When Damon Casetta-Stubbs first appeared in Everett at the start of the season, he set a goal for himself to pitch in the Short Season-A All-Star game.
Barring a setback, Casetta-Stubbs will achieve that goal on Tuesday.
Casetta-Stubbs, along with Mariners first-rounder George Kirby, outfielder Trent Tingelstad and infielder Patrick Frick will represent at the AquaSox at the Northwest League vs. Pioneer League All-Star game in Boise, Idaho on Tuesday.
Casetta-Stubbs and Kirby were chosen as All-Stars through the initial process and Frick and Tingelstad were added to the team as replacements after a flurry of promotions league-wide.
A native of Vancouver, Washington, Casetta-Stubbs is sixth in the league with 41 strikeouts, fifth in innings pitched with 45 and tied for first in games started with Salem-Keizer’s Kervin Castro and Hillsboro’s Luis Frias with 10.
Casetta-Stubbs has been one of Everett’s best pitchers after struggling earlier this year at Low-A West Virginia, where he had a 7.11 ERA, in an aggressive assignment for a 19-year-old pitcher.
“It’s super cool,” Casetta-Stubbs said of being named an All-Star. “Obviously, it was one of my main goals at the start of the year. I saw some of the guys when I was in West Virginia make the All-Star team and I was like, ‘Dang, that’s pretty cool.’”
Kirby, the 20th overall pick in the 2019 draft out of Elon, has an earned-run average of 0.82 over 11 innings. He has struck out 10 and hasn’t walked a batter.
Kirby said making the team was a bit of surprise to him, given his relative lack of innings pitched.
“It’s an honor to be on the team and to be going to Boise,” Kirby said.
Tingelstad, a Marysville Pilchuck and Everett Community College product, is hitting .236 with three homers and 26 RBI, which leads the team, and is tied for seventh in the Northwest League — entering Sunday’s contest.
“It’s great being able to represent the (hometown),” Tingelstad said.
Frick is entering the All-Star break on a tear, hitting safely in 14 of his last 18 games and posting a .384 average over that stretch.
After a rough start, Frick has raised his batting average to .275 and boasts five doubles and 15 RBI on the season.
“It’s a big deal, it’s a very exciting time,” Frick said. “…I feel pretty locked in right now. Rough start, but after getting all these at-bats in, reps in and preparing for the game, I’ve finally found my groove.”
Kuhn receives gift fit for King
Fans may have noticed that Travis Kuhn was wearing a new glove during his relief appearance on Friday.
It was courtesy of the AquaSox’s rehab starter that night, Felix Hernandez, who stuck around the clubhouse for postgame treatment and asked Kuhn how he pitched with his all-teal glove before scribbling his signature on the leather.
“It was one of the coolest moments of my baseball career thus far,” Kuhn said. “… I told him I’d give him about 50 bucks for his glove and the next thing you know, he gave it to me after he pitched. That’s probably one of the coolest things I’ll ever get my hands on.”
That’s the last time that glove will be used in game action, Kuhn said.
“That thing is on ice forever.”
You’re saying there’s a chance?
The AquaSox entered Sunday in the midst of a team-wide slump at the plate, hitting just .138 over the last six games.
But after a 13-hit outburst and an extra-innings win against Spokane on Sunday, the AquaSox are right in the thick of the race for the Northwest League North second-half title.
Staying the course will be key for the AquaSox, who remain two games back of Spokane in the North second-half standings, following Tri-City’s 3-2 win over Vancouver in Pasco.
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