Edens picks up win
From staff reports

CARY — Former Appalachian State pitcher Aubrey Edens tossed four innings of two-hit relief to lead his Blue squad to a 4-2 victory over its Red counterparts at the USA Baseball National Team trials on Saturday evening at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary.

A late addition to the National Team trials, Edens earned the win after allowing just one run on two hits and striking out four in his four innings of work. Saturday’s performance against some of the nation’s top collegiate players could serve as the catalyst to a professional contract for the right-hander, who won 11 games in his four years in the Black and Gold, including nine the past two seasons.

This spring, he anchored Appalachian’s starting rotation with a 6-3 record and 4.97 earned run average.

ASU draftees make debuts
Edens’ classmates Zach Quate and Rand Smith made their professional debuts in the Class A New York-Penn League over the weekend.

Quate, a 14th-round selection by the Tampa Bay Rays in this month’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, pitched the ninth inning for the Hudson Valley Renegades in an 8-3 loss to the Aberdeen IronBirds on Sunday afternoon.

ASU’s record-setting closer was saddled with an unearned run in his pro debut but did not figure into the decision.

Smith played center field for the Jamestown Jammers last Friday and Sunday versus the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. The 20th-round selection of the Florida Marlins went 1-for-4 with an RBI in his pro debut on Friday but was 0-for-4 in the Jammers’ 1-0 loss on Sunday.

ASU’s other draftees this spring — New York Yankees’ 24th-round pick Isaac Harrow and Baltimore Orioles’ 38th-round selection Josh Dowdy — are expected to make their professional debuts this week with the Gulf Coast Yankees and the Bluefield Orioles, respectively.

They will become the sixth and seventh former Mountaineers in the minor leagues this summer, as 2008 draftees David Rubinstein, Jason Rook and Garrett Sherrill are currently members of the Class A State College Spikes (Pittsburgh Pirates), Aberdeen IronBirds (Baltimore Orioles) and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Milwaukee Brewers), respectively.