ZooKeepers send 6 to All-Star Game

ASHEBORO — The same characteristics were used by Asheboro ZooKeepers coach Kory Dunbar to describe each of the six players that represented the ZooKeepers at the Coastal Plain League All-Star Game earlier this week.

The players are working hard and doing things the right way, Dunbar said of High Point’s Seojun Oh, USC AIken’s Yariel Diaz, Joe Rauscher and Sal Laimo, Tennessee Wesleyan’s Kruise Newman and Presbyterian’s Mason McDaniel.

All six represented the ZooKeepers this past weekend at the CPL All-Star Game held in Macon, Ga. 

For results of that contest and to see how the individual players fared, please see coastalplain.com. 

There was a meet-and-greet with the players on Sunday, an All-Star Skills Challenge and an awards ceremony be-fore Monday night’s contest between the West All-Stars and the East All-Stars.

The six ZooKeepers players are the most since the 2016 season when seven local CPL players were honored.

“It is a credit to those guys who put in the work on a daily basis,” Dunbar said. “That translated into their performance on the field and that helps put us in a good spot to win some games. I couldn’t be happier for all these guys who are putting in the work and going about it the right way.”

Laimo made his second all-star game after being honored last year as well. He is hitting .230 in 23 games with 17 hits, one double, one home run, eight RBIs and 22 runs scored. What he has done defensively for the ZooKeepers certainly didn’t go unnoticed. 

“When I called him to congratulate him, his first comment was, ‘Coach, I don’t feel I deserve it,’” Dunbar said. “If that doesn’t tell you who he is as a player and a human being. He is an absolute ballplayer. He does all the right things on the field and off the field. He puts in the work. The numbers may not look pretty, but he gets the job done and those numbers will be there at the end.” 

Laimo said he was excited when he heard the news.

“It wasn’t really going through my mind,” Laimo said of becoming a two-time all-star. “This year, I started playing well right away. Last year, I didn’t have a good start, so my goal was to play better at the start of the season.”

Though Laimo says his numbers may not be where he wants them, there are certainly other aspects of his game that have helped the ZooKeepers this summer.

“Fundamentals, instincts and baseball IQ are things that I have that all come pretty naturally to me,” Laimo said.

The ZooKeepers are second in the league in runs scored with 205, 13 behind Lexington County, and some big reasons for that are Diaz, Oh and Newman. Diaz is just outside the top 10 in the CPL with a .353 batting average and he’s recorded 30 hits, six doubles, a home run, knocked in 22 and scored 17. 

Oh is hitting .323 with 31 hits, four doubles, two home runs, 21 runs scored and 22 RBIs, while Newman is hitting .309 with 29 hits, six doubles, two triples, four home runs, 25 runs scored and 15 RBIs.

“Kruise is such a talented player and a high energy guy,” Dunbar said. “He’s passionate about what he does. They all put in the work.”

The ZooKeepers will also be represented on the mound with McDaniel and Rauscher. 

Rauscher is 2-0 in five starts with a 3.17 ERA. He has given up 21 hits in 22 1/3 innings, walked five and fanned 18.

McDaniel has recorded three saves, pitching 21 2/3 innings with an ERA of 1.24. He has started two games, walked eight and struck out 23.

“He’s had good outing after good outing,” Dunbar said of McDaniel, a lefty. “He has some pitchability. He had a good year with Presbyterian and he’s done it both out of the bullpen and as a starter.”

McDaniel said he was pretty excited when he heard he was an all-star.

“I wanted to have success, but the summer is different than the college season,” McDaniel said.”I wanted to pitch freely, relax and see what I could do. I had some success early on and it kept rolling.”

Heading into the all-star break, the ZooKeepers were 17-11 and in second place in the West Division, trailing Forest City by 1 1/2 games.