Cats sign third Canadian

A former member of the Canadian national junior baseball team is joining the Thunder Bay Border Cats for 2011.

Infielder James Kottaras, a Markham, Ont. native who spent 2007 and 2008 with the junior nationals, is the third Canadian player signed by the Northwoods League squad, one of four players announced on Wednesday.

Also joining the fold are 3B Alex Guthrie, OF Mike Hubbard and pitcher Reid Rooney.
Kottaras, a second-team All-American junior at Peoria, Ill.’s Bradley University, is hitting .167 in six games this spring.

Guthrie, who plays at California’s Loyola Marymount, is hitting .284 with nine doubles and 12 batted in, while Hubbard, a freshman at New York’s Stony Brook University, has a .240 average with a double and one driven in.

Rooney, a 6-foot-4 right-hander from Central Michigan University, has an 0-0 record and 9.00 ERA in three relief appearances. He also has five strikeouts in five innings.
The Cats home opener is scheduled for June 6.