged a late inning rally to defeat the DSL Orioles, 7-3.

The Twins got on the board first with Willy Gil taking a walk in the top of the 1st, then moving to 2nd on a wild pitch. He would advance to 3rd on a balk, and come home on Jairo Perez's sac-fly.

However, the Orioles answered back in the bottom of the inning. A fielding error by Yorby Martinez at second base allowed Jaynnertt Melenciano to reach. Gil would make an error that allowed Nivar to reach and Melenciano to score.

Ramon Acosta would allow 3 runs over 7 innings on 5 hits, but none of them would be earned. An error by Felix Caro at 3rd would lead to two more Orioles runs in the fifth inning.

Manuel Soliman drew a walk off Julio Nunez in the top of the 7th and Oswaldo Arcia walked after him. Jairo Rodriguez reached on a failed force attempt that loaded the bags. Cairo then singled to score Soliman. Carlos Vasquez hit into a double play that scored Arcia to tie up the game.

Martize would single in the top of the 8th, and Perez would get hit by a pitch. Yancarlo Franco singled to load the bags. Leonaldo Abad would see Soliman triple off him to clean off the bases. Soliman would then come home on Arcia's follow up single to finish off the scoring.

The DSL Twins host the DSL White Sox on Saturday for a 10:30 AM (local time) game.

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Bees blasts snap Snappers streak

Burlington 12 at Beloit 8

W: M. Mitchell (2-4, 4.17); L: B. Kirwan (3-3, 5.13); SV: J. Augustine (3)
HR: BUR: M. Moustakas (6), A. Ortiz (2), K. Martin (1).

One of the discussions we had over at Extended Spring Training Monday had to do with the Beloit Snappers. While some of the pitchers - most notably Danny Berlind - have turned a corner after their slow start earlier this season, others - most notably Brian Kirwan - have not.

Kirwan would give up 7 runs, 6 earned, on 8 hits and 3 walks over 4 innings against the Burlington Bees, picking up his 3rd loss of the season.

Beloit opened up the scoring in the bottom of the 1st with Joe Benson and Garrett Olson hitting back-to-back doubles to put Benson across the plate.

The Bees were quick to answer back. Kyle Martin took a walk with 2-outs in the top of the 2nd, then stole 2nd base. Alwin Perez's fly ball single plated him to tie up the game. Kirwan would allow runners at the corners before he got Todd Balduf to ground out to retire the side.

Burlington was far from finished however, with Adrian Ortiz doubling in the 3rd. David Lough's ground out moved him to third base, and a passed ball by Jair Fernandez brought in Ortiz. A fielding error by Ramon Santana allowed Moustakas to reach, and Jason Taylor singled to follow him onto the bags. Jamar Walton singled to drive in Moustakas, making it 3-1 Bees.

Antonio Jimenez opened up the 4th inning by doubling off Kirwan. Balduf and Ortiz hit back to back singles to load the bags. Moustakas would then go yard for his sixth home run of the season, a grand slam to give the Bees a commanding six run lead.

That would finish off Kirwan, but not the Bees. Matt Williams took over at the Top of the 5th and allowed a single to Martin before putting a pair of outs on the board, Then he walked Balduf before giving up a yarder to Ortiz, his second of the season, that went over the right field fence. Williams was another pitcher that was a recent topic of conversation around the Lee County Sportsplex.

Fernandez and Santana singled in the bottom of the inning 5th, and came home on a Ben Revere double to start the Snappers rally. Benson would sacrifice in Santana to make the score 10-3 Bees.

Chris Parmelee would greet incoming pitcher Joe Augustine with a double. One out later, Steve Singleton's ground ball single drove in Parms. Fernandez would also put a ball on the ground, moving Sing to 2nd. Santana would fly out and Chris Cates would walk to load the bags. Revere would reach on a force attempt that brought in 2 more runs for the Snappers, making it 10-6 Bees.

Parmelee would walk in the 7th and Marc Dolenec, pinch hitting for Lewis, would double to plate Parms.

Balduf took a walk off Loek Van Mil in the top of the 8th, and Ortiz followed him onto the bags with a single. Lough's sac-bunt moved the pair and a wild pitch by Van Mil allowed Balduf to score. The Dutchman would then hit Jason Taylor with a pitch before being pulled in favor of Australian Brad Tippett, who would get Walton to fly out to end the inning.

Santana singled for Beloit in the bottom of the 8th. Following a line out to Chris Cates and a fly out to Revere, Santana would steal 2nd base. Joe Benson then doubled to bring in Santana, but the score was now 11-8 Bees.

Martin iced the cake for Burlington with his first home run of the season over the left field wall.

Fernandez and Santana both finished up 3-for-5 with 2 runs each., Revere and Singleton were 2-for-5, Sing with a run and an RBI; Revere with just an RBI. Benson was 2-for-4 with a run and 2 runs scored.

Having had their fill of stinging insects, the Snappers will take Tuesday off and head over to Alliant Energy Field in Clinton to visit the Lumber Kings for a 7:00 PM contest on Wednesday.

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Snappers clubbed by Lumber Kings

Beloit 2 at Clinton 7

W: B. Beavan (3-1, 3.60); L: B. Kirwan (3-2, 4.44)
HR: BEL: C. Parmelee (8). CLI: J. Greene (6).

The Beloit Snappers got 2 runs in the 7th inning, narrowly avoiding a shut out by the Clinton Lumber Kings. Brian Kirwan would suffer the loss, allowing 6 run, earned on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 over 4.2 innings.

The bottom of the 4th inning got ugly when Ian Gac doubled out to right and Jonathan Greene went yard over the center field wall for the first two runs in the game. Mitchell Moreland followed that up with a double and Cristian Santana would be hit by a Kirwan pitch. A throwing error by Steve Singleton resulted in Jake Kaase reaching which loaded up the bags. Justin Pickett singled to bring in Moreland, before Kirwan would get Engel Beltre and Renny Osuna to strike out to end the inning.

The bottom of the 5th was nearly identical, with Gac doubling and Greene tripling him in. A wild pitch by Kirwan brought in Greene. Moreland would fly out and Miguel Alfonzo would be walked before Blair Erickson was brought in to replace Kirwan. He'd walk Kaase, then give up a double to Pickett that plated Alfanzo to make it 6-0 Clinton.

Chris Cates singled in the top of the 7th. Following a ground out to Garrett Olson, Chris Parmelee sent his eight ball of the season over the fence for the only two Snappers runs.

Steve Hirschfield would take over the mound in the bottom of the 7th. Gac singled out to left. After Greene struck out swinging, Moreland doubled to bring in Gac, making the final score 7-2 Lumber Kings.

None of the Snappers had multi-hit games. Ben Revere was 1-for-4 to in the contest; Singleton and Gerg Yersich were 1-for-3 with none of these players figuring into the scoring.

While Parmelee leads the team in home runs and runs batted in, his .233 batting average remains a concern.

The series concludes on Thursday, with Santos Arias (1-1, 3.32) handling the pitching chores for the Snappers.

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L-Kings
Tuesday:
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Herald

Venezuelan Summer League played started on Monday, May 19th. The Twins are not participating in the league this year. The Dominican Summer League should be starting up around the beginning of June.

Beloit's five runs win fifth straight

Beloit 5 at Burlington 4

W: B. Kirwan (3-1, 3.79); L: M. Mitchell (0-3, 3.96); SV: S. Hirschfeld (1)
HR: BUR: S. Hayes (1).

Brian Kirwan picked up his third win of the season as the Beloit Snappers continued to win over the Burlington Bees, 5-4.

Ben Revere tripled for the Snappers to start out the game, then came home on a Chris Cates sac fly to give Beloit an early lead. They would extended it in the second when Steve Singleton's line drive got him on base. One out later, a walk to Greg Yersich moved him to second. A passed ball by Bees catcher Todd Balduf moved them to 3rd and a Ramon Santana walk loaded the bags. Revere would reach on a fielding error by Burlington shortstop Mike Moustakas which also brought Singleton across the plate.

The Bees however tied it up in the bottom of the 3rd. Back-to-back doubles by Balduf and David Lough were negated when Balduf was taken out at home. Wilson Tucker would single however before Moustakas doubled, bringing in the pair for two runs.

Beloit would take the runs back in the top of the 5th. Cates singled his way onto base then moved over on Garrett Olson's sac-bunt. Chris Parmelee walked, but Mark Dolenc ground into a force out that nabbed him at at second while brining in Olson. Dolenc got caught stealing and Singleton flew out to end the inning.

Joe Benson tripled in the top of the sixth. Yersich drew a walk and Santana lined out before Revere's force out would bring Benson in.

Moutakas singled off Kirwan in the bottom of the 6th, and Shawn Hayes took him deep over the left field fence for a two-run home run. Blair Erickson would replace Kirwan with one out and 2 runners on base, and would shut the door on the Bees.

Singleton was 3-for-4 in the game with a run. He was the only Snapper with a multi-hit game. Yersich would go 1-for-2 at the plate with 2 walks as was Sanatana at the bottom of the order.

Kirwin was charged with 4 runs, earned, on 9 hits and one walk while striking out 2 over 5.1 innings. Erikson worked 1.2 innings, striking out 4. Steve Hirschfield picked up his first save of the season, holding the Bees to only one hit while striking out 3 over two innings.

Burlington's Alex Caldera (2-2. 3.31) will get the start one Mother's day against Beloit's Santos Arias (1-0, 1.64). First pitch is 2:00 PM Eastern Time.

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