LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.’s
Matt Miraldi signed a professional baseball contract with the Gateway Grizzlies in St. Louis on Thursday and made an impressive debut with the independent team later that day.
Miraldi picked up two hits, walked once and scored two runs in the Grizzlies’ 8-0 win over Kalamazoo in a Frontier League game. He was added to the roster this week and joins 2009 Cal State L.A. baseball player Toby Davis on the club. Davis is currently sidelined with a wrist injury.
Miraldi earned All-California Collegiate Athletic Association recognition for a second straight season in 2010 after hitting .310 with one home run and 24 RBI in 2010. He was third on the team in runs scored with 37. He was named to the All-CCAA second team last season as a junior in 2009 after hitting .359 in his first year with the program.
He was originally a 39th round draft pick out of high school by the Tampa Bay organization.
All-American outfielder
Sam Wiley, meanwhile, signed with another Frontier League team, the Florence Freedom, on Friday and was scheduled to make his first appearance for the team later in the day. Wiley joins another team member from Cal State L.A.,
Max Moya, who signed with the Freedom in June. Moya is currently hitting .250 after going 3-12 in 10 games with two runs scored.
Wiley joins the Freedom after a banner 2010 season with Cal State L.A. He earned third-team Daktronics All-America honors as a utility player after seeing time at first base, catcher and right field for the Golden Eagles. He was earlier named to the first-team Daktronics All-West Region Baseball Team.
He led the Golden Eagles with a .433 batting average, nine home runs and 60 runs batted in. Wiley also led the team with a .691 slugging percentage and a .482 on-base percentage. His 28 extra-base hits also led the team.
Moya concluded a fine three-year career for the Golden Eagles in 2010. He appeared in 143 games for Cal State L.A. and started 132 times. He finished with a career batting average of .288 with 12 home runs and 93 RBI. He also earned an All-CCAA Academic Award in 2008.
In other Cal State L.A. baseball news, Jesus Campos, Isaac Morales and Henry Contreras are having good 2010 seasons in the Angels, Marlins and Mariners’ organizations.
Campos, who was called up to the Angels’ Triple-A team for three games in late June, is now playing for the Angels’ Single-A team in Rancho Cucamonga. Campos hit his first professional home run for the Quakes on Tuesday and is hitting .286 (10-35) with one home run and eight RBI in nine games. Campos was a 24th-round draft pick of Angels in June.
Morales is currently 3-1 with a 2.13 earned run average with the Single-A Jamestown Jammers. He has pitched in five games – all in relief – and struck out 19 in 12 2/3 innings. In 23 1/3 innings this season on two teams, he is 4-2 with a 1.93 earned run average with 12 walks and 27 strikeouts. Morales was a 34th-round pick of the Florida Marlins in 2009.
Contreras has started the last three games for the Pulaski Mariners and is hitting .417 with five hits in 12 at bats and two RBI. Earlier, he hit .375 in 10 games for the Clinton Lumberjacks. Contreras was a 24th-round pick of the Seattle Mariners in 2008.