Six Ducks were selected to the Atlantic League All- Star game, which was held Tuesday, June 23 at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium in Newark, and a couple had major impacts in the contest.

The Liberty Division put up four runs in the top of the ninth inning off former New York Mets reliever Armando Benitez to beat the Freedom Division, 7-5.

Ray Navarette hit a two-run homer in the third inning, John Pachot hit a double and Bill Simas earned the win after pitching one and two-thirds innings, allowing one hit and no runs.

Joe Va l ent ine , Estee Harris and Johnny Hernandez joined the others on the roster.

"We're proud of the way our players represented themselves in Newark," Ducks general manager Michael Pfaff said. "They worked hard to get there and showed the fans why they were selected to be in the game with their performances."

It's been seven years since the All-Star game was held at Citibank Park in 2002, and the Ducks will host the event again in 2010, according to the Atlantic League Board of Directors. The date of the game will not be determined until the end of the 2009 season.

TheDucks signed infielder Kyle Reynolds, who has been in the Chicago Cubs organization for the last four seasons.

"We're excited for the opportunity to host this extraordinary event," Pfaff said. "It will be our charge to put on a first-class show that the league and its fans will be proud of."

Ducks twittering away

The Ducks have joined the rest of America and created a Twitter page. Now, fans can check the new site for up-to-date information in less than 140 characters on www.twitter.com/ Ducksgm.

Fans will also get a look at what Pfaff and the team are doing on a daily basis. For example, "left for Camden with new addition on board...Kyle Reynolds is your newest Duck...Preston Wilson could return in this series also," which was posted at 8:11 a.m. on June 25.

Reynolds joins Flock

As stated earlier in this column, the Ducks signed infielder Kyle Reynolds, who was last affiliated with Chicago Cubs Triple-A club in Iowa.

The signing of Antonio Alfonseca will give the Lancaster Barnstormers much-needed depth in their starting rotation.

"We're happy to welcome Kyle aboard," Ducks manager Gary Carter said. "He will be a nice addition to our squad."

Reynolds, in his fifth season of

professional baseball, played at Baylor University, was selected in the sixth round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft by the Cubs and ha s a combined 32 homeruns over the past two seasons. In an additional roster move, the

Ducks announced that infielder Ron Davenport was traded to Bridgeport for a player to be named later.

 

Atlantic League bits and bites

The Lancaster Barnstormers signed former Major League pitchers Antonio Alfonseca and Neal Musser. They also signed former Mets farmhand Nick Abel, who played college ball at Stony Brook University.

Readers can reach Chris Vaccaro at acjnews@rcn.com. Please post his name in the subject line.