Eight Tulsa Drillers Selected For All-Star Game

The roster for the Texas League All-Star game were released Thursday and eight Tulsa Drillers will be on the field for the 76th annual game that will be played in Tulsa.

Tulsa players Nolan Arenado, Josh Rutledge, Lars Davis, Ben Paulsen, Edwar Cabrera, Dan Houston, Nick Schmidt and Coty Woods. In addition, a handful of Drillers staff members including manager Duane Espy, pitching coach Dave Schuler, hitting coach Kevin Riggs and trainer Austin O'Shea will handle the North Division squad for the game.

This year's game will be played on June 28 at Tulsa's ONEOK Field.

Third baseman Arenado, shortstop Rutledge and catcher Davis will be starters in the game, while Paulsen will be a reserve first baseman. The starting pitcher for the game has not been announced.

The eight representatives tied Tulsa with Frisco for the most players in the game. The RoughRiders also placed eight players on the South Division roster.

The North Division team includes players from the Drillers, Arkansas Travelers, Northwest Arkansas Naturals and Springfield Cardinals while the South Division roster consists of players from the Corpus Christi Hooks, Frisco RoughRiders, Midland RockHounds and San Antonio Missions.

A variety of festivities will take place surrounding the All-Star game. A pre-game Home Run Derby will crown a Texas League Champion and a High School Champion. Baseball Hall of Fame member Whitey Herzog is scheduled to throw out the first pitch, and the Grammy nominated group Hanson will sing the National Anthem. A fireworks show will cap off the All-Star weekend after the game.

Tickets are available through the Drillers web site or by phone at (918)744-5901.

2012 Texas League North Division All-Star Team

Starters
1B John Whittleman (Northwest Arkansas)
2B Kolten Wong (Springfield)
3B Nolan Arenado (Tulsa)
SS Josh Rutledge (Tulsa)
C Lars Davis (Tulsa)
DH Christian Colon (Northwest Arkansas)
OF Yem Prades (Northwest Arkansas)
OF Oscar Taveras (Springfield)
OF Carlo Testa (Northwest Arkansas)

Reserves
C Audry Perez (Springfield)
IF Jermaine Curtis (Springfield)
IF Ben Paulsen (Tulsa)
IF Jean Segura (Arkansas)
OF Roberto Lopez (Arkansas)

Pitchers
RHP Keith Butler (Springfield)
LHP Edwar Cabrera (Tulsa)
RHP Dan Houston (Tulsa)
RHP Patrick Keating (Northwest Arkansas)
LHP Justin Marks (Northwest Arkansas)
RHP Ariel Pena (Arkansas)
RHP Trevor Rosenthal (Springfield)
LHP Nick Schmidt (Tulsa)
RHP A. J. Schugel (Arkansas)
RHP Coty Woods (Tulsa)

Staff
Manager Duane Espy (Tulsa)
Coach Kevin Riggs (Tulsa)
Coach Dave Schuler (Tulsa)
Trainer Austin O'Shea (Tulsa)