The Dohren Wild Farmers finished in second place in last year’s 2nd Baseball-Bundesliga and therefore qualified for the German elite league. Obviously their main goal is to be competitive and to avoid relegation. They have added four new players to the 2010 roster during the winter. Vince DeCoito and Tyson Jaquez were signed to serve as player/coaches, Sebastian Jaap returns from the Pulheim Gophers and Gerrit Reger comes from the Kiel Seahawks.
Born in Fall Rivers, CA the 27-year-old DeCoito, who once struck out 20 batters in a seven-inning game, attended UC Davis between 2002 and 2006 after transferring from Oregon State. The right-hander had a 13-7 record with an ERA of 4.99 in 44 appearances (27 starts). He struck out 102 batters in 178 2/3 innings, walking 56. He is expected to be one of three starting pitchers besides Thies Brunckhorst and Henrik Dallmann.
The 22-year-old Jaquez is also from California, being born in Loyalton. He was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 45th round of the 2005 amateur draft, but didn’t sign. He instead went to college, playing for the University of Nevada from 2007 to 2009 after spending one year at Western Nevada Community College. He batted .287 (OBP .341/SLG .467) with 16 homeruns, 17 doubles, 63 runs and 71 RBI in 127 games for the Wolf Pack.
Jaap, who is a 23-year-old German infielder, already played for Dohren until the end of the 2008 season. He joined the Gophers in 2009 and batted .400 (OBP .476/SLG .622) with four homeruns, 23 runs and 24 RBI in 24 games in his Baseball-Bundesliga debut season. Reger is 22 years old and split time on the mound and at short for the third-division team in Kiel. He batted .318 (OBP .475/SLG .477) in 44 at-bats through 15 games and had a 7-6 record with an ERA of 3.57 in 13 games (ten starts) on the mound. He struck out 94 in 70 2/3 innings, while walking 37.
Four players have left the Wild Farmes during the offseason. Aaron Meyers, Tony Hurla, Mike Lempfert and Thomas Venzske parted ways. Dohren opens the new season at home on April 3rd against the Bonn Capitals.