Southern League reveals 2010 All-Stars

Huntsville's Joe Davis Stadium better get ready for some fireworks, because the Southern League All-Star Game is comin' to town.

The July 12 event at the home of the Milwaukee Brewers' Double-A affiliate, the Huntsville Stars, will feature some of the heaviest hitting prospects around, including Jacksonville's Brandon Tripp and hometown favorite Lorenzo Cain of the Stars. This will be Tripp's third All-Star Game in his short career, and he has risen quickly through the ranks since getting traded to the Marlins organization. He is second in the league in both batting average (.322) and slugging percentage (.517) and has seen his production soar when batting with runners in scoring position. Cain has dazzled the Huntsville crowd all season with his speed and ability to get on base. Cain is in the top five in the league in stolen bases (19), average (.319) and on-base percentage (.404).

Both squads feature a slew of sluggers who will provide some major firepower for their respective sides. The North Division will rely on West Tenn first baseman Johan Limonta (10 HR, .511 SLG, 52 RBIs) -- whose 25 doubles lead the league -- as well as the league's RBI leader, Chattanooga third basemen Corey Smith (8 HR, 58 RBI, .482 SLG).

Although the South Division has seen many of its best hitters promoted in recent weeks -- notably Mike Stanton -- many fresh faces will try to make an impact. A plethora of Mobile players pepper the Southern roster and have been responsible for the team's streaking second-half start. Konrad Schmidt has been spectacular as the Mobile backstop this season and finds himself tied for fifth in the league with a .319 average. Evan Frey, Schmidt's teammate, should anchor the Southern squad's outfield as he does Mobile's. Frey is in the top 10 league-wide in average (.310), on-base percentage (.386) and stolen bases (20).

On the mound, the North squad will turn to the right arm of Matt Klinker to set the pace. The Carolina Mudcat leads the league in ERA (1.75), is second in WHIP (.097) and has fanned 71 batters. Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Ryan Buchter, David Cales and Hung-Wen Chen -- Tennessee Smokies all -- make up a large portion of the pitching staff that has issued the fewest walks in the Southern League this year, and they will be heavily relied upon for the North.

The South division squad will need Jacksonville's Elih Villanueva's iron arm to produce several innings of proficient pitching to keep the North squad's hitters at bay. Villanueva leads the Southern League in innings pitched with 101 1/3 and led his Suns to the first-half division championship. Pairing the stamina of Villanueva with the heat of the Biscuits Alexander Torres, who leads the league in strikeouts with 86, will prove tough for North hitters.

2010 Southern League All-Star Teams
North Division All-Star Team				South Division All-Star Team
Position Players
PLAYER	POS	TEAM		PLAYER	POS	TEAM
Robinson Chirinos	C	Tennessee		Orlando Mercado	C	Mississippi
Steve Clevenger	C	Tennessee		Konrad Schmidt	C	Mobile
Johan Limonta	1B	West Tenn		Jim Gallagher**	1B	Birmingham
Jake Kahaulelio	2B	Carolina		Drew Anderson	2B	Montgomery
Brett Lawrie*	2B	Huntsville		Matt Dominguez	3B	Jacksonville
Corey Smith	3B	Chattanooga		Jacob Elmore	SS	Mobile
Alex Liddi*	3B	West Tenn		Willie Cabrera	OF	Mississippi
Carlos Triunfel	SS	West Tenn		Evan Frey	OF	Mobile
Tony Campana	OF	Tennessee		Emeel Salem**	OF	Mobile
Sean Henry	OF	Carolina		Brandon Tripp	OF	Jacksonville
Carlos Peguero*	OF	West Tenn		Collin Cowgill**	DH	Mobile
David Sappelt	OF	Carolina		Mauro Gomez*	UTL INF	Mississippi
Blake Lalli	DH	Tennessee		Salvador Sanchez	UTL OF	Birmingham
Mike Costanzo	UTL INF	Carolina
Trayvon Robinson	UTL OF	Chattanooga
Pitchers
PLAYER	POS	TEAM		PLAYER	POS	TEAM
Michael Bowman**	RHP	Huntsville		Brandon Beachy	RHP	Mississippi
Ryan Buchter	LHP	Tennessee		Anthony Carter	RHP	Birmingham
Tom Cochran	LHP	Carolina		Josh Collmenter	RHP	Mobile
Jon Huber**	RHP	Chattanoogs		Matt Gorgen	RHP	Montgomery
Kenley Jansen	RHP	Chattanooga		Jeremy Hall	RHP	Montgomery
Amaury Rivas	RHP	Huntsville		Daniel Jennings	LHP	Jacksonville
Mauricio Robles**	LHP	West Tenn		Tom Koehler	RHP	Jacksonville
Luke Sommer	LHP	Tennessee		Leyson Septimo**	LHP	Mobile
Anthony Varvaro	RHP	West Tenn		Miguel Socolovich	RHP	Birmingham
				Elih Villanueva	RHP	Jacksonville
Selected But Unable to Play
PLAYER	POS	TEAM		PLAYER	POS	TEAM
Jesus Castillo (P)	RHP	Chattanooga		Darin Downs (P)	LHP	Montgomery
Brandon Kintzler (P)	RHP	Huntsville		Barry Enright (P)	RHP	Mobile
Alex Liddi (F)	3B	West Tenn		Osvaldo Martinez (F)	SS	Jacksonville
Carlos Peguero (F)	OF	West Tenn		Mike Minor (F/P)	LHP	Mississippi
Michael Pineda (P)	RHP	West Tenn		Brent Morel (P)	3B	Birmingham
Ty Wright (P)	OF	Tennessee		Matt Peterson (P)	RHP	Jacksonville
Dee Gordon (F)	SS	Chattanooga		Alex Sanabia (P)	RHP	Jacksonville
Lorenzo Cain (P)	OF	Huntsville		Mike Stanton (P)	OF	Jacksonville
Austin Bibens-Dirkx (P)	RHP	Tennessee		Bryan Byrne (DL)	1B	Mobile
David Cales (P)	RHP	Tennessee		Ollie Linton (DL)	OF	Mobile
Hung-Wen Chen (P)	RHP	Tennessee		Cody Johnson (DL)	DH	Mississippi
Steven Hensley (U)	RHP	West Tenn		Tim Torres (P)	UTL INF	Jacksonville
Matt Klinkler (P)	RHP	Carolina		Alexander Torres (F)	LHP	Montgomery

* Will play in the All-Star Game as well as the Futures Game if travel allows.
** Added to the roster after June 30.
P denotes a player will not play because he has been promoted.
F denotes a player will not play because he has been selected to play in the Futures Game.
U denotes a player is unavailable for other reasons.