The Gauting Indians announced last weekend that they have completed the roster for the 2011 season in the German Baseball-Bundesliga. The Americans Benji Waite, Travis Latz and Bryan Rojas will take over the foreign player spots for Kyle Kearcher, Kyle Allen, Andy Kropf and Kory Twede. Additionally former Philadelphia Phillies minor leaguer Jakub Sladek is coming from Kotlarka Prague. The club also confirmed that John Dobkowski and Matti Emery will return for another season in the south of Munich.
The 24-year-old Waite is going to be the starting pitcher for game two each week. The right-hander attended the University of Alabama and also can handle the bat pretty well. Latz is an outfielder/first baseman/pitcher from Texas, who batted a combined .381 with 43 homeruns and 200 RBI in four years at the Abilene Christian University. Rojas is a 25-year-old middle infielder from Florida.
The 21-year-old Sladek already has played in the Baseball-Bundesliga, when he wore the jersey of the Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg in 2008. During that time he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and made his professional debut in 2009, playing in the Gulf Coast League. He was released and returned to the Czech Republic, taking the field for Kotlarka Prague in the Extraleague last year. He also is a member of the Czech National Team.
The 25-year-old Dobkowski is a right-handed pitcher from New York, who also has a Polish passport and therefore isn’t considered as a foreign player. He came to Gauting last winter. He went 5-3 with an ERA of 5.83, 34 strikeouts and 16 walks in 54 innings during the regular season last year. In the playdowns he was 3-1 with an ERA of 1.27 and 24 strikeouts (4 walks) in 35 1/3 innings. Emery is a 24-year-old catcher from Ottawa, Canada, who has an Estonian passport and came to the Indians during the 2009 season. He is batting .284/.346/.433 in 38 games since.