Covenant News

Two Covenanters Making Marks in Pro Baseball

ALTOONA, PA (August 12, 2004) - Minor league baseball player Nate McLouth of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Whitehall was recently named Eastern League Player of the Week for the period August 2-8 as he continues a stellar season.

McLouth went 4-for-4 as a hitter one night and followed it up with a 3-for-4 night in early August before setting a franchise record a day later. On August 8, McLouth reached base safely in his 31st consecutive game, breaking his own franchise mark set a month earlier. He hit .433 (13-for-30) with three doubles, one homer, five runs batted in, 11 runs scored and four stolen bases during his big week.

A 5-foot-10-inch right fielder, McLouth was hitting .325 overall after last week's games, fourth in the Eastern League hitting statistics for the Altoona Curve, a Class AA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was hitting just .252 on May 23, but has had hitting streaks of 18 and 12 games to raise his average more than 70 points.

McLouth played with the Lynchburg (VA) Hillcats in 2003, earning All-Star honors in the Class A Carolina League and batting .300 with 6 homers and 33 runs batted in and a career-high 40 SB in 117 games. He reached base safely in 42 consecutive games last season while also enjoying a stretch of 23 consecutive stolen bases without being caught.

After an All-State high school baseball career, McLouth was selected by the Pirates in the 25th round of the 2000 draft and made his professional debut in 2001 with Hickory (NC), hitting .285 with 12 HR, 54 RBI and 21 SB in 96 games at the Class A level. In 2002, his Lynchburg team won the Carolina League championship.

At least one other Covenanter is playing minor league baseball professionally. Aaron Marsden of Hope Evangelical Covenant Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota, is a lefty pitcher with the Asheville (NC) Tourists, a South Atlantic League Class A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

As of August 9, Marsden was 10-6 with a 4.20 earned run average and 97 strikeouts in a league-best 150 innings of work. In the summer of 2003, he was the Northwest League's Most Valuable Player with the Class A Tri-City (WA) Dust Devils in his first professional season. He earned academic honors while starring for the University of Nebraska before signing a professional contract.

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