Editor’s Note: Over the next several weeks, the Peninsula Daily News will feature profiles of the 2018 Lefties’ players. This is the first installment.
PORT ANGELES — The Lefties announced this week the first six signees for the 2018 season, including one player returning so far from last season.
The first signees are pitchers Nathan Bonck and Ethan Christianson of Seattle University, pitcher Devin Sutorius and returning player Jake Portaro of Biola College, infielder Brennan Rozell of Long Beach State, and Outfielder Chris Schasteen of UC, San Diego.
“These are a great group of players coming in. Chastine [Schasteen] is a plus runner, with a plus arm to play centerfield for us. A very good athlete I see hitting at the top of the order to set the table for the guys behind him. He is going to be a key to our success on both offense and defense,” said coach Darren Westergard.
“Rozell is a senior in high school that is going to play shortstop for the [Long Beach State] Dirtbags. Long Beach State has a proud tradition of sending shortstops to the pros.”
The first six signees are:
Nathan Bonck
Bonck, a native of Ketchikan, Alaska, is a sophomore at Seattle University. He appeared in 15 games as a freshman, with five starts and 22 strikeouts in 29.2 innings.
Ethan Christianson
Christianson, a native of Meridian, Idaho, is an incoming freshman at Seattle University. He will graduate from Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian this May. He was named the 2017 Gatorade Idaho baseball player of the year and posted a 7-0 record with a 0.72 ERA, striking out 57 batters in 39 innings.
Devin Sutorius
Sutorius is a native of Dana Point, Calif., and is a junior at Biola University. He pitched 50 innings as a sophomore at Saddleback Community College with a 3.42 ERA. In high school, he was a first-team all-league selection in 2013 and 2014 and second-team all-league in 2015.
Jake Portaro
Portaro played with the Lefties last season. He is a native of Las Vegas, Nev. In 40 games, he hit .238 with three homers, 19 RBIs, a .349 on-base percentage and an OPS of .730.
Brennan Rozell
A native of Lincoln, Calif., Rozell hit .434 at Lincoln High and played in the 2017 Area Code Games. He has committed to play for the Long Beach State Dirtbags.
Chris Schasteen
Schasteen is a native of Sammamish, and a junior at UC San Diego. He played for Westergard for two seasons at Skagit Valley Community College. In 2017, he hit .294 with a .335 OBP and a .708 OPS while playing center field.
Season Tickets
There is still time to get season tickets for the 2018 season. Enjoy every Lefties home game during the regular season at a discounted rate, and have first priority to purchase All-Star game tickets, and playoff tickets. You can go to www.leftiesbaseball.com/tickets to purchase now.
The Lefties are entering their second season in Port Angeles after a successful inaugural season in which the team was among the leaders in the West Coast League in attendance. For more information, visit www.leftiesbaseball.com, and you can also follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
The West Coast League is a summer wood bat league for college-eligible student-athletes. There are teams in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.
The Lefties will also be hosting the WCL All-Star Game this year
