Ornelas Stars, White's Bat Heating, Church Slumps

Times are Good for Ben Ornelas and Chris White; not so much for Ryan Church

BEN ORNELAS at Lewis-Clark State was named all-region Thursday after a booming weekend with the bat over the weekend on a road trip to Utah.

Here’s a note from his mom:

We just came back from Ben's series in St. George, Utah vs. Dixie State. Ben did very well and it was nice to see him looking strong and healthy. He went 5-6 in one of his games with two singles, two doubles, and a homer that went so far it stunned their fans. They won the game 21-11. It was amazing to see Ben's teammates hit back-to-back-to-back homers one pitch each.

And the official release from the NAIA—

Five Warriors earn region honors
5/7/2009
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Five members of the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team earned Region I honors, including four on the All-Region I team.

Coaches from the eight schools in the region voted for the teams.

Senior outfielder Sean Halton joined junior infielders Ben Ornelas and Josh Ashenbrenner, and pitcher Tom Peale on the all-Region I squad.

Ornelas, who is from Lompoc, Calif., made an immediate impact after becoming eligible a month into the season. He is hitting .407 in 31 games and is second on the team in home runs with seven and is third in RBI with 42. He also has eight doubles and is tied for the team lead in triples with two.

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And in the pro’s

CHRIS WHITE, who was added to the roster of the Lakeland Flying Tigers almost as an afterthought, is making the Detroit organization remember his name.

White did not play regularly when he arrived in Lakeland but over the last 10 days he has been penciled in in centerfield almost every day, and he has delivered.

With a 3-for-3 day on Tuesday White is now batting .311, third highest on the team.

Lakeland is in the Florida State League, an Advanced A league like the Carolina League where Danny Duffy performs. White, like Duffy, is making the jump from low-A where he played with West Michigan in 2008.

RYAN CHURCH on the other hand was blazing early, but is suffering through a 1-for-24 slump. The dry spell has tumbled his batting average from .356 nine games ago to .265 at the moment.