Over the last few weeks, D3baseball.com profiled former D-III players in MLB and Triple-A and in Double-A. Today, D3baseball.com looks at former D-III players in full season Class A.

By Ricky Nelson

Starting pitcher Kenny Moreland (Christopher Newport), the 2008 D3baseball.com Pitcher of the Year, tore up low-A ball and was promoted to the Orioles high-A affiliate in Frederick. While at Hagerstown, Moreland was 6-1 with a 0.88 earned run average and a .178 average against in 51 innings over eight starts, including a 7-inning, one-hit shutout in July. At high-A the 23-year-old right-hander is 3-1 with a 3.96 ERA and a .220 average against in 25 innings over five starts. In his two stops, Moreland has given up just seven walks and 54 hits in 76 innings.

Relief pitcher Dan Remonowsky (Otterbein) has been blowing away hitters for the low-A White Sox club in Kannapolis. Remonowsky is 6-3 with a 2.29 ERA and 20 saves in 46 games. The big 23-year-old righty has held opponents to a .172 batting average, struck out 87 and allowed 31 hits in 51 innings. Remonowsky, who ranks third in the Southern League in saves and second in games finished, was selected to the Southern League all-star game, where he struck the two batters he faced.

Two-time D3baseball.com All-American Kurt Yacko is still striking out professionals like he did at Chapman. Yacko has punched out 63 in 56 innings over 45 relief appearances for the Rockies low-A affiliate in Ashville. For the year the soon-to-be 23-year-old is 2-1 with four saves and a 3.86 ERA. Yacko was lights out in May, when he held a .66 ERA and and .167 opponent's batting average with 15 K's in 13.2 innings.

Sometimes starter, sometimes reliever Shane Wolf (Ithaca), a former D3baseball All-American, earned the California League Pitcher of the Week award in mid-July. In three relief appearances during that week, Wolf was 1-0 with a .82 ERA and six hits allowed in 11 innings. While playing for the Astros high-A affiliate in Lancaster, the lefty is 4-5 with a 5.42 ERA in 24 games (13 starts) and 94.2 IP. The 22-year-old has 81 strikeouts against 25 walks. Fellow D3'ers Tip Fairchild and Chris Salamida are Wolf's teammates.

Pitcher Tim Stronach (Worcester State) picked up a Florida State League Pitcher of the Week Award in late July while pitching for the high-A St. Lucie Mets. Making his second start of the year, the righty tossed 8.1 innings of one-hit, shutout ball to earn his first win of the year and the first Pitcher of the Week award of his career. For the year Stronach, 23, is 2-4 with a 3.88 ERA. In 13 games (six starts) and 46.1 IP, Stronach has 30 K's and one homer allowed.

Reliever Cole Kimball (Centenary) is 4-5 with a 6.63 ERA and seven saves for the high-A Potomac Nationals. Kimball, a 24-year-old right-hander, has given up 36 hits in 36.2 innings for a .252 opponent's average, but he has also issued 24 walks against 42 strikeouts. Kimball has tossed 7.1 scoreless innings over his last five outings.

Another former D3baseball.com All-American, Jacob Kaase (Texas Lutheran), has split his season between Class A Hickory and his current team, high-A Bakersfield, a Rangers affiliate. In 86 total games and 325 at-bats, the 23-year-old shortstop is batting .255 with six HR, 35 RBI, 40 runs and six SB. The left-handed batting Kaase has hit .350 against lefties at Bakerfield and has struck out only 46 times all year.

Outfielder Mike Vass roams the outfield at Fox Cities Stadium, home of the Brewers' low-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and the D-III World Series. No stranger to Appleton while playing for Chapman, Vass plays the spacious right field for the majority of T-Rats games. In 80 games Vass, 24, is batting .233 with six home runs and 31 RBI to go along with 31 runs and three steals.

Relief pitcher Chris Rivera (Virginia Wesleyan), after not playing in the affiliated minors in 2008, has spent time this season at high-A Potomac and Class A Hagerstown, where he currently plays in the Nationals organization. His combined stats for the two stops (16 games in high-A, nine in Class A) show an 0-2 record and one save with a 5.26 ERA. The right-handed Rivera, 25, has tossed 25.2 innings in 25 games with 18 K's and 25 hits (zero home runs) allowed for a .250 average against.

Former D3baseball.com All-American Nelson Gomez (Keystone) is batting .221 in 317 at-bats while playing first base for South Bend, the low-A Diamondbacks squad. In 93 games Gomez has 26 runs, two home runs, 31 runs batted in and 24 doubles, the latter of which ranks 16th in the Midwest League.

Lefthanded pitcher Chris Salamida (Oneonta) started the year in Double-A but is now with high-A Lancaster of the Astros organization. Salamida was 1-2 with a 7.80 ERA at Double-A and is 3-1 with a 6.89 ERA and one save at high-A. In 26 total games (three starts at high-A, the rest in relief) and 61.1 IP, the 25-year-old has 45 K's and 82 hits allowed, including 10 home runs. Salamida is teammates of fellow former D3 pitchers Tip Fairchild and Shane Wolf.

Starting pitcher Tip Fairchild (Southern Maine) wasn't signed until late in the year, leading to just four starts for the Astros high-A club in Lancaster. The 26-year-old right-hander first took the mound July 27 and since has made his regular turn. For the year he is 1-2 with 5.65 ERA. In 28.2 innings Fairchild has a 25:3 K:BB ratio. His last start, on Aug. 13, he went eight innings while giving up eight hits, one walk, two runs and striking out nine. Fairchild is teammates with fellow D3'ers Shane Wolf and Chris Salamida.

Former D-III Class A players who moved on to other schools before going pro: Saint Joseph's (Maine) P Charlie Furbush (also LSU), Lakeland Tigers; Trinity (Texas) P Chuck Huggins (also UC-Santa Barbara), Dunedin Blue Jays; Rochester C Chris Rosenbaum (also Tampa), Rancho Cucamonga (Angels); John Carroll OF Dom Duggan (also Coastal Carolina), Augusta (Giants); Gordon OF Matt Crawford (also Mercer), Cedar Rapids (Angels).