GARY, Ind. — The Gary SouthShore RailCats will have a new look behind the plate in 2010 after catchers Anthony Esquer and Brett Wallace were selected by the expansion Lake County Fielders in Thursday afternoon’s dispersal draft.

Each of the six 2009 Northern League entrants lost two players to the newest addition to the league, with new Fielders skipper Fran Riordan making the selections Thursday afternoon.  The Fielders now hold the contractual rights to the 12 players they chose, including the two former RailCats catchers.  For a complete list of players drafted, visit www.fieldersbaseball.com.

Esquer, 25, was signed by the RailCats early in the 2008 season and immediately became a part of the team’s catching mix.  The California native is one of the finest defensive catchers in the league and led all qualifying backstops throwing out potential base-stealers in each of the last two seasons.  The former Reds farmhand gunned out a whopping 54.1% of runners in 2008, a nearly 25% higher clip than any other league catcher.

Offensively, Esquer had the two best seasons of his career in a RailCats uniform, hitting .318 in 39 regular season games in 2008 before carrying a .275 average through 50 games a year ago.  Esquer hit his first career home run in a RailCats uniform, July 12, 2009 in Winnipeg, part of a five-hit game.

Wallace, 27, had spent his entire professional career with the RailCats, first joining the club before the start of the 2007 season.  The Pennsylvania native played sparingly as a rookie while backing up All-Star Jose Yepez before moving into a part-time starting role each of the next two seasons.  Wallace improved steadily over his tenure in Gary and had easily his best professional season in 2009.

Wallace was an All-Star in 2008 when he hit .274 with 28 RBI in the regular season, and he put up even better numbers in 2009, batting .285 and driving in 31 runs in 58 regular season games.  A graduate of West Chester University, Wallace set an all-time RailCats record in 2009 when he collected seven RBI in a game July 15 against the Kansas City T-Bones at U. S. Steel Yard.

The entire RailCats organization thanks Brett and Anthony for their outstanding service and wishes them both the best of luck in the future.

The RailCats will open the 100-game 2010 Northern League season in May, starting their quest for a third league championship.  The RailCats have advanced to an unprecedented five straight Northern League Championship Series under Greg Tagert, the 2007 and 2009 Northern League Manager of the Year.  For more information on the RailCats and to find out about the ‘Cats Tradition of Excellence on and off the field, visit www.railcatsbaseball.com.