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Former Vaquero Alonzo Gonzalez gets feet wet as a pro

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The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level.

Alonzo Gonzalez (Glendale Community College, 2012) Gulf Coast League Blue Jays starting/relief pitcher: Less than a month after being selected in the 18th round with the 565th overall pick of the 2012 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, Gonzalez made his professional debut on June 26.

The lanky lefty pitched three innings of relief against the GCL Braves and gave up one earned run on one hit, a home run.

Since then, Gonzalez, a former Glendale Angeleno, made two more appearances out of the pen — one a scoreless two-inning stretch, the other a single frame in which he surrendered a run on three hits — before making his first start on Tuesday against the host GCL Pirates. Gonzalez went four innings, in which he allowed three earned runs on four hits to take the loss.

On the season, Gonzalez is 0-1 with a 4.50 earned-run average with five strikeouts to just one walk for the Rookie League affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

At 6-16, the Blue Jays are 10 games back in fifth place in the Gulf Coast League North Division.

Jason Botts (Glendale Community College, 2000) outfielder, Piratas de Campeche: Botts has hit safely in eight of his last nine games and continues to produce runs with five driven in in that span, including his sixth home run of the season belted in a win over Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz on Thursday.

Botts, who had several stints with the Texas Rangers before playing in Japan, went one for three in that game to keep his average at a robust .343 with 14 runs batted in and three runs scored since joining the club on June 13.

Piratas De Campeche (43-52) are in sixth place in the Mexican League Sur Division.

Ryan Sherriff (Glendale Community College, 2011) starting pitcher, Palm Beach Cardinals: A string of six quality starts, five of them wins, to open the season for the former Vaquero left-hander was recently snapped, as Sherriff’s last two outings have not gone as smoothly.

Sherriff was touched up for five runs (four earned) in just 3 1/3 innings in his last outing on Monday against the Charlotte Stone Crabs after struggling against the host Jupiter Hammerheads on July 3 when he gave up four runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Sherriff didn’t draw a loss in either affair, though, keeping his record spotless at 5-0 while still maintaining a tidy 3.28 ERA with 22 strikeouts to nine walks in 49 1/3 innings pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals’ Class-A Advanced affiliate.

The Palm Beach Cardinals are 10-11 for fourth place in the Florida State League South Division

Trevor Bell (Crescenta Valley High, 2005) starting pitcher, Salt Lake Bees: Bell made his return to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Triple-A affiliate Saturday from a two-month stint on the disabled list with a right-elbow strain, but didn’t fare well after the long layoff.

The former Falcon lasted just 2/3 of an inning against the Tacoma Rainiers, allowing five runs on three hits and two walks, although just one of the runs was earned.

Bell took the loss, however, to fall to 1-5 on the season, while his ERA with the Bees rose to 7.71 with 23 strikeouts to 20 walks.

Entering the day, Salt Lake was 45-46 for third place in the Pacific Coast League Pacific Northern Division.

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