Starting pitcher Nick Schumacher has re-signed with the Sioux City Explorers, of the independent American Association. The team announced the deal last week.

The York Revolution had obtained the former San Diego Padres prospect late last season from Sioux City to help the Revs with their playoff push.

At the time of the deal, Schumacher was 10-5 in 21 starts and two relief appearances for Sioux City. His 3.03 ERA ranked third and 123 strikeouts ranked second in the American Association.

Schumacher, 26, ended up being a huge pickup for York. The righty went 3-2 with a 2.37 ERA in seven starts, including a 1-1 mark with a 1.31 ERA in two playoff starts. His most impressive outing came in Game 2 of the Atlantic League Championship Series, when he pitched a complete game eight-inning performance but was credited with the loss because he gave up one run in the third inning of a 1-0 loss at Long Island. In that game, he allowed just four hits and struck out six.

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Catcher Octavio Martinez will not be playing for the York Revolution again next season. The 32-year-old veteran was one of seven players selected by the expansion Sugar Land (Tex) Skeeters in the team’s expansion draft last week.

Having played in the Atlantic League each of the last three seasons, Martinez batted .273 with 29 RBIs and one home run in 74 games behind the plate for York a year ago. However, he lost the starting job to Salvador Paniagua in the month or so of the season. Revs’ manager Andy Etchebarren said Monday he wanted to bring back Martinez, but could not reach a deal with him.

“I love Octavio, don’t get me wrong,” Etchebarren said. “But at his price range and other guys’ price ranges, we got to stay at a certain price range in this league. So, I called up Michael (Kirk, former Revs’ Director of Baseball Operations who took over the same position in Sugar Land) and said ‘If you want him, you can have him.’”

More notable players obtained by the Skeeters include former major league pitchers Logan Kensing and Josh Banks.

Kensing is a native of San Antonio, Texas and played college ball at Texas A&M University. He has a career 5.81 ERA and 8-9 record 134 games the major league level with Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals. Last season, Kensing started the year with the Bridgeport Bluefish, accumulating a 1.59 ERA in 11 games before he was picked up by the New York Yankees and assigned to Class AAA Scranton. Kensing struggled in Scranton, though, going 1-1 with a 4.28 ERA in 21 games.

It’s unclear if Kensing will play in Sugar Land next season, though. He signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Jan. 4. The contract also includes an invite to Pirates’ spring training.

From the Long Island Ducks, the Skeeters chose former major league pitcher Josh Banks.
The 29-year-old right-hander has a career 4-8 record and 5.66 ERA in 27 games, 19 starts, at the major league level with the Toronto Blue Jay, San Diego Padres and Houston Astros. He last pitched in the majors in 2010 with the Astros.

Banks started last season with the San Francisco Giants Class AAA Fresno club. But he struggled at Fresno, going 5-6 with a 7.27 ERA in 198 games before he was released and later picked up by the Long Island Ducks. He went 1-1 with a 4.24 ERA in 3 games with the Ducks.

Relief pitcher Ryan McKeller, a native of Austin, Tex., has also been picked by the Skeeters from the Camden Riversharks. The 28-year-old former Houston Astros prospect has pitched for the Riversharks each of the last two seasons. A year ago, the righty went 0-2 with a 4.86 ERA in 25 relief appearances.

Shortstop Iggy Suarez was picked in the draft from the Lancaster Barnstormers. Suarez played college baseball at Texas State University before being drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 2003 draft. The 30-year-old infielder batted a collective .230 last season in 94 games with Lancaster, Southern Maryland and Somerset.

Finally, right-handed pitcher reliever Ryan Houston, 32, was selected from the Somerset Patriots. A former Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, and Los Angeles Angels prospect, Houston went 0-2 with a 2.10 ERA in 26 games for the Patriots last season.

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When Salvador Paniagua arrived in York for spring training a year ago, Revolution manager Andy Etchebarren knew he needed some work.

Sure, the young catcher from the Dominican Republic had some power with a bat in his hands. But Paniagua needed to make quite a few improvements behind the plate before Etchebarren trusted him as an everyday player.

Paniagua played sporadically through the first four months of the season as he worked to get better. By September, though, it appeared he had progressed enough to earn Etchebarren’s trust.

After he edged out Octavio Martinez for the everyday catching duties in the final month or so of the season, Paniagua went on to provide a pair of clutch hits in a Game 2 victory over the Lancaster Barnstormers in the Freedom Division Series, including a seventh-inning tiebreaking homer.

Paniagua will bring those skills back to York in 2012.

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The York Revolution had just scored four runs in bottom of the ninth inning to tie the score at 7-7 when Octavio Martinez stepped to the plate.

With runners on first and third and two outs, and the momentum on York’s side, it was now up to Martinez to either end the game or let it go into extra innings.

With side-armed pitcher Ben Grezlovski on the mound, Revs’ manager Andy Etchebarren had instructed his players to hit the pitches that were from the waist up.

“Luckily, I got a first pitch pretty much down the middle and it felt high. I said ‘this is it right here. I better let it fly,” Martinez said.

Let it fly he did, smacking the ball to the gap in left-center field for a walk-off RBI single, giving York a dramatic 8-7 come-from-behind victory over Somerset.

The matchup between York and Somerset was the first since the Freedom Division Championship Series in September, when the Revs defeated the Patriots 1-0 in Game 5, taking the series 3-2. York went on to win its first Atlantic League crown.

Although Martinez wasn’t around for last year’s York-Somerset series, he said the victory over the Patriots, who have won five Atlantic League titles in their 14 seasons, still means a lot to him.

“It seems like the whole league has rivalries with them. It’s the one team you really wanna go out there and play well and beat,” he said.

Until the bottom of the ninth inning, though, York hadn’t played well.

In his second start of the season for York, pitcher Corey Thurman (1-0) gave up at least a hit in each of the five innings he tossed. Thurman ended up allowing four runs, three earned, on eight hits. But the damage could have been much worse. Thurman worked out of jams in the first and third innings, and Somerset left a total of six runners stranded against him.

“You keep your mind together and focus on the next pitch, pitch to pitch and out to out. And it’ll work out,” Thurman said. “That’s one of those situations where it validates you focusing on executing pitch to pitch, don’t worry about what just happened.”

Ronnie Morales tossed a scoreless sixth inning and was pulled after retiring the first batter in the seventh inning. But reliever Jason Richardson then came in and walked two batters and gave up an RBI single.

And in the top of the ninth inning, York reliever Jeremy Lewis gave up a two-run home to Michael Hernandez, allowing Somerset (1-3) to extend its lead to 7-3.

But York stormed back in the bottom of the ninth. Liu Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to lead things off. Van Pope and Scott Grimes followed with singles to load the bases with no outs. Rodriguez scored from third on a wild pitch, and Val Majewski then hit an RBI groundout to bring the Revs to within 7-5.

A walk to Jason Botts loaded the bases again, this time with one out. James Shanks then nailed a two-run single to right field, tying the score at 7-7.

After Vince Harrison grounded out, York had runners on first and third with two outs when Martinez singled to bring home Botts.

The victory marked the third straight game that York (4-0) has won in come-from-behind fashion. With the win, York remains as the only unbeaten team in the Atlantic League. The 4-0 start is also the best first-half start in franchise history. York began the second half of its 2009 season at 4-0.

Game Notes:

–York’s Van Pope entered Wednesday with the lowest batting average of any Revs everyday player (2-for-10, .200). He ended up getting the most hits of any York player on Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

–Val Majewski accounted for three of York’s run, with an RBI single in the third, a solo homer in the eighth and an RBI groudnout in the ninth.

—With his five innings of work on Wednesday, Thurman has now tossed more than 1,500 innings in the minors.

York Batting Stats from Wednesday’s game:

Grimes, cf: 0-for-4, run scored, walk

Walker, rf: 0-for-4, run scored, RBI, walk

Majewski, lf, 2-for-5, run scored, three RBIs

Botts, 1b: 1-for-3, run scored, two walks, K

Shanks, dh: 1-for-5, two RBIs, two Ks

Harrison, 3b: 1-for-5, two Ks

Rodriguez, 2b: 1-for-2, two runs, one walk, K

Pope, ss: 3-for-4, two runs scored, K

York pitching from Wednesday’s game:

Thurman: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Morales: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER

Richardson: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB

Cruz: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER

Rice: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB

Lewis (W, 1-0): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB

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A night full of hoopla and fireworks may not have gone any better for the York Revolution on Friday night at Sovereign Bank Stadium.

Pre-game festivities included a ring ceremony, an unveiling of a championship banner, and a ceremonial first pitch by York celebrities all to honor last year’s Atlantic League Champions.

When it came time to actually play, this year’s team didn’t have a problem following the ceremonies, defeating the Camden Riversharks, 8-2, in front of an announced crowd of 5,036 fans.

The ‘fireworks’ seemed to carry over into the game for York. In the bottom of the first inning, Scott Grimes, last year’s Atlantic League co-MVP, led off with a single to get the Revs’ first hit of the season.

A few batters later, York had the bases load after Val Majewski and Jason Botts walked. Firstbaseman Mark Ori then plated two runs on a single up the middle to give York its first lead of the season, 2-0. An RBI sacrifice fly by Vince Harrison then scored Botts to extend York’s lead to 3-0.

That helped starting pitcher Corey Thurman, who made his second consecutive season opening start for York.

“Anytime the team can put runs on the board and give you a lead, that settles you down a little bit, knowing that you can pound the strike zone,” Thurman said.

Thurman gave up his only run of the game in the top of the fourth inning, when former major leaguer Mike Lamb hit a home run just over the right field wall, to bring Camden to within 3-1.

But the Revs answered back in the bottom half of that inning, exploding for five runs on four hits to extend the lead to 8-1. Camden added a run in the top of the ninth inning, but York held on to win. The victory marked the third straight time York has won its season opener. York’s eight runs were also the most scored in a season opener in team history.

Thurman pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up just two hits and one earned run to get York’s first win of the season.

The solid performance seemed fitting for the 32-year-old right-hander, who became the first player in team history to appear in four different seasons with York. Thurman was one of 11members of last year’s championship team back on the 2011 opening day roster who received a ring before the game.

He left to a standing ovation when he was pulled in the sixth inning, which Revs manager Andy Etchebarren said he wanted to happen.

“He was out of gas (after five innings) and I told (pitching coach Mark) Mason that I want to send him out there for one more hitter. I don’t care what the hitter does. I wanna go get him on the mound, I want him to have an ovation because he pitched that well,” Etchebarren said.

Pre-game: Friday night marked the first time since 1926 that York fans celebrated a defending champion, according to Revolution officials. The 1969 Eastern League Championship for the York Pirates came in their final season of existence.

13 players from last year’s Atlantic League championship team were given their championship rings during a ceremony before the game.

A banner reading ’2010 Champions’ was unveiled in left-center field after the ring ceremony. The pre-game festivities were topped off when York City Mayor Kim Bracey and former mayors John Brenner and Charlie Robertson threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Etchebarren, the skipper who is responsible for taking York from the bottom of the Atlantic League in 2009 to the top of the league in 2010, said he could not have been more pleased with the ceremony.

“I thought it was done very nicely. It was better than riding in on a limousine and all that stuff. It was just regular baseball. I liked it,” he said.

He also appreciated the warm reception he received from fans when presented with his ring before the game.

“It makes me feel very special and it makes me feel very good,” he said.

Games Notes:

-Seven players in York’s starting lineup had at least one hit.

-Vince Harrison (2-for-4, RBI, run) and Octavio Martinez (2-for-4, two RBIs, run) were the only York players with multiple hits.

-Octavio Martinez made a bare-handed diving catch into the stands behind home plate to get the final out of the third inning.

“As soon as I jumped I knew I could get a better reach with my hand than I could with my glove,” Martinez said after the game. “I just jumped out there and hoped to grab it. I extended my hand and I just caught it.”

-York returns to action on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. against the Camden Riversharks at Sovereign Bank Stadium. Pitcher Matt DeSalvo will get the start for the Revs.

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When Octavio Martinez was converted from an infielder to a catcher in high school, he quickly learned that the position required a strong work ethic.

Luckily for him, working hard was something he was used to.

Martinez’s parents came from Mexico to California in the late 1970s. And they’ve been working hard since then while raising their five children. Two of those children are still in high school, and Martinez said his mother takes care of them at the house while his father supports them financially by running his own accessories shop in California.

“My dad is a hard-working man and my mom is hard-working,” Martinez said. “That influences me not only in baseball but also in school and whatever you do. They taught me to go 100 percent in everything, whether you like it or not.”

A 6-foot Los Angeles native, Martinez will be the man behind the plate to start the year for the York Revolution.

Martinez, 31, comes to York after playing with the Atlantic League’s Lancaster Barnstormers and Southern Maryland Blue Crabs the last two seasons.

In 2010, Martinez started the year cold with Southern Maryland, batting .164 in 33 games. A career .275 hitter in 12 minor league seasons, Martinez was traded to Lancaster in July and caught fire.

He ended up batting .296 in 51 games for the Barnstormers, with 29 RBIs and two home runs.

He’s also a strong defensive catcher.

“He remembers batters. So, he’s smart in that regard,” said Revs’ pitching coach Mark Mason. “And he’s a good defensive catcher. He has a quick arm.”

Octavio won’t be the only Martinez on the team this year, though. His 24-year-old brother, Juan, is actually set to join the Revs this week. Juan, a utility infielder, will provide much-needed depth to York’s infield after shortstop Andy Gonzalez signed with an affiliated club over the weekend.

While he recognizes Juan’s arrival is probably only temporary until infielder Ramon Castro joins York next week, Octavio said he’s still looking forward to the experience of playing with his brother for the first time.

“He’s still young. So, hopefully it’s a learning experience for him,” he said.

Octavio Martinez will share playing time at catcher with 27-year-old Salvador Paniagua, Revs’ manager Andy Etchebarren said Monday.

Paniagua is coming off a strong season in the independent United League last year, where he hit a combined .310 with 23 homers in 88 games between Laredo and Rio Grande Valley.

Paniagua has been hitting well in spring training with the Revs, too. Through Monday, the 6-foot, 1-inch Dominican Republic native is 3-for-6 at the plate with a double and two RBIs.

But Etchebarren said Paniagua needs to improve at the catcher position before he considers him as an everyday starter.

To start the year, Etchebarren said Martinez will catch “two or three days in a row” and then Paniagua will play a game.

“And after a month, if (Paniagua is) outplaying Octavio, then he might become the No. 1. That’s up to him. He’ll get an opportunity to show us what he can do,” Etchebarren said.

Monday’s exhibition: The Revolution and the Road Warriors played an 11-inning exhibition game on Monday at Sovereign Bank Stadium.

The extended game was played so Etchebarren could get action for his pitchers. York had seven pitchers throw a combined 12 innings. Revs’ reliever Celson Polanco even pitched an inning for the Road Warriors.

The Revs had five players with multiple hits, including Scott Grimes (2-for-5, home run) and Mark Ori (2-for-5, double, triple and one RBI).

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