June 9, 2011

June 9, 2011

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Former Rhody baseball catcher Zach Zaneski '08 has been named to the 2011 Carolina League All-Star Team. The annual game - which pits the top players from the California League against the top players from the Carolina League - will take place on Tuesday, June 21 at John Thurman Field in Modesto, Calif.

A starter for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (A Adv.), Zaneski's surprising road to prospect status continues with his All-Star nod. The Pelicans' unheralded backstop has wrecked Carolina League pitching this season to the tune of a .308 average, six home runs and 27 RBI.

Zaneski, undrafted in 2008 out of the University of Rhode Island, signed with the Rangers and turned heads last year when he batted .310 with a .380 on-base percentage in 85 games for the Class A Hickory Crawdads, 64 of them behind the plate. For that campaign, the Waterford, Connecticut native was named an MLB.com Texas Rangers Organizational All-Star.

This year, Zaneski is batting .429 against left-handed pitching. On May 3 at Potomac, the 24-year-old experienced a once-in-a-lifetime day when he went 5-for-6 with two homers, including a grand slam, three doubles, and seven runs batted in. All totals marked career bests. On that day alone, Zaneski raised his batting average from .233 to .306 and his OPS from .655 to .958.

Excerpt courtesy of MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.