Lakewood BlueClaws News

Naylor and Taylor honored by Minor League Baseball

LAKEWOOD, N.J. – The Lakewood BlueClaws, class-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, have announced that Drew Naylor and Michael Taylor have been named the South Atlantic League’s Pitcher and Player of the Week respectively for the week of May 5-11.

Naylor, 21, threw a complete game two-hitter against the Kannapolis Intimidators on Saturday to improve to 3-2 on the season. He struck out 12 batters in the game, which upped his season total to 62 and now ranks first in all of Minor League Baseball in strikeouts.<-

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Not taken into consideration for the award was Naylor’s outing on May 4 in which he struck out 11 batters during an eight-inning performance in a win over Lexington.

Overall his ERA stands at an impressive 2.04 over eight starts and 53.0 innings. He has pitched at least six innings in each of his last six starts and the BlueClaws have won each of those games. He has struck out at least six batters in each start this season.

The Australian righty is in his first full season of minor league baseball after spending 2006 in the Gulf Coast League and 2007 with the Williamsport Crosscutters of the New York-Penn League. Last season he led the NYPL in strikeouts (97) innings pitched (93.1) and complete games (2) while ranking second in wins (8).

Taylor, 22, was limited to just four games this week with a sore back but didn’t let that stop him from hitting four homeruns and driving in 11. He went 7-for-19 (.368) to up his overall batting average to .333.

Selected by the Phillies out of Stanford in the fifth round of the 2007 draft, Taylor hit .354 in April and was honored as the Phillies Minor League Player of the Month. The leftfielder spent last season with Williamsport and collected 33 RBI on six homeruns in 66 games.

This marks the first time in team history that the BlueClaws have earned both honors in the same week. Quintin Berry and Jason Donald had been the most recent Lakewood players to be named Player of the Week. Both earned the award in 2007. Naylor becomes the first BlueClaws pitcher selected since Josh Outman in August 2006.

Former BlueClaw John Urick was named Florida State League Player of the Week this week by hitting .421 with two homeruns and seven RBI for the Clearwater Threshers.

For tickets or more information call 732-901-7000 or visit the BlueClaws website at BlueClaws.com.

Event to be held on Sunday, May 18^th when the BlueClaws host West Virginia

LAKEWOOD, N.J. – The Lakewood BlueClaws have teamed up with Susan G. Komen for the Cure Central and South Jersey to host Breast Cancer Awareness Day, presented by Molly Maid. The event, which will take place Sunday, May 18, will not only benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure, but it will also provide valuable information for women of all ages.

To help build awareness, the BlueClaws will be wearing pink jerseys for their 1:05 pm contest against the West Virginia Power. Following the game,-

the worn jerseys will be sold in a live action with the proceeds going to Komen.

The first 2,000 female fans of all ages that attend will also be rewarded with a special pink BlueClaws hat, presented by Molly Maid.

“We are so happy that the Lakewood BlueClaws are doing this event to help promote breast cancer awareness,” said Nancy K. Healey, Executive Director, Susan G. Komen for the Cure Central and South Jersey. “It will be a great day at the ballpark and an important outreach initiative for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. We appreciate their dedication to the Komen promise.”

Awareness will be the theme of the day. Komen will be on hand to provide important information about breast cancer screening and prevention. There will also be a pre-game walk around the field featuring local breast cancer survivors.

“This will be the first ever Breast Cancer Awareness Day at FirstEnergy Park,” BlueClaws General Manager Geoff Brown said. “We think this will be a tremendous opportunity to raise money for a terrific cause and help inform women throughout the Jersey Shore on how to stay healthy. Komen has been doing good for a long, long time and we are proud to partner with them for this event.”

Tickets for the game are available now, on the internet, at the FirstEnergy Park ticket office, or over the phone. Please visit http://www.blueclaws.com/ or call (732) 901-7000 option 2 for more information about ticket availability.

Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to accelerate cures. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure promise is to save lives and end breast cancer forever by empowering people, ensuring quality care for all and energizing science to find the cures.

The Central and South Jersey Affiliate serves 13 New Jersey counties from Somerset to Cape May and everywhere in between. In 2007, the affiliate invested nearly $1.5 million into community education and screening programs. For more information call 609-896-1201 or log on to http://www.komencsnj.org/.