Dove honored by Cardinals

DAVENPORT, Iowa -- Swing of the Quad Cities pitcher Dennis Dove was honored Friday as the St. Louis Cardinals' Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June.

The former Irwin County Indian was 2-1 for the month with a 2.48 ERA. In 32 2-3 innings of work during June, he struck out 27. He also only allowed opponents 20 hits over that span, which comes out to a .175 batting average.

A former third round pick out of Georgia Southern University, Dove hurled his second complete game of the season on June 29. In that game against Wisconsin, he struck out seven and used only 95 pitches.

For the season, Dove is 6-5 overall with a 3.80 ERA. He leads the team in starts (16), innings pitched (90) and in strikeouts (66). He has only allowed 26 walks on the year.

Quad Cities is the high-Class A farm team in the St. Louis chain.

During his high school career, Dove played for Irwin County's 1997 state championship team. He was also a part of the Indians' 1998 squad that made the state semifinals.

Besides those two appearances, the Indians also made the state playoffs during Doves' junior and senior seasons.

Besides helping Irwin County make the state playoffs for four straight seasons, Dove was also named to the GACA South Georgia All-Star Team after his senior year as an Indian.

Dove's next start for the Swing of the Quad Cities is scheduled for Monday at home against West Michigan.