Minor League news, notes and articles

The Dayton Daily News has a nice article talking about the Dragons making the playoffs in the second half, it hits on Zach Ward adjusting over the season and a recent problem with the line up. I will post some peices below.

Four teams from each of two divisions make the postseason. West Michigan (Detroit Tigers affiliate) and Lansing (Toronto Blue Jays) have already qualified, so it doesn't matter if they finish ahead of Dayton in the second half, which begins Thursday.

Dayton, South Bend, Southwest Michigan and Fort Wayne will be playing the 70-game second half to secure the final two spots, so the Dragons have to beat out only two of the other three to make their first playoffs since 2002.

So Dayton has a legitimate shot at making the playoffs if they keep playing well in the second half

Sunday starter Zach Ward pitched at Gardner-Webb University before he became a third-round draft pick by the Cincinnati Reds last season. A tender arm shut him down until this year.

He has already learned it's easier pitching to wood bats than aluminum used in college.

"Everyone told me the wood bat would be my best friend," said Ward, who early on tried to strike out everyone and pitch to the corners, like in college.

Wood bats must really be his friend after allowing just 1 HR in 70+ innings.
You can read the entire article here, at Daytondailynews.com

• The Billings Gazette has a nice article up on the upcoming Billings Mustangs season. It also mentions that third round pick Chris Valaika signed and will be reporting to Billings.

You can read the entire article here, its worth the time.