by Jason Eichelberger

Lansing, Michigan is home to the Lansing Lugnuts, the Class A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. It was also where former Red Raiders Nate Starner ’06 and Ross Buckwalter ’07 were reunited as teammates at the start of the major league baseball season.

They are just two Ship ball players who have begun an unofficial exodus to the Blue Jay organization. In June, Toronto drafted junior Matt Wright in the twelfth round, marking the fourth Red Raider to be signed or drafted since Randy Dicken’s seventh round selection in 2004.

What does Toronto find so appealing about Ship’s players, especially our pitchers? Part of the answer lies with the award-winning Toronto scout Tom Burns whose area covers Maine to Virginia. “I don’t have any connection to the university—Shippensburg has simply produced some good players over the past decade. I live in Harrisburg and I try to find the best players in my area no matter where they are.”

Once Tom singles out our players, the Toronto organization likes what it sees.

“They both have a good attitude and have learned well since they’ve been here,” said Lugnut pitching coach, Tom Signore. “Nate possesses four viable pitches and prepares himself properly to get ready to pitch. He must believe his stuff is good enough for any level, which will translate into him being more effective in the strike zone.”

Red Raiders three years ago, Ross Buckwalter ’07 and Nate Starner ’06 were reunited briefly as Lansing Lugnuts earlier this season.

Nate, who spent the entire 2007 with the Lugnuts, agrees. “I think I’ve developed more as a pitcher. I’m a lot more comfortable out there and know what I need to do to get outs.” He led the team in wins with 12 in 28 starts and recorded 143 strikeouts last season.

Before being promoted to Dunedin, a Class A Advanced team, Nate had an ERA of 1.67 through eight starts, through 56 combined innings, he recorded 52 strikeouts.

Ross made his Lansing debut in Nate’s first start of the season on April 5. He allowed one hit and struck out two. With an “outstanding two-seam fastball with good sink to it” and an effective curveball, Ross is working on a straight change up that will, according to Signore, “make his other pitches that much more effective.”

In 22 appearances with the Lugnuts this season, Nate and Ross have combined to post a 1.74 ERA in 62.1 innings, allowing 12 earned runs and striking out 56.

Meanwhile Matt has reported to the Blue Jays spring-training facility in Florida.

“Starner knows how to pitch and mixes his pitches well, and Buckwalter has a sinking fastball that is clocked in the low 90s,” Burns said. “Wright is a lefty with a fastball that touches 92 mph. I don’t have a personal favorite but I really like all three kids on a personal basis – they are great kids and I’ll be pulling hard for them to be together in Toronto some day.

Red Raiders in the pros:

On day two of the MLB player draft, Matt was the fifth Red Raider to be drafted in five years. Later that same day, Justin Garber ’08 was the sixth to be drafted. He was selected by the New York Mets and reported to the team’s short season Class A affiliate in Brooklyn, New York.

Ross was one of two Raiders drafted in 2007. Eric Perlozzo ’06 was taken by the Baltimore Orioles in the 35th round. Eric is playing with the Aberdeen Ironbirds.

Nate was one of four non-drafted free agents the Blue Jays signed in 2006.

In 2004, Evan Englebrook ’04 was drafted by the Houston Astros in the eighth round. He was 2-2 with a 4.06 ERA through 21 games with the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Astros’ Double A Texas league affiliate.

Paul Abraham ’01 was originally drafted by the Texas rangers in the 2001 draft. He began the season with the Portland Beavers, the Class AAA Pacific Coast League of the San Diego Padres. He made 20 relief appearances and logged 29.1 innings before being moved to the San Antonio Missions (AA).

Paul’s first game with San Antonio was against Corpus Christi. He pitched a scoreless inning of relief to earn the win. The losing pitcher was Evan, who allowed three earned runs.

These seven Red Raiders in the minor leagues are adding to Shippensburg’s legacy in the big leagues. Ship has had a total of twenty-three players selected in the MLB player draft since 1979 and another ten players who signed pro contracts.

The most illustrious was Clyde Barnhart ’16 who posted 114 RBI in 1925 on the way to winning a World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.