ValleyCats send three to New York-Penn All-Star game

TROY — The New York-Penn League announced its 2018 all-stars on Tuesday evening, and three Tri-City ValleyCats made the North All-Stars roster, pitcher Austin Hansen, shortstop Jeremy Pena and outfielder Alex McKenna. 

Hansen, a 2018 eighth round pick out of the University of Oklahoma, has made nine appearances this year for the ValleyCats, eight of them coming out of the bullpen. In his 19 innings pitched this year he has dominated, allowing just two earned runs, good for a 0.95 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. Batters are hitting just .134 off of him and he has struck out 26.

Pena, a shortstop drafted in the third round this year out of the University of Maine, has hit .254 with a .344 on-base percentage in 35 games and 134 at-bats going into Tuesday night. In addition, he has hit a home run and has 22 runs scored. 

McKenna, the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo product that was drafted in the fourth round, has been one of the ValleyCats’ most consistent hitters this year. He leads the team in batting average (.316), on-base percentage (.421), slugging percentage (.547) and OPS (.968) in 27 games this season. Also, he has hit five home runs, all of them coming since July 18, including a three-game home run streak from July 30-August 1. 

The New York-Penn League all-star game in hosted by the State College Spikes this year, and will be held at Lubrano Park on Tuesday, August 14.