Six members of the first place Calgary Vipers are headed to the Northern League All-Star game in Fargo, North Dakota next week.

Player of the Month Darryl Brinkley, first baseman Jason Colson, third baseman Carlos Duncan and DH Kyle Nichols have been selected by the league’s managers and media.  Pitchers Evan Greusel and Geoff Freeborn were added to the North Division squad by Fargo field manager Doug Simunic.

Brinkley, who leads the league in five hitting categories, will head the Calgary contingent.  He’s first in the Northern League in batting average (.412), runs batted in (44), hits (75), slugging percentage (.626) and runs scored (41).  He’s also second in the league in home runs and on-base percentage.

Duncan, who is batting .358 (third in the league), is tied with team-mate Colson in second place on the RBI list at 36 and is second in the league behind Brinkley in hits.  He’s also in second in doubles, only one out of the league lead of 18.  Colson is tied with Brinkley and Nichols in the home run race with 8. 

Nichols is also in the league’s top 10 in batting.

Freeborn, the only Calgarian on the Vipers, leads the league in ERA at .188 and is 4-0 on the season.  Greusel is a perfect 3-0 and has a very misleading record.  On four other occasions the Californian has left games late with leads of 2 runs or more only to see the bullpen squander those leads.

Only two days since Brinkley was named Northern League Player of the Month of June pitcher Jordy Alexander was today Pitcher of the Week.  Alexander won the award after going 2-0 with a .000 ERA for the week.  He then followed up that performance with another victory on Monday and is now 3-1 in his short stint with the Vipers.

The Vipers wrap up the home portion of the first half schedule tonight against Kansas City and then head to Schaumburg to face the Flyers in a five game set that will determine the pennant and the automatic playoff spot that comes with it.