Three Jayhawks to Play in Walla Walla Next Summer

Nov. 18, 2009

WALLA WALLA, Wash. –

The Walla Walla Sweets, an expansion team in the West Coast Baseball League, announced Wednesday that they have signed current Jayhawk sophomore James Stanfield and freshmen Jordan Dreiling and Kevin Kuntz for the upcoming 2010 summer season.

Stanfield, a sophomore catcher from Owasso, Okla., played in 23 games as a freshman in 2009, and hit .250 with a double and 13 RBIs. The sophomore, who was used predominantly as a utility infielder last season, had a clutch two-run single in KU’s Big 12 Championship contest with Kansas State on May 20.

Dreiling, a freshman infielder from Lawrence, Kan., took a redshirt season last year, while Kuntz, an infielder from Overland Park, Kan., will both be participating in their first season of collegiate baseball this spring.

“Any championship team is strong up the middle on defense,” Walla Walla Sweets general manager Zachery Fraser said.

“That is where we are going to start, and I am confident that these three – James, Jordan and Kevin – will be a good step in that direction. They come highly recommended from a program that has quickly become one of the elite programs in a top conference.”

Kansas will open the 2010 regular season on Feb. 19, hosting Eastern Michigan. The Jayhawks finished last season with a 39-24 record and reached the championship round at the Chapel Hill Region during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. KU fell to eventual College World Series participant, North Carolina.