Carolina League (A-Advanced)

Alumni playing in the Carolina League: 8
Most Numerous Team: Frederick Keys (4)

The Frederick Keys are a virtual Who's Who of former Cal Ripken League players, with five Ripken Leaguers playing in 2010. Zach Clark and Kenny Moreland played for the rival Silver Spring-Takoma T-Bolts and Bethesda Big Train, respectively, that shared the 2005 Cal Ripken League Championship. Youse's Orioles Brian Conley ('06), LJ Hoes ('07), and Oliver Drake ('08) round out the continuum of ''early'' Ripken Leaguers (hey, we're six seasons old already!) who played for the Keys in 2010.

Scroll down for player capsules.

Bour spent the bulk of the season with the Winston-Salem Dash in 2010, progressing nicely as the season went on. He finished hitting .302/.376/.570 with 45 hits in 41 games. Bour collected 14 doubles, four triples (as a catcher), and six home runs. He drove in 26 runs and scored 34. Bour walked 16 times and struck out just 29 times in 149 at-bats for the Dash. He finished the season on a nine-game hitting streak. Prior to his promotion to Winston-Salem, Bour spent 18 games with the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League, going 14-for-59 (.237) with a pair of doubles, two RBI, and seven runs scored.

In 2009, Bour played 44 games for the Sarasota Reds of the Florida State League before a mid-season promotion to the Carolina Mudcats of the Southern League. For Sarasota, Bour hit .263/.305/.353 with 41 hits, including eight doubles and two home runs in 156 at-bats. The catcher drove in 13 runs and scored 13. He walked eight times to 45 strikeouts and was successful in his only stolen base attempt. For Carolina, Bour went 18-for-76 in 26 games with six doubles, four RBI, and three runs scored. He walked five times and struck out 21.

Bour went 57-for-247 (.231) with 16 doubles, two triples, and seven home runs for the Dayton Dragons in the Midwest League in 2008. He drove in 28 runs and scored 22, and walked 10 times.

Bour hit .287 in 42 games for the Billings Mustangs in the Rookie-Level Pioneer League. Bour collected 45 hits in 157 at-bats with nine doubles and a home run. He knocked in 22 runs and scored 15 of his own.

Buchholz continued to progress in his second full professional season. After advancing to the Florida State League in 2009, Buchholz spent all of 2010 with the Lynchburg Hillcats of the Carolina League. He hit .271/.328/.417 with 65 hits in 240 at-bats, including 17 doubles and six home runs. Buchholz drove in 36 runs and scored 19. He struck out 32 times and walked 18, and was successful on six of ten stolen base attempts.

Buchholz began the 2009 season with the Reds of the Gulf Coast League before moving up to the Sarasota Reds of the Florida State League, where he went 79-for-334 with 18 doubles, two triples, and two home runs. Buchholz drove in 34 runs and scored 38 on 23 walks. Buchholz stole three bases in seven attempts and struck out 59 times. For the GCL Reds, Buchholz collected four hits, two of which were doubles, in 16 at-bats.

The most productive of the Cal Ripken, Sr. League's 2008 draft class, Buchholz hit an impressive .396/.471/.604 for the Billings Mustangs of the Rookie-Level Pioneer League. He collected 53 hits, including 15 doubles, two triples, and three home runs. Buchholz knocked in 26 runs and scored 31. He walked 16 times and stole three bases.

Clark bounced around the Baltimore Orioles organization much as he has each season of his 5-year professional career. In 2010, he spent the bulk of his time with the Class-AA Bowie Baysox, appearing in 14 games there, with two starts. Clark went 1-1, 3.41 with a save for Bowie before earning a promotion to the Class-AAA Norfolk Tides. For the Tides, Clark went 0-5, 4.13 in six games (four starts). He struck out 16 batters and walked ten in 28.1 innings for Norfolk. Clark was then reassigned to the Class-A Frederick Keys, where he made nine starts to finish out the season. He went 2-3, 5.25 with 38 strikeouts in 48 innings for the Keys. At Frederick, Clark allowed 31 runs (28 earned) on 58 hits and 12 walks.

As he did in 2008, Clark again played for four teams in 2009, travelling from the Orioles of the Gulf Coast League, all the way to the AAA Norfolk Tides of the International League. The bulk of his season was spent with the Bowie Baysox of the Eastern League, where he went 2-1, 5.06 in 13 relief appearances. He struck out 16 batters and walked eight in 26.2 innings for Bowie, allowing 16 runs on 34 hits. He did not record a decision with any of his other three ballclubs, making four starts for the GCL Orioles and appearing in four and two ballgames for the Frederick Keys of the Carolina League and Tides, respectively. Overall, Clark struck out 35 batters in 48.1 innings and allowed 21 runs on 48 hits and 13 walks. Opponents hit .264 off of him.

Clark made stops with four teams in the Orioles organization in 2008. He spent the vast majority of his ’08 campaign with the Bowie Baysox of the Class-AA Eastern League, where he went 4-2, 3.60 in ten starts. He allowed 24 earned runs on 57 hits and 13 walks with 25 strikeouts over 60 innings pitched. Opposing batters hit just .248 off of him at Bowie. Overall, in 32 games (19 starts) combined with the Delmarva Shorebirds of the Class-A South Atlantic League, the Norfolk Tides of the Class-AAA International League, the Frederick Keys of the Class-A Carolina League, and the Baysox, Clark went 8-8, 3.86 with two saves, 55 strikeouts, and just 28 walks in 121.1 innings-pitched.

In 2007, Clark earned a promotion to Delmarva after allowing just three earned runs in 26.1 innings for the Aberdeen IronBirds of the Class-A Short Season New York-Penn League. Clark went 2-3 with a 3.10 ERA in nine starts (10 appearances) for the Shorebirds, including one complete game. He struck out 37 batters in 58 innings-pitched and walked just nine. For the IronBirds, Clark finished with a 3-1 record and 1.03 ERA in four starts (five appearances), with 20 strikeouts and just seven walks. Opponents in the New York-Penn League hit just .194 off of him. Clark also saw time with the Frederick Keys of the Class-A Carolina League in 2007. He was 0-1 in three appearances for the Keys.

In 2006, Zach started 13 games and went 5-4 for the Bluefield Orioles of the Rookie-level Appalachian League before earning a promotion to the IronBirds. For Bluefield, Zach struck out 58 batters in 64 innings pitched while posting a 2.11 ERA. He allowed just one home run. In two starts (three appearances) for the IronBirds, Clark struck out five batters and allowed nine runs in eleven innings pitched. He went 1-1 for Aberdeen.

Conley posted solid numbers for the Delmarva Shorebirds of the Sally League before earning a late-season promotion to the Frederick Keys in 2010. For Delmarva, Conley hit .270/.393/.401 with 91 hits, including 16 doubles, five doubles, and six home runs to earn a spot on the Mid-Season All-Star Team. He drove in 29 runs and scored 52. Conley also walked an impressive 70 times (most on the team) and posted a 1:1 walk to strikeout ratio with Delmarva. He stole 20 bases in 23 attempts before his promotion. In 16 games for Frederick, Conley went 10-for-45 with a triple and home run. He drove in four runs and scored two.

Conley bounced up and down the Baltimore Orioles farm system in 2009, reaching as high as Double-A, where he played in four games for the Bowie Baysox of the Eastern League (going 1-for-7). He also played 31 games for the Aberdeen IronBirds of the New York-Penn League before finishing the season with the Delmarva Shorebirds of the South Atlantic League. Conley went 26-for-99 (.263) with Aberdeen, collecting four doubles, two triples, and a home run while driving in eight runs and scoring 23. Conley had 10 hits for the Shorebirds, including a double and a home run, and drove in seven runs and scored 12. In all of his stops, Conley exhibited strong plate discipline, walking 40 times in 2009 to just 48 strikeouts. He posted an on-base percentage of .395 while at Aberdeen.

Conley hit .248/.355/.376 with 33 hits, including five doubles, three triples, and two home runs, for the Bluefield Orioles of the Rookie-Level Appalachian League in 2008. Conley drove in ten runs and scored 25 on 19 walks and three stolen bases.

Drake went 6-6, 4.36 in 21 starts (24 total appearances) for the Frederick Keys in 2010, and earned an assignment to the Scottsdale Scorpions of the prestigious Arizona Fall League for Winter Ball. With the Keys, Drake struck out 100 batters in 128 innings and walked just 37. He allowed 70 runs (62 earned) on 135 hits.

Drake started 24 games for the Delmarva Shorebirds of the South Atlantic League in 2009, going 8-9, 4.34 with 104 strikeouts in 130.2 innings-pitched. Drake allowed 72 runs on 138 hits and 42 walks.

Drake was dominant everywhere he went this summer, starting with Youse’s Orioles. After being drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in June, Drake went 4-1, 1.00 in five starts for Dean Albany’s squad before signing a professional contract and reporting to the Bluefield Orioles of the Rookie-Level Appalachian League. For Bluefied, Drake made seven relief appearances and allowed just two runs (one earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out 11 batters in 11.2 innings. The righty was quickly promoted to the Aberdeen IronBirds of the New York-Penn League, where he appeared in five games out of the bullpen, earning one save. Drake allowed just three runs (one earned) on nine hits and one walk while striking out 13 batters in 10.1 innings for the IronBirds. Opponents hit a combined .190 off of Drake at Bluefield and Aberdeen.

Hodgson went 6-9, 4.22 in an entire season with the Class-A Advanced Wilmington Blue Rocks in 2010. He made 17 starts and nine relief appearances, striking out 80 batters in 111 innings with 124 hits and 35 walks allowed. He allowed 60 runs (52 earned), including six home runs.

Hodgson made strides in his third professional season in 2009, going 2-0, 2.49 in five starts for the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League before earning a promotion to the Burlington Bees of the Midwest League. For the Bees, Hodgson made seven starts and two relief appearances, going 3-1, 3.98 with 37 strikeouts in 40.2 innings. He allowed 19 runs on 45 hits and 15 walks. On August 11, Hodgson tossed seven innings of two-hit ball, allowing one unearned run on four walks while striking out seven en route to the win. That performance followed a win on August 6 in which he struck out a season-high 12 batters.

Hodgson was solid as a starter for the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League in 2008, going 3-6, 3.14 in 15 starts. He struck out 67 batters and allowed just one home run in 71.2 innings. Hodgson allowed 37 runs (25 earned) on 62 hits and 33 walks and opposing batters hit just .233 off of him.

Though an All-League outfielder with the Rockville Express in 2006, Hodgson was drafted as a pitcher by the Royals in 2007. Hodgson went 1-1 with a 5.29 ERA in 14 games for the Rookie-Level Arizona League Royals. Hodgson struck out 36 batters in 32.1 innings. He allowed 45 hits and 15 walks, but just one home run.

Jones moved from the Short Season New York-Penn League, to the Class-A South Atlantic League, to the Class-A Advanced Carolina League in 2010, but struggled to get going in any stop. Overall, he collected 51 hits in 250 at-bats (.204), including ten doubles, two triples, and six home runs, the bulk of which came with the Hagerstown Suns of the Sally League. Jones drove in 23 runs in 2010, and scored 26. He walked 13 times to 93 strikeouts and was successful on both of his stolen-base attempts.

Jones’ 2009 season was derailed by injury. He played in just 9 games for the Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League, collected six hits in 34 at-bats with one RBI and three runs scored. He walked three times and struck out eight.

Jones hit .333/.403/.433 with 20 hits, including two doubles and two triples, for the Vermont Lake Monsters of the New York-Penn League in 2008. He drove in six runs and scored 11, walked five times and stole two bases.

Moreland spent time with both the Delmarva Shorebirds and the Frederick Keys in 2010. With Delmarva, the righty went 7-7, 4.20 in 16 starts with 70 strikeouts in 100.2 innings. In nine starts and three relief appearances with Frederick, Moreland went 2-3, 5.80 with 37 strikeouts in 49.2 innings. His best attribute continued to be his control of the strikezone; Moreland walked just 22 batters in 150.1 total innings in 2010. He was pitcher of the week in the South Atlantic League the week of June 21.

Moreland dominated the New York-Penn League as a starter for the Aberdeen IronBirds in 2009 before earning a promotion to the Frederick Keys of the Carolina League. Moreland went 6-1, 0.88 with one shutout in eight starts for the IronBirds. He struck out 39 batters in 51 innings and walked just three. Moreland allowed five earned runs on 32 hits for Aberdeen. After his promotion, the righty went 4-2, 4.72 in nine starts for the Keys. He struck out 29 and walked seven batters in 47.2 innings, allowing 26 runs on 43 hits. Opponents hit a combined .204 off of him in 2009.

The 2008 Division III National Pitcher-of-the-Year, Moreland went undrafted in June but signed with the Baltimore Orioles as a free agent. The righty was excellent at his first stop with the Bluefield Orioles, going 6-4, 2.93 in 13 starts with 65 strikeouts in 67.2 innings, compared to just six walks. Moreland allowed 22 runs on 70 hits, and opponents hit .266 off of him at Bluefield. He was then promoted to the Frederick Keys of the Carolina League, where he made one relief appearance, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk with three strikeouts in two innings.