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Bums' Tournament Star Nick Renault Heading to Germany
The Haar Disciples have found a new foreign starting pitcher. Right-hander Nick Renault succeeds Paco Garcia as game-two starter each weekend in the German Baseball-Bundesliga.

The 32-year-old is an Independent League journeyman, who spent the past seven seasons in various professional leagues in the United States. The graduate of Oregon State University has a combined 26-40 record with an ERA of 4.86 in 149 games (62 starts) since 2005. Renault collected 411 strikeouts and 250 walks in 479 1/3 innings.

Preparing for Spring Season
With a rough Fall season behind them, the Beach Bums are preparing for the start of the NABA Palm Beach's 2012 Spring Season and are building to once again be one of the league's elite teams. They will be coming into this season as the defending Spring Champions.

"This past fall season was a rebuilding season for us," commented player/general manager Charles Sano. "Many of the guys that helped us win in the spring were not able to play in the fall so we had to go out and find new players. Some worked out, some didn't but the experience has helped us prepare for this spring."

The biggest area of concern during this past fall was pitching. The staff ERA was just over 5 runs/game. After losing Rick Schnurr, who won the Spring Championship MVP, and Mark McElmeel (to college), the Bums struggled to find arms. But by season's end, the Bums landed Matt Beinenate and Austin Wilson. The team has also added a couple of new arms for the spring.

The Bums also had bad defense. There is no other way to describe it other than "bad." They gave up 55 unearned runs in only 14 games. That is just under 4 unearned runs per game.

The Bums will turn to veterans Jason Bryan and Dave Salley to lead the team again this spring. This short offseason, the Bums' front office has gone on an all-out blitz to find a dedicated group of ballplayers that will get into the playoffs and make a run for a 2nd straight Spring Championship.

The Bums will play a Candadian team on Sunday, March 11 as part of the annual Palm Beach Challenge and the Spring Opening Day is set for Sunday, March 18.

Let the fun begin!