'Wolves prep for All-Star game

FLORENCE — McCrary Park in Asheboro, N.C. is replete with the burnt orange and white of the Asheboro Copperheads.
Tuesday night, the ballpark will add a touch of red to the color scheme. Florence coach Wes Davis and seven of his players will head to Asheboro for Tuesday’s Coastal Plain League All-Star game.
“It’s a huge honor for the CPL to recognize our coach and our players,” RedWolves owner Kevin Barth said. “Wes and (Florence general manager Jamie Young) have done a great job assembling the talent on this team.”
Four Florence players were named starters by the CPL. Catcher/first baseman Myckie Lugbauer will start behind the plate.
Lugbauer will call the pitches for Steve Grife. The battery combined for a no-hitter against Fayetteville on June 8.
“I’ve worked hard all summer for this,” said Lugbauer, who leads the RedWolves in batting and RBI with .320 and 27, respectively. “Catching Steve is going to be great, and it will help us both get ready for the rest of the season.”
Florence native Barrett Kleinknecht gets the start at shortstop, and leadoff hitter Jamie Walczak mans one of the three outfield spots.
“We’re very pleased for the four guys that are starting (in the game),” Davis said. “To have four of the nine guys on that field is amazing. They all worked hard to get here.”
Outfielder Blake Walker is heading to Asheboro as a reserve. But Davis saved his best superlatives for reliever Jeremy Berg, who was named to the team after racking up an 0.42 earned run average, 20 strikeouts and just three walks in 21 1/3 innings .
“Jeremy’s one of those guys that might get overlooked at times,” he said. “But with the way he’s pitched this year, you couldn’t have overlooked that.”

All-Star snubs
In every all-star game at every level in every sport, there will be some players that deserve the recognition but aren’t picked to play due to a lack of spots.
This simple equation cost two RedWolves a trip to Asheboro. Pitcher Rob Kumbatovic and outfielder/first baseman Alec Lowrey certainly had the numbers for inclusion, but faded in the numbers crunch for spots on the two teams.
“There are only a limited number of spots and someone’s going to get left off the team,” Lugbauer said. “I’m sure Rob and Alec are both disappointed that they didn’t make the team.
“I think they’ll prove the voters wrong for the rest of the season.”
Entering Saturday night’s game against Wilmington, Kumbatovic currently holds a 3-1 mark with a 1.13 ERA in 47 2/3 innings tossed with 25 strikeouts and nine walks.
“I would have liked to have gone, but I’m not going to complain about it,” he said. “My goal is to win a (Petitt Cup). This (exclusion) will get me more motivated for the rest of this season.”
Lowrey is batting .318 with 21 RBI. His four home runs are tied with Kleinknecht for the team lead.
Nevertheless, Kumbatovic is happy for his teammates.
“Having seven players (going to the game) just shows how well we’ve played all year,” he said. “There could easily be 12 guys going off our team, but that’s the way it goes.”

Home Run Derby
The accolades keep coming for the RedWolves.
On Friday, Kleinknecht and Walczak were selected to participate in Monday’s CPL Home Run Derby.
The 16 participants from the National and American teams with face off in a three-round competition using both wood and aluminum bats.
The player, regardless of the team he plays for, who has the most points at the end will take home the trophy.