First-place Wood Ducks sweep weekly awards

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (June 3, 2019) - The Down East Wood Ducks put together a 5-1 week to push their league-best record to 39-18 behind infielder Diosbel Arias and southpaw Jake Latz, who have earned the Carolina League's Player and Pitcher of the Week awards for May 27-June 2.
Entering Monday's action, Arias, Latz and the Wood Ducks boast a .684 winning percentage, which trails only the South Atlantic League's Delmarva Shorebirds (42-13, .764) and the California League's Visalia Rawhide (37-15, .712) for the top mark in all of Minor League Baseball. Down East owns a magic number of six to clinch the first-half Southern Division championship.

Arias paced all qualified hitters in the Minors in batting average last week, posting a .579 (11-for-19) mark in his six games. The 22-year-old also finished at or near the top of the Carolina League in several categories: runs (7; T-1st), hits (11; 2nd), doubles (3; T-2nd), OPS (1.417, 3rd) and RBIs (5; T-6th).
In his first season within a full-season league, Arias stands fifth among CL qualifiers with a .317 batting average, while he is third with 66 hits and tied for 10th with 31 runs scored.
Latz punctuated the Wood Ducks' seven-game win streak with a stellar performance on Saturday that propelled the former Kent State star to his second weekly honor in the Minor Leagues. The left-hander overwhelmed Salem over seven strong innings, during which he allowed just one hit and struck out nine in a 7-0 Down East victory.
Over his last five starts, Latz has posted a 0.67 earned run average (two earned runs in 27.0 innings pitched). If he had enough innings to qualify, Latz would be third on the circuit with a 2.29 ERA.
The Wood Ducks continue a three-game road series at Lynchburg on Monday at 6:30 p.m., while the team will return home to Grainger Stadium on Thursday for the first of four against Frederick.