‘Cats sign three players with LA ties

Kevin Amezquita

The HarbourCats announced today that they have signed three more players for the 2015 season, boosting their current roster to a total of 38 players. The new recruits are outfielders Kevin Amezquita and Jake Pries, along with utility infielder Scott Jarvis.

Kevin Amezquita is in his sophomore season with East Los Angeles College (ELAC). The 6-1, 185 lb. centre fielder attended Gladstone High School in Covina, California, where he captained both the baseball and football teams for three years. Amezquita has been successful at getting on base for ELAC, although he has been mainly a singles hitter up to this point in his collegiate career. In his freshman season, Amezquita hit .282 with no homers and 21 RBI and he posted a solid .383 on-base percentage. He is hitting .266 with no homers and 12 RBI in 94 at-bats this spring, in addition to reaching base at a .367 clip. Over the last two seasons, Amezquita has also swiped 9 bases in 17 attempts.

Jake Pries
Photo by Martin Henderson

Jake Pries is a senior at Junipero Serra High School in San Juan Capistrano, California and a UCLA commit for the fall of 2015. The 6-4, 205 lb. outfielder put up a modest .275 / .353 / .374 slash line in his junior year of high school, but he has started his senior year with a bang by registering a robust 1.171 OPS in his first six games this spring. His father Jeff pitched for UCLA, was drafted in the first round of the 1984 draft by the New York Yankees and played professionally as high as AAA.

Third baseman Scott Jarvis is a freshman at UCLA and a former teammate of (2015 HarbourCat) Jackson Thoreson at Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose. Jarvis, who is strong defensively and can also play second base or shortstop, hit .241 with no homers and seven RBI in his senior year of high school. He has yet to make his college debut with UCLA, but the Bruins are ranked seventh in the NCAA, so it’s a pretty tough lineup to crack.

The team also announced that shortstop Ryan Anderson of UC Davis will not be able to play for the HarbourCats this summer due to a knee injury. The loss of Anderson means that Griffin Andreychuk is the only player on the roster with collegiate experience at that position. With Andreychuk being a better fit at second base, don’t be surprised if the ‘Cats sign an experienced shortstop before Opening Day. Hmmmm… I wonder what Mr. HarbourCat has planned for the summer...