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April 11, 2020
It’s a good time to summarize the progress of former Blazers who await the resumption of their baseball careers which have been placed into uncertainty because of the COVID-19 crisis.
RHP Lou Trivino (Slippery Rock, Blazers,2011) is expected to open the season in a setup or middle-relief role for the Oakland A’s. Trivino has fully recovered from a cracked rib injury in September.
LHP Tim Mayza (Millersville, Blazers, 2011) continues to rehab from Tommy-John reconstructive surgery plus a left flexor tendon repair. Mayza was injured in September after topping the Toronto Blue Jays with 68 relief appearances. He is expected to be ready for spring training in 2021.
Catcher Alex Kowalczyk (Pitt, Blazers, 2013) is slated to return to Frisco, the AA affiliate of the Texas Rangers where he hit .250 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 2019.
RHP Robbie Welhaf (Elon, Blazers,2016) is currently on the roster of the West Michigan Whitecaps, the A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. Welhaf had an outstanding season for the Whitecaps in 2019 while posting a 2.69 ERA in 14 starts over 90 innings. He posted 85 strikeouts with only nine walks and topped the Midwest League with a 0.82 WHIP.
Catcher Angel Lopez Alvarez (Northampton CC, Blazers, 2016) returns to the Lake County Captains, an A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians in the Midwest League. In 2019 Lopez split time between the Arizona Rookie League team and Lake County and hit .196 with one home runs and 12 RBIs.
RHP Chris Kachmar (Lipscomb, Blazers, 2016-17) is coming off an excellent first season in pro ball in the Chicago Cubs organization. The 6-3 right-hander started the season with the Cubs’ rookie team in the ARL where he went 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA . In four games over eight innings he posted 12 strikeouts with a 1.00 WHIP. He was promoted to the Eugene Emeralds of the short season Northwest League. At Eugene he recorded a 4-0 record with a 1.56 ERA in 10 appearances with 24 strikeouts and 11 walks in 17 innings.
RHP Levi Stoudt (Lehigh, Blazers, 2017) was drafted in the third round by the Seattle Mariners in the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft. He underwent Tommy-John surgery after the draft and is currently in rehab and has started to throw on a limited basis.
Nat Ballenberg, the Blazers’ pitching coach in 2012, is now the pitching coach for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, the AA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins in the Southern League. Ballenberg was the pitching coach at Haverford College for nine years and became the pitching coach for the Twins’ Fort Myers team in 2019.
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October 3, 2019
LHP Tim Mayza (Millersville, Blazers, 2011) and RHP Lou Trivino (Slippery Rock, Blazers,2011) both pitched in over 60 games for the Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland A’s respectively. Mayza topped the Jays in appearances (68) and holds (18). He posted a 4.81 ERA in 51.1 innings with 55 strikeouts and opponents hit .230. On September 13 Mayza suffered a torn UCL and flexor tendon which required surgery including a T-J procedure.
Trivino made 61 appearances for the A’s with a 4-6 record and 5.25 ERA in 60 innings. He struck out 57 and posted 17 holds. In early September he suffered an oblique injury and was shut down for the remainder of the season.
Several other former Blazers played professional baseball this summer.
Catcher Alex Kowalzcyk (Pitt, Blazers, 2013) hit .250 with three home runs for the Texas Rangers AA affiliate, the Frisco RoughRiders.
RHP Robbie Welhaff (Elon, Blazers,2016) had an outstanding season with the West Michigan Whitecaps, the A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. He posted an 0.82 WHIP with a 2.68 ERA in 90 innings. He struck out 85 with only nine walks in 13 starts and 18 games.
Angel Lopez (Northampton CC, Blazers, 2016) saw limited playing time because of injuries with the Lake County Captains, the A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians and hit .152 with one home run.
RHP Chris Kachmar (Lipscomb, Blazers, 2016,17) had a good start to his pro career as he posted a 4-0 record with a 1.56 ERA for the Eugene Emeralds, the short season affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
Levi Stoudt (Lehigh, Blazers,2017) was a third round selection of the Seattle Mariners; however he underwent T-J surgery and is currently in rehab in Arizona.
In Independent baseball infielder Dylan Tice (West Chester, Blazers, 2012) hit .316 with 20 stolen bases for the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association.
Adam Tricarico (Canisius, Blazers, 2016) hit .315 with three home runs for Plattsburg in the Empire State League.
Dino Cattai (Chesnut Hill, Blazers, 2017) posted a 2.35 ERA in eight games for Saranac Lake in the Empire State League.
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September 14, 2019
 LHP Tim Mayza (Millersville, Quakertown Blazers, 2011) was removed from the Blue Jays game last night after injuring his arm. The diagnosis is a torn UCL and he will undergo T-J surgery.
Mayza was the key left handed reliever for the Blue Jays and made 68 appearances, 4th highest in the American League. He posted a 4.91 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 51 innings and opponent batters recorded a .230 average.
Blue Jay manager Charlie Montoyo summarized the team's feelings best when he said, "Everybody loves Timmy. He pitches, he doesn't complain. He pitches every day and he's got a smile every day."
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July 22, 2019
The Quakertown Blazers defeated the North Jersey Eagles in the first game 8-3 and lost the second game 10-3.
Chris Iazzetta (Wheeling) and Bill Hitman (Cal U of Pa.) topped the Blazers offense in the opener with three hits apiece. Iazetta was a single short of hitting for the cycle with four RBIs. Luke Cantwell (West Chester) added two doubles with two RBIs.
JJ Spehrley (Bloomsburg) posted the win while James Reardon (Bloomsburg ) picked up the save.
The Blazers are now 15-15-1 and visit Allentown on Monday and Trenton on Wednesday and return to Memorial Park on Thursday for 5:30pm DH with the Jersey Pilots.
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July 10, 2019
The Quakertown Blazers will make up the rained out doubleheader of July 6 with the Jersey Pilots on Wednesday July 17 at 5:30pm in Weiland Park on the campus of De Sales University.
The Blazers are currently one half game out of first place in the Wolff Division with a 13-11 record after losing 3-0 to Trenton on Wednesday night.
This weekend the Blazers travel to the Ocean on Saturday to complete a suspended game with the Gulls at 11am followed by a DH with the Ospreys.
On Sunday they travel to Trenton for a home and home DH with the Generals.
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July 7, 2019
The Quakertown Blazers won the first game 1-0 behind the pitching of Nolan Graber (Ursinus) who scattered three hits over six innings. JJ Spehrley (Bloomsburg) picked up the save with a scoreless seventh inning.
A double by Chris Iazzetta (Wheeling Jesuit) scored Anthony Viggiano (Bloomsburg) with the sole run in the first inning.
Blazers won the second game 5-1 as John Gifford (West Chester) hit two doubles with three RBIs. Viggiano, Iazzetta and Brian Nicolas (Bryant) each added two hits.
Andrew Mayhew (Millersville) allowed only one run over four innings for the win while John Turner (Millersville) and Adam Maser (Arcadia) held the Generals scoreless over the last three innings.
The Blazers are now 13-10.
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July 4, 2019
There were fireworks at Memorial Park on Community day as six home runs were hit in the Allentown Railers 15-4 win over the Quakertown Blazers.
Bret Williams (PSU-Harrisburg) topped the Railers offense with three hits and three RBIs including two home runs. Drew Heffner (University of Charleston) added two hits including a home run.
Brian Nicolas (Bryant) posted three hits for the Blazers including two home runs while Sean McHugh (Monmouth) posted two hits including a home run.
The Blazers are at home for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.
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