ValleyCats Add Three, Select Franchise-Record Seven Players Frontier League Draft

The Tri-City ValleyCats announced their latest Building the Roster Update with Curtis Lumber on Wednesday following this year’s Frontier League Draft. The ‘Cats selected RHP Easton Klein (first round, sixth overall pick), RHP Rolando Heredia-Bustos (first round, 12th overall pick), RHP Gino Sabatine (second round, 20th overall pick), RHP Jolon Zhao (second round, 28th overall pick), INF Brandt Broussard (third round, 44th overall pick), OF Brad Roberto (fourth round, 50th overall pick), and OF Ian Diaz (fourth round, 51st overall pick). Out of these draftees, Broussard played for Tri-City in 2021, and Zhao is the first ValleyCats player hailing from China.

The ‘Cats traded for RHP Austin Dill from the Rocky Mountain Vibes of the Pioneer Baseball League (PBL) for a player to be named later. The 25-year-old made his professional debut with the Missoula PaddleHeads of the PBL last season, and appeared in 20 games, starting in two of them. He played for six years at Evangel University, an NAIA program, and pitched to the tune of a 3.86 ERA across 300.2 innings, compiling a 28-17 record.

Tri-City acquired OF Ray Hilbrich. The 24-year-old was electric with the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers in the independent United Shore Professional Baseball League in 2023, and slashed .343/.423/.491 in 31 games. He is an alumnus of Purdue University Northwest, and spent five seasons with the Pride at the DII level.

The ValleyCats picked up a familiar foe in RHP Wes Albert. The Lee University product has been in the Frontier League in each of the last four seasons, most recently with the Empire State Greys. He suited up for the Lake Erie Crushers and the Trois-Rivieres Aigles in 2022 along with the Joliet Slammers in 2019 and 2021. The New Rochelle native also split 2022 in the Atlantic League with the Lancaster Barnstormers and the Lexington Legends. During the pandemic, the 28-year-old played with the Nerds Herd in the City of the Champions Cup in 2020. Over five independent league seasons, Albert has made 75 appearances and has worked 148.2 innings.

Tri-City is scheduled to play two exhibition games at Joe Bruno Stadium. The first on Wednesday, May 1st against Hudson Valley Community College at 6 PM, and the second matchup will be against Too Hot Baseball on Friday, May 3rd at 6 PM.Season 22 of ValleyCats baseball and entertainment continues as single game tickets, ticket plans and group outings are available to purchase. The ‘Cats return to Joseph L. Bruno Stadium for their home opener on Friday, May 17 for a 6:30 PM start against the Washington Wild Things. You can be a part of the excitement by logging on to tcvalleycats.com or by calling 518-629-CATS (2287).