Nashville Sounds (AAA) 20-28
Won 7-3 vs Round Rock Express (TEX) (box / pbp)

Huntsville Stars (AA) 27022
Won 12-4 vs Birmingham Barons (CHW) (box / pbp)

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 19-28
Lost 4-3 at Dunedin Blue Jays (TOR) (box / pbp)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A) 31-18
Won 11-3 at Peoria Chiefs (CHC) (box / pbp)

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Nashville Sounds (AAA) 19-28
Won 7-6 vs Round Rock Express (TEX) (box / pbp)

Huntsville Stars (AA) 26-22
Lost 3-1 vs Birmingham Barons (CHW) (box / pbp)

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 19-27
Lost 7-4 at Dunedin Blue Jays (TOR) (box / pbp)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A) 30-18
Lost 5-4 at Quad Cities River Bandits (STL) (box / pbp)

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Nashville Sounds (AAA) 18-28
Won 7-6 (10 inn.) vs Las Vegas 51s (TOR) (box / pbp)

Huntsville Stars (AA) 26-21
Won 4-3 vs Birmingham Barons (CHW) (box / pbp)

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 19-26
Cancelled at Charlotte Stone Crabs (TBR)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A) 30-17
Won 9-6 at Quad Cities River Bandits (STL) (box / pbp)

Tyler Thornburg, despite being sick, pitched well last night for Huntsville; John Dishon is back with the Timber Rattlers from the 7-day DL and is also back to swiping every base in sight. Jim Henderson's season ERA remains at 0. That and more after the jump.

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Nashville Sounds (AAA) 17-28
Won 5-3 at Las Vegas 51s (TOR) (box / pbp)

Huntsville Stars (AA) 25-21
Won 4-2 vs Birmingham Barons (CHW) (box / pbp)

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 19-26
Won 12-1 vs Charlotte Stone Crabs (TBR) (box / pbp)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A) 29-17
Won 5-4 at Quad Cities River Bandits (STL) (box / pbp)

Brevard County really broke out the bats yesterday. That and more after the jump.

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Nashville Sounds (AAA) 16-28
Lost 10-3 at Las Vegas 51s (TOR) (box / pbp)

Huntsville Stars (AA) 24-21
Won 6-3 vs Birmingham Barons (CHW) (box / pbp)

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 18-26
Won 9-1 at Charlotte Stone Crabs (TBR) (box / pbp)

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Nashville Sounds (AAA) 16-27
Lost 10-8 at Las Vegas 51s (TOR) (box / pbp)

Huntsville Stars (AA) 23-21
Lost 3-2 (12 inn.) at Chattanooga Lookouts (LAD) (box / pbp)

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 17-26
Lost 11-7 at Charlotte Stone Crabs (TBR) (box / pbp)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A) 28-17
Won 7-4 vs Kane County Cougars (KCR) (box / pbp)

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The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers kept their recent hot streak alive on Monday afternoon, beating Kane County 7-3 to improve to 14-6 in May and 28-17 overall, the best record in the Midwest League Western Division.

Today they struck early, scoring three runs on three hits and an error in the first inning. Jason Rogers plated the first run with an RBI triple, starting off a 2-for-3 day with two extra base hits and a walk.

Those runs gave an early cushion to 19-year-old starting pitcher Will West, who made his Midwest League debut. West was an undrafted free agent out of high school, went to college briefly at Georgia Tech, transferred to a community college closer to home and was nearly out of baseball when the Brewers signed him last season. Brewerfan.net has much more on his unusual journey.

"Last summer I was pretty close to not even playing baseball. I was just working," West said. "And I was playing on a summer baseball team and there happened to be an area scout who was at the game. And he called me and I took a few days to think about it, talked it over with my parents and made the decision to do it. And it's been awesome, being able to play the game I love and go out there and pitch, it's pretty awesome. I'm glad to be here."

West is the youngest player on the Timber Rattlers this season and the first pitcher to start for Wisconsin before his 20th birthday since Nick Bucci in 2010. He pitched five innings today and allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits over five innings, walking one and striking out three.

Manager Matt Erickson said West might have been a little nervous for his first start at this level, but credited him with giving the team a chance to win the game.

"Before we went out there I walked by his locker and asked him 'Are you nervous?' and he said, 'Yeah, a little bit.' And that's to be expected, that's a good thing because it means he cares a little bit," Erickson said. "He was a little elevated at first, and I think the elements helped him out a bit on some of his fly balls. But ultimately he got the job done. He left the game in the fifth, was up by a run and had a chance to win the ball game."

Jacob Barnes and Stephen Peterson combined to pitch the game's final four innings to get West his first Midwest League win.

"I think I did all right. I think I pitched well enough to get the win," West said. "I definitely have a lot of things work on, executing pitches, keeping the ball down. But I think if you go out there and you execute your pitches and throw strikes you can give your team a good chance to win."

West pitched today in place of Andy Moye, who was called up to Brevard County last week. Moye picked up the win in his first Florida State League appearance on Sunday. Erickson broke the news of his callup to Moye after his start on Wednesday night.

"I just told him congratulations on a well deserved callup," Erickson said. "You're in the game long enough, sometimes some of the higher round picks get all the chances in the world. He was definitely deserving of that callup. It was his spot in the rotation here and it fit the best there. I told him to do the same things he was doing here, because how he was pitching here is going to get people out at any level. He was getting ahead of hitters, he was mixing his pitches well and throwing strikes."

Today is Wisconsin's last home game for over two weeks, as they depart on a four-city road trip that starts on Wednesday. Aside from dividing up the meal money to help players resist the urge to blow it all in one place, Erickson said the long trip doesn't really change much.

"We'll mix it up, and that's really the goal all season long in a long season," Erickson said. "Obviously you have to adapt to what's going on but we try to mix our pregames up and our preparation. We try to work on some of the same things but in a different way to keep it fresh for our players so it doesn't get stale."

Wisconsin's win Monday gave them a 1.5 game lead in the Western Division, but Erickson said it's too soon to start looking ahead.

"We still have about a month, four weeks to go (before the end of the first half)," Erickson said. "We've got to take care of our own house, so to speak. And the game is so day-to-day. You have to look ahead, and you can't be satisfied with what you've done in the past. The game will humble you in a hurry if you think you're pretty good or get complacent but we've done a pretty good job. Our clubhouse has done a nice job so far of getting their work in day-to-day and understanding that each day is a new opportunity for these guys."

Williams honored

Will West wasn't the only non-drafted pitcher making headlines today: During the game it was announced that Mark Williams won the Midwest League's Pitcher of the Week award. Williams made two relief appearances this week and pitched nine scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and walking two while striking out seven. Both outings were against Kane County. Despite the impressive results, Williams said his last effort wasn't easy.

"Actually I would say the first time we faced these guys earlier in the week, my stuff was pretty good then, but the other night I, honestly I was all over the place," Williams said. "I just tried to really just work with (catcher Rafael) Neda to mix and match to throw strikes because I was kind of up in the zone all night and we finally figured it out in the ninth inning, which was my best inning. But I had to work really hard just to keep the ball down and not get hit out of the ballpark, especially with the wind blowing out like it was that night."

When asked about Williams, Matt Erickson pointed out that he also pitched the back half of Wisconsin's combined no-hitter earlier this season.

"He's been a non-drafted guy, again, that's been really big for us. He's done a nice job pretty much every time he's been asked to take the ball on the mound," Erickson said.

Williams, however, knows he needs to keep working hard.

"I just keep doing what I'm doing. Working hard, getting after it in the training room and the weight room, working on mechanics," Williams said. "Just got to keep working hard. I can't rest on my laurels on this. If I rest now there's going to be nothing to look forward to in the future. So keep working and nothing's ever good enough until it's all done."

Follow the jump for stories from earlier today on Tommy Toledo, who leads Wisconsin with six wins out of the bullpen, infielder Brandon Macias and Wisconsin's upcoming road trip to make way for the NCAA Division 3 World Series. We'll also add the audio from today's interviews later today.

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Nashville Sounds (AAA) 16-26
Won 2-1 at Tucson Padres (SDP) (box / pbp)

Huntsville Stars (AA) 23-20
Lost 7-3 at Chattanooga Lookouts (LAD) (box / pbp)

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 17-25
Won 13-2 vs Fort Myers Miracle (MIN) (box / pbp)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A) 27-17
Won 7-6 vs Kane County Cougars (KCR) (box / pbp)

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