Infielder Ryan Wheat (right) taking batting practice at the Pacific Association Tryout at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, California.
Geoff Safford, Director of Broadcasting
SONOMA, Calif- The Sonoma Stompers Professional Baseball Club, Presented by Virginia Dare Winery, signed four prospects from the Pacific Association Tryout that took place on April 8 and 9 in Pittsburg, Calif. Infielders Ryan Wheat and Kevin Farley will join pitchers Austin Fairchild, and Ross Slaney with invitations to spring training.
"We are very happy with the players we selected in the draft following the tryout," Assistant General Manager Jen Ramos said. "We think they can be valuable assets to the team and we look forward to seeing them in spring training."
Fairchild will enter his sixth season as a professional. The left-hander was drafted in the 16th round of the MLB Amateur Draft by the Kansas City Royals in 2012. He spent three years in the Royals minor league system. The 23-year-old Texas native looks to pitch professionally for the first time since 2014.
Wheat will begin his professional career after playing the last two seasons at California State University East Bay. The Benicia native was a career .325 hitter in his time playing at the NCAA Division II level, where he had the second highest batting average on the team in 2015 with a .317 average.
Slaney will kick off his professional career after playing at the Division I school San Jose State University for three seasons. During his senior season Slaney made 17 appearances with four starts. The Sunnyvale native compiled a 4.68 ERA in 33 innings in his senior season in 2015.
Farley joins the Stompers after playing at The University of Portland, where he started over 100 games in his time playing in the Pacific Northwest. He had his best season as a junior in 2015 when he had a .233 average, and was second on the team in doubles with 12. The San Ramon native accumulated a .219 average in the 2016 season in 48 games for the Pilots.
The 2017 season kicks off on June 2 against Pittsburg Diamonds. Season Ticket packages are available now at stompersbaseball.com. Single game tickets go on sale on April 22 at Stompers Fan Fest at The Fan Shop located at 234 W Napa Street in Sonoma starting at 11 a.m.