Former Clipper Baseball Standout Aviles Gets Called to the Majors

6/4/2008

Former Clipper Baseball Standout Aviles Gets Called to the Majors

Bronxville, NY - Former Concordia College baseball player Mike Aviles (Middletown, NY) was recently called up to the Kansas City Royals after spending the last 6 seasons in the minor leagues. Aviles made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut on Thursday evening, May 29^th against the Minnesota Twins, where the shortstop batted ninth in the Royals rotation and went 0-3 with a strikeout. In the field, Aviles finished with 3 put-outs and 2 assists, including a 4-6-3 double play in the 9^th inning. The visiting Twins won the game 5-1 over the Royals.

Aviles, 27, was in his third season with the Triple-A Omaha Royals of the Pacific Coast League. Before getting the call to Kansas City, Aviles played 32 games at second base and 18 games at shortstop and was batting an incredible .338, with 42 RBI. Last season, the Middletown, NY native batted .296 (159-538) with 17 home runs, 6 triples, 77 RBI and 78 runs scored. The slugger was named the Kansas City Minor League Player of the Year, as he led the Omaha Royals in hits, RBI, runs scored and triples for the season.

Aviles was drafted by the Royals in the seventh round of the 2003 MLB draft. That summer, Aviles played in the Arizona League for the Surprise Royals and batted .363. Aviles led the Arizona League in with 51 runs and 19 doubles in 52 games and was named Player of the Year in 2003.

At Concordia College, Aviles had a stellar career. In 2003, Aviles' senior season, the shortstop finished with 95 hits, 22 home runs and 83 runs scored. Aviles led the NCAA Division II in batting average (.500), slugging percentage (1.016), runs per game (1.84) and home runs per game (.49). Aviles was named the NCAA Division II Player of the Year in 2003.