TRAVERSE CITY BRINGS IN STRIKEOUT SPECIALIST

4/23/2012 - TRAVERSE CITY MI -- With less than a month to go before spring training, The Traverse City Beach Bums continued to add to their roster, announcing the signing of lefthanded pitcher Patrick Gale.

Gale is a product of the College of Staten Island. For the Dolphins as a senior, he went 5-6 with a 2.47 ERA in 12 games (11 starts). He led the City University of New York Conference with 91 strikeouts on the season. His 11.64 strikeouts per nine innings were the fourth highest total in all of Division III baseball in 2011.

"Gale isn't overpowering, but he knows how to pitch," said Jason Wuerfel, Director of Baseball Operations. "He does all the little things well - fields his position, controls the running game, and knows how to work hitters. He has a lot of movement on the fastball, throws three pitches for strikes, and does a good job keeping hitters off balance. He's an inning eater that will compete for a spot in both the starting rotation and out of the bullpen."

As good as his senior season was, his junior season was even better. Gale went 8-2 with a 2.08 ERA and finished in the top six in NCAA D-III in four different categories including total strikeouts (4th – 105), strikeouts per nine innings (5th – 12.16) and fewest hits allowed per nine innings (6th – 5.79).

Overall in his career, Gale went 21-10 with a 3.46 ERA, striking out 293 batters in 239.1 innings of work.

Gale also was an accomplished hitter for the Dolphins, batting .358 with 44 doubles and 137 RBI in 141 games at the dish.

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