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Ex-Gator makes most of all-star appearance
By STEVE LEE
© St. Petersburg Times, WESLEY CHAPEL -- Last summer, former Land O'Lakes pitcher Kurt Shafer was more concerned about recovering from facial injuries suffered in a car crash. This year, the Pittsburgh Pirates prospect has not had to deal with any such distractions. With his focus solely on pitching, Shafer became an all-star. Shafer, who pitches for the Pirates' rookie team in Bradenton, threw a scoreless inning Saturday at the inaugural Gulf Coast League all-star game at Tropicana Field. He struck out a batter and allowed one hit in the fifth inning of the National League's 3-1 win over the American League. "That was pretty cool, man," Shafer said. "I only pitched one inning because we had so many pitchers, but just the atmosphere. "You know you're facing the best hitters in the Gulf Coast League." On the heels of that performance, Shafer improved to 3-2 by pitching six innings in Tuesday's 1-0 win over the Fort Myers Twins. The 19-year-old right-hander struck out six and allowed two hits with no walks. Shafer went 2-1 and pitched just 13 innings last year. He missed more than a month after his face smashed a windshield in a June 20 crash that resulted in nearly 400 stitches to his eye, lip, nose and ear. "This is really my first year," said Shafer, who believes the team might promote him to the Pirates' Class-A team in Wiliamsport, Pa., later this month. Shafer, whose only other all-star appearance came in the 2000 Pasco County Senior all-star game, said his second stint among the top players in a league "was much bigger." Shafer started for Land O'Lakes as a senior after spending his junior year as the team's closer. As a senior, Shafer went 6-2 with a 0.72 ERA and 72 strikeouts. An eighth-round pick, 239th overall, by the Pirates, Shafer was one of three Land O'Lakes pitchers taken in the 2000 draft. Cory Doyne was selected by Houston, and Derek Thompson was chosen by Cleveland. All three signed professional contracts. Shafer also quarterbacked the 1999 Land O'Lakes football team to the first unbeaten regular season in school history.
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