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The Otters are hosting a tryout this weekend, June 11^th and 12^th, at Bosse Field. We are seeing what talent is out there after the MLB June Draft. The MLB Draft was just completed earlier this week. Along with non-drafted college seniors with no remaining eligibility we are looking at released players. It should be a good tryout.

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Spring Training is behind us and now the regular season games begin.

The season kicks off tonight at 6:35 at Bosse Field. The Otters are looking to get off to a good start for the 2010 season.

Opening night starting pitcher is Jason Roenicke. Roenicke was a 19^th round draft selection of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2008. He brings two seasons of professional experience to the mound for the Otters tonight.

The Otters play the Normal CornBelters for three games before hosting the Gateway Grizzlies for three games beginning on Monday.

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A former 16th round draft selection by the Atlanta Braves in 2006, Jack Tilghman brings his pitching experience to the Otters for the 2010 season.

Tilghman has spent time with the Phillies and Astros over the last three seasons after being selected by Atlanta. Last year he split time between Lexington and Lancaster with the Astros. He appeared in 36 games last year with 6 of those being starts. He threw a total of 62.2 innings in 2009 with 51 strikeouts and 29 walks.

Over the course of his career Tilghman has 17 saves and 90 total appearances. He has 123 career strikeouts over the last three seasons.

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Eduardo Perez was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers and spent four seasons in their farm system before being traded to the San Diego Padres. The trade to the Padres involved Greg Maddux being shipped to the Dodgers.

Perez, a right handed pitcher, spent two years with the Dodgers and their Dominican Summer League team. In 2007 and 2008, he played for the Gulf Coast Dodgers. He made 26 appearances with the Gulf Coast team with 9 of those being starts. Last year he was on the Padres team in Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne is in the Midwest League. He made 30 appearances last season with a total of 65.2 innings pitched. Eduardo had 58 strikeouts in those 65.2 innings and allowed just 15 walks.

Perez lives in San Francisco Zulia, Venezuela.

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Formerly a seventh round draft selection by the Minnesota Twins Jon Waltenbury is bringing his bat and glove to Evansville for the 2010 season.

Jon was selected by Minnesota in the 2006 MLB June Draft directly out of high school. Mainly playing in the outfield in high school he was converted over to first base while with the Twins.

Last year Jon was on the Twins Midwest team in Beloit where he hit .236 with 5 home runs and 38 runs batted in. In 2008, he played in the Appalachian League where he hit .319. He had a total of 84 hits with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs. He was named to the Post-Season All-Star team in the Appalachian League.

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Patrick Rose spent the past two seasons in the Colorado Rockies farm system. Rose was drafted in the 36^th round of the 2008 MLB June Draft by Colorado. He spent time at Tri-City, of the Northwest League, and Ashville, of the South Atlantic League.

Rose is an infielder that has spent most of his time at 3B and 2B. He also played 2 games at shortstop while with Colorado.

Last year he hit .243 in 52 games. He had 14 RBIs and 5 stolen bases while at Ashville. In 2008, at Tri-City, Rose hit .274 in 60 games. He had 27 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.

Rose attended college at UC Santa Barbara and the University of New Orleans.

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Second baseman Josh Huebner joins the Otters this year after attending school at the University of Southern Indiana. Huebner spent one season on USI’s baseball team in 2008, while also spending time on their basketball team.

Before going to USI Josh played 2 seasons of baseball at Wabash Valley College.

In 53 games at Southern Indiana, Josh hit .396 with 84 total hits. He also scored 47 runs and drove in 31 runners. Huebner had 12 doubles on the season and was 32 for 35 in stolen base attempts.

With Wabash Valley College, Josh hit .358 with 12 doubles on the season.

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This winter we received many names from players looking to be signed by teams throughout the independent leagues. One of the players that we received in early December was Tim Schalch.

Schalch is a middle infielder from Florida A&M University. He went to Florida A&M after starting off at Temple University. Last year Tim was first team All-Conference.

In 2009, Schalch hit .370 with 25 runs batted in. He had a total of 67 hits and was 7 for 7 in stolen base attempts. He also scored 38 runs on the season.

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In February, we received the name Matt Jaimes after one of our sources saw him playing in Arizona. We decided to pursue Jaimes and offer him a contract.

Jaimes, who resides in Ontario, California, was a 12th round draft choice by the Texas Rangers in the 2006 MLB June Draft. Jaimes was drafted right out of high school. He spent one season in the Rangers farm system.

While with the Rangers he played all four infield positions but was mainly used as an outfielder. He hit 1 home run and drove in 11 runners in his season with their rookie level team in Arizona.

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After spending the last four years at the University of Iowa, Kevin Hoef is joining the Evansville roster.

Hoef played in 191 career games at Iowa. In 2008, he hit .357 with 3 home runs and 31 runs batted in. Last year he hit .294 with 2 home runs and 19 RBIs.

Hoef was drafted in the 48^th round of the 2008 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox but decided to finish off his collegiate career. During the 2008 season he was second team All-Big Ten.

Mainly playing at third base, he also has experience at shortstop.

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