San Jose, Calif. - On a mid-July afternoon here on The Spartan Nine, some notes, news and links from recent weeks involving Spartan baseball players past, present and future.

-Most recently, and then in no particular order after that, let's start with former Spartan left-hander Max Peterson, who had a very short stay in the Arizona Rookie League, getting called up from the AZL Athletics to the Class A Short-Season Vancouver Canadians on Sunday, July 12. He is in his first days in the Oakland Athletics organization, and posted the best outing of his young professional career just days ago on Thursday, July 9. Against the AZL Cubs on the road, Peterson entered to begin the bottom of the eighth inning after his club had just taken an 8-5 lead with a three-run top half. He proceeded to retire six of the seven batters he faced, five of them on strikeouts, to notch his first professional save. In a 1-2-3 eighth, Peterson got a groundout, strikeout swinging and called third strike. Following a leadoff infield single in the ninth, he got a pair of swinging strikeouts around another called third strike. For the AZL Athletics, he allowed just three hits in 4.0 scoreless innings over three outings, with six strikeouts. He becomes the first of the Spartans' 2009 pro class to earn a promotion, after being the last of the six to make his pro debut. For the Canadians, which compete in the Northwest League, he will wear No. 20 and play for former major-league pitcher Rick Magnante. The Vancouver pitching coach is another former major-league arm, Craig Lefferts. Among his teammates there will be former Saint Mary's College left-hander and first baseman, Anthony Aliotti, who also signed professionally following his junior season of college ball, and Juston Street, the younger brother of former A's and current Colorado Rockies closer, Huston Street. Aliotti was taken in the 15th round (No. 453), three ahead of Peterson (No. 543). Vancouver hosts the Boise Hawks on Monday, July 13, beginning at 7:05 p.m. PT.

-Peterson's fellow rookies, Ryan Shopshire and Trevor Gibson, each produced the longest outings of their young pro pitching careers last week. In his third appearance, all starts thus far, Shopshire went 5.0 scoreless innings with four strikeouts on Saturday, July 11, in the second half of a doubleheader with the Gulf Coast League (GCL) Yankees. His GCL Blue Jays ultimately lost the game, 1-0, allowing a lone run in the bottom of the ninth, to get swept on the day. Shopshire gave up three singles and one walk to lower his season ERA to 3.75. His previous two starts had gone 4.0 and 3.0 frames. Gibson went 2.0 innings for the first time for the Casper Ghosts of the Rookie Pioneer League on Friday, July 10, at Missoula. He entered to start the bottom of the fifth with his team down, 6-5, following a six-run third for the hosts, and allowed just one hit while striking out one as Casper rallied late for the 8-6 victory. A swinging strikeout was followed by a line-drive single to center, a wild pitch and back-to-back groundouts in the fifth. In the sixth, he induced a double-play ground ball after a flyout and infield error.

-Click here and here for a couple of items on Ryan Shopshire from his hometown newspaper, the Orange County Register, back in June.

-Jack Adams has yet to relinquish an earned run over 7.2 innings and four relief appearances for the AZL Royals. Kyle Bellows broke out of an 0-for-23 stretch with a fifth-inning RBI double for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers to account for the game-winning run in a 3-0 home victory over Williamsport on Friday, July 3. The Scrappers, winners of eight of their last 10, lead the six-team New York-Penn League Pinckney Division by three full games with a 16-8 mark. Click here for a draft-time blurb on Bells.

-Kevin Frandsen was called up a third time this season by the San Francisco Giants on Monday, July 6. He provided a single to lead off the bottom of the ninth and later scored after entering the game at shortstop for Edgar Renteria to start the top of the inning during Sunday's home loss to the San Diego Padres. The Giants are 10 games above .500 at 49-39 at the All-Star break and leading the National League wild-card race by 2.0 games. (Click here for a Mercury News blurb on Kevin from June 10.)

-Brad Kilby had his lengthy shutout streak snapped at Las Vegas on June 30. The left-handed reliever had not given up an earned run over eight appearances and 10.0 innings leading up to that contest, striking out 13 opposing batteries during that stretch. For the season, he is 3-2 with two saves and a 2.87 ERA, with 42 strikeouts and 11 walks. Opponents are hitting just .172 against him.

-Among current Spartans excelling in summer baseball, Danny Stienstra is now batting over .300 and leading his Bethesda Big Train in RBI with 28. The Big Train are putting together a sensational season, now at 24-8 and atop the eight-team Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League by two full games. Through games played on Saturday, July 11, Stienstra was hitting .321 (36-for-112) with one home run and five doubles. He had appeared in 29 of Bethesda's first 30 games, starting each one. The Big Train, which also feature Spartan right-hander Ryan Vander Tuig (0-1, 3.07 ERA, 14.2 IP, 12 SO, 3 BB), have won three straight games.

-Former Spartan Brandon Hennessey, who spent the 2009 season as the pitching coach at Gavilan College in Gilroy, Calif., was named as the new pitching coach at Cabrillo College. Hennessey is currently in Kenai, Alaska, as the pitching coach of the Peninsula Oilers of the Alaska Baseball League. There, he is coaching alongside former Spartan teammate and 2009 Spartan volunteer assistant Brian Yocke. Yocke was forced into competitive duty for the first time since his one and only season in a San Jose State uniform, 2007, for the Oilers' first two games, as the squad awaited its full assortment of players. He went 1-for-5 with a walk over two starts in center field, making three clean putouts defensively. Through July 10, the Oilers were 13-15 overall.

-San Jose State head coach Sam Piraro has added a pair of decorated athletes for the 2010 season in recent weeks. First to sign was left-handed pitcher David Wayne Russo of Monterey High School, The Salinas Californian Monterey County Player of the Year (click here). That was followed with last week's announcement that local product Zack Jones, a right-handed pitcher and shortstop out of Santa Teresa High School and the Mercury News Baseball Player of the Year (click here), has signed to play for the Spartans beginning this fall.

-July birthdays include Jason "Marty" "J-Mart" Martin (July 26) and Shane "Murch" Murchison (July 30), both of whom will be turning 21 years of age. 

-We wrap this installment of The Spartan Nine unfortunately with more upsetting news. After a difficult winter, we were saddened to learn of the passing of Coach Kunis' father in early June. Then on Saturday, June 27, Tony Patch, a long-time umpire and football referee at various levels, including the College World Series, and the umpire evaluator for the Western Athletic Conference who was a fixture and entertaining presence in the Municipal Stadium press box for home conference games in recent years, passed away from a heart attack. Coach Piraro, San Jose State sports information director Lawrence Fan and myself represented Spartan Athletics at his service in San Francisco last Thursday, July 9. May they rest in peace.

Doga Gur

The Spartan Nine Blog Entries
October 16 - Corey Valine, Junior C/3B
October 22 - Anthony Aguilera, Senior Catcher
October 24 - From The Press Box
October 31 - Scott Sobczak, Senior RHP
November 8 - Kyle Bellows, Junior Third Baseman
November 18 - Jason Martin, Sophomore Centerfielder
November 26 - Tyler Greene, Senior RHP
December 2 - Michael Reiling, Freshman Infielder

December 19 - Brian Yocke, Volunteer Assistant Coach

January 13 - Karson Klauer, Junior Second Baseman

January 21 - From The Press Box

January 30 - Corey Valine, Junior C/3B

February 8 - Anthony Aguilera, Senior Catcher

February 11 - Michael Reiling, Freshman Infielder

February 20 - From The Press Box

February 25 - Scott Sobczak, Senior RHP

March 3 - Danny Stienstra, Sophomore First Baseman

March 5 - From The Press Box

March 7 - From The Press Box

March 26 - From The Press Box

March 31 - Scott Sobczak, Senior RHP

April 14 - Kyle Bellows, Junior Shortstop

April 23 - Corey Valine, Junior Third Baseman

May 2 - From The Press Box, Sacramento

May 8-9 - From The Press Box, Las Cruces, N.M.

May 15 - From The Press Box

May 23 - From The Press Box, Honolulu, Hawaii

June 1 - From The Press Box

June 8 - From The Press Box

July 13 - From The Press Box