Voyagers prepped for all-star contest

SPOKANE, Wash. – Three Great Falls Voyagers will be a part of history Tuesday when they take the field for the inaugural Northwest League/Pioneer League All-Star Game.

Voyagers left-hander Tanner Banks will start on the mound, Great Falls catcher Zach Fish will serve as the starting designated hitter and righty Evin Einhardt will be in relief for the Pioneer League in the first-of-its-kind all-star contest.

Banks has been dominant since coming to the Voyagers from low-A Kannapolis earlier this season. The 18th-round pick a year ago is 3-1 with a bite-sized 1.14 ERA in eight starts.

Fish leads the Pioneer in homers with nine and is hitting .306 in 31 games with the Voyagers.

Einhardt, another Great Falls starter, is 4-1 in eight starts with a 3.40 ERA.

The Pioneer squad isn’t just full of Great Falls stars. Nine of the 28 roster players were drafted in the top 10 rounds of this year’s MLB draft, including Orem catcher Taylor Ward, who will be Banks’ backstop. Ward was a first-round selection of the Los Angeles Angels this season and boasts a .344 batting average and 14 RBI this year.

The Billings Mustangs’ coaching staff will preside over the team, headed up by manager and MLB veteran Dick Schofield.

MEANWHILE, with the big club, former Great Falls outfielder Trayce Thompson was called up by the Chicago White Sox Monday to replace injured reserve JB Shuck. Thompson was not in Sox’s starting lineup.

A second-round pick of the White Sox’s in 2009, Thompson hit .238 in seven games for Great Falls at the end of the 2009 season. He began the 2015 season with AAA Charlotte.

Whenever he takes the field, Thompson will be the third Voyagers alum to make his MLB debut this season. Micah Johnson (Voyagers 2012) was the Opening Day starter at second base, and pitcher Chris Beck (Voyagers 2012) was called up for a spot-start May 28.

IN OTHER WHITE SOX news, the organization announced that Nick Hostetler will assume the role of director of amateur scouting. Hostetler takes over the position from Doug Laumann, who will move to a senior advisor role with the White Sox. Laumann’s son, Jackson, played for the Voyagers in 2014.