Anchorage Daily News

It may still be chilly and cloudy with the occasionally drizzle, but June is here and the boys of summer will soon take the field for another Alaska Baseball League season.

To that end, the Anchorage Bucs and Glacier Pilots held open tryouts Sunday afternoon at Mulcahy Stadium. And after a brief period of rain, the weather even cooperated with some sunshine.

While the turnout wasn't overwhelming -- not enough players trying out to field a complete team -- there may have been that proverbial diamond in the rough among the hopefuls.

"The thing you're always looking for is the one guy that really sticks out," Bucs assistant coach Scott Shepperd said. "Those guys are few and far between, and when they show up, you immediately see them.

"It's just somebody that has a look to them, the way they carry themselves. Once you start throwing to them and watching them play catch and seeing how their feet and their hands work, that's what you're looking for."

Owen Reid had that look.

"He walks out here and I immediately said that guy's pretty good," said Shepperd, who played at Concordia College in Austin, Texas, and will coach at Sam Houston State next year. "I had no idea who he was. He comes out here, and I'm watching him throw and I'm thinking we might have one out here."

Well, they did. They had one of the college players already on the Bucs' roster.

Reid is a pitcher at Division I Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. He arrived in Anchorage late Saturday night to get a jump on the season, which starts next weekend. But nobody with the Bucs had ever met Reid in person, so they didn't know what he looks like.

"(I) just wanted to make the most of my time up here while I could," said Reid, a right-handed pitcher from central Missouri. "With our season being done earlier than I expected (Winthrop failed to make the College World Series), I didn't want to go home just for a few days. I wanted to get up here and get familiar with the area."

Other players at the tryout ranged from those still in high school to a community college player to an older gentleman well past his prime.

Everybody took ground balls and took a few swings in the batting cage. Some threw a bullpen session.

"I just want a chance to play for the hometown," said Mike Akers, a former East player. "I played up here my whole life; to come back and play for the hometown has always been a dream."

Akers, a second baseman, just finished a season at Mesa Community College in Arizona and will play for Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Ore., next year.

"There's a lot of talented guys, a lot of big-school guys that come up here," he said. "It's a good experience for anyone to ... play here and learn from those guys."

Daily News reporter Andrew Hinkelman can be reached at ahinkelman@adn.com.

Get ready for baseball

Friday in Play: A quick look at all the ABL teams, prices for tickets and food at the ballpark.

Saturday: Bucs host Stockton, Calif., in the season opener at Mulcahy.

Sunday in Sports: Renovations to Mulcahy Stadium improve the park.

Sunday: The Pilots host Stockton in their afternoon home opener.