(VOYAGERS MEDIA RELEASE)
GREAT FALLS –The Chicago White Sox have officially released the Great Falls Voyagers 2018 opening day roster. The Pioneer League slate starts with a Friday night home game against the Helena Brewers. The season opener at Centene Stadium is scheduled for 7 o’clock, with gates opening at 6 p.m. The Voyagers will then play two road games at Helena this weekend before returning home to conclude the four-game series with the Brewers on Monday night.
The 2018 roster features two players who suited up for Great Falls during the 2017 season. There is one player back from the 2016 squad. The lone returning pitcher is Iowa native Chris Comito. Comito was a 15th round draft pick of the White Sox out of Norwalk High School in 2015. Comito was a starter last season for the Voyagers staff that led the Pioneer League in lowest team ERA for a second consecutive season. Individually, Comito finished fourth in the league in ERA. In 2016, he went 8-1 for Great Falls with a 3.43 ERA in 14 starts and was named an end-of-season all-star. Infielder Amado Nunez is the other returning Voyager from the 2017 playoff team. Nunez appeared in 34 games for Great Falls and posted 26 hits with 17 RBIs. The 20-year-old Dominican Republic native played defensively at third base. And, former 6th round draft pick Corey Zangari makes his return to the Electric City after not playing in 2017 due to injury. Zangari appeared in 53 games for the Voyagers in 2016 and hit .257 with 7 HRs and 27 RBIs. The 21-year-old from Midwest City, OK clubbed a three-run homer in a divisional round playoff game against Billings two years ago. Zangari also suited up for Kannapolis earlier that season and combined for 15 HRs and 51 RBIs between the two outfits.
The Voyagers new roster carries 14 picks from this year’s Major League Baseball draft and five players from the first 10 rounds. Among the pitchers, the highest round selection on the opening day roster is 5th round choice Jonathan Stiever out of Indiana University. 6th round pick and Missoula-born Codi Heuer was drafted out of Wichita State. Andrew Perez was taken in the 8th round from the University of South Florida. 10th rounder Bennett Sousa pitched collegiately at the University of Virginia. Heuer’s college teammate with the Shockers, catcher Gunnar Troutwine, was selected in the 9th round and assigned to Great Falls.
In total, there are 15 pitchers, three catchers, seven infielders, and five outfielders. The roster includes five international players (three from the Dominican Republic, one from Venezuela, and one from Colombia). Of the U.S. born players, four each hail from California and Florida, three are from Indiana, and two each from Iowa and Oklahoma. The roster also consists of four draft picks from the 2017 class, including outfielder and 14th round pick Alex Destino from the University of South Carolina.
