Spring training came to an end this week and Major League Baseball teams assigned their prospects to their affiliates and four local athletes were among those that found a new baseball home for the 2012 season.

Adam Conley has been assigned by the Miami Marlins to the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the single-A South Atlantic League. A 2008 graduate of Olympia, Conley pitched for Washington State and was a second round draft choice by the Marlins in the 2011 draft. Conley pitched two games last season for the Gulf Coast League Marlins giving up just one hit in two innings of work. The left hander was named the #7 prospect in the Marlins system by MLB.com and the #10 prospect in their system by Baseball America.

Another 2008 Oly graduate, Kramer Champlin, has been assigned to the Lansing Lugnuts of the single-A Midwest League by the Toronto Blue Jays. Champlin was a 33rd round draft choice of the Blue Jays in the 2011 draft after two years at Western Nevada College and one season at Arizona State where he was named Pitcher of the Year by the Sun Devils. The 6-6 right hander pitched one game in the Gulf Coast League and seven games for the Vancouver Canadians last season. In Vancouver, Champlin went 0-2 with a 4.91 ERA and struck out 11 batters in 14.2 innings of work.

River Ridge’s Seth Harvey will take his talents to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the single-A Midwest League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Harvey was a 37th round draft choice out of Washington State in 2010 and this will be his third year of professional baseball. After being drafted in 2010, Harvey appeared in sixteen games with the Arizona League Brewers where he went 0-2 with six saves and a 2.45 ERA. He struck out 32 batters in just 22 innings. In 2011, Harvey appeared in sixteen games for the Helena Brewers and went 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA and struck out 46 batters in just 33 1/3 innings.

North Thurston’s Joash Brodin is the only local product playing professional baseball that plays a position. The first baseman/outfielder/third baseman signed to play for the London Rippers this season and will be in his fourth year in the independent Frontier League after two years at Green River Community College and two at the College of Charleston. In 2009, Brodin hit .330 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI for the Midwest Sliders. In 2010, the Sliders became the Oakland County Cruisers and he hit .301 with nine homers, 62 RBI and 29 stolen bases despite playing the bulk of the season on the road due to Oakland County’s stadium deal falling through. Brodin moved on to the River City Rascals in 2011 and hit .300 with 14 home runs, 66 RBI and 19 stolen bases.

And finally, Jared Sandberg returns as manager of the Hudson Valley Renegades. The Capital graduate and former Major League Baseball player is in his third season as the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays short season single-A affiliate in the New York-Penn League. The Renegades season starts on June 18th.