It’s A RoughRiders World
Chad Bell- Knoxville, Tenessee
Knoxville is home to over 175,000 people. It’s the third largest city in Tennessee behind Memphis and Nashville.
Wilfredo Boscan- Maracaibo, Venezuela
Maracaibo is a city in northwestern Venezuela. It’s the second largest city behind the capital of Caracas. The city is nicknamed La Tierra del Sol Amada or The Beloved Land Of The Sun.
Jake Brigham- Winter Garden, Florida
Winter Garden is about 15 miles away from Orlando and has a population of about 30,000 people.
Fabio Castillo- Samana, Dominican Republic
Samana is in the northeast part of the Dominican Republic with a population of over 50,000. It’s a city almost on the coast and also has hills that form a small mountain range.
Miguel De Los Santos- La Romana, Dominican Republic
La Romana is the third largest city in the Dominican Republic with a population of around 230,000. It’s located in the southeastern part of the country.
Justin Grimm- Bristol, Virginia
Bristol is close to the state line with Tennessee and has a population close to 18,000. Bristol is also recognized for contributions to early country music. Grimm’s favorite things about his hometown are crab cakes and football.
Trevor Hurley- Tomball, Texas
Tomball is close to Houston with a population close to 10,000 people. The town was originally named Peck but it was changed to Tomball in 1907.
Barret Loux- Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth largest city in the country behind New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago with a population of over two million people. It’s the home of Texas Medical Center, the largest concentration of healthcare institutions in the world, and NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Loux’s favorite thing about his hometown is the traffic.
Tim Murphy- Vista, California
Vista is located in San Diego County is southern Californian with a population close to 94,000. It’s about seven miles away from the Pacific Ocean. Murphy’s favorite thing about his hometown is the beach.
Joe Ortiz- Caracas, Venezuela
Caracas is the capital city of Venezuela and has a population of close to six million. Caracas is in the north of the country close to the Caribbean Sea and the Cerro Avila mountain range.
Zach Osborne- Houston, Texas
Houston was founded in 1836 and named after Sam Houston. It attracts over seven million visitors to the Museum District. The area is known for its prominence in the energy business.
Carlos Pimentel- Santiago, Dominican Republic
Santiago was founded in 1495. It is located in the Cibao Valley in the northern part of the country with a population of almost two million.
Ryan Rodebaugh- Marietta, Georgia
Marietta is located in Cobb County and has a population of over 55,000 people. Parts of the 1995 movie Gordy was shot there. It is the third largest city in Georgia.
Ross Wolf- Effingham, Illinois
Effingham is a city with a population around 13,000. The city has been nicknamed The Crossroads of Opportunity due to being at the intersection of I-57 and I-70.
Corey Young- Shrewsbury, New Jersey
The borough of Shrewsbury is in Monmouth County and has a population of around 3,900 people. Fellow minor leaguer Ryan Kalish also calls Shrewsbury home.
Jose Felix- Guasave, Mexico
Guasave is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa which is on the western part of the country and has coastlines bordering the Gulf of California. Approximately 270,000 people live there.
Zach Zaneski- New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city located in southeastern Connecticut near the mouth of the Thames River. The city was founded in 1646 and has a population close to 26,000.
Alex Buchholz- Pasadena, Maryland
Pasadena has a population of around 12,000 people. Fellow minor leaguer Chorye Spoone calls Pasadena home. Buchholz says his favorite things about his hometown are all of his family and friends.
Leury Garcia- Santiago, Dominican Republic
The full name of the city is Santiago de los Caballeros meaning Saint James of the Knights. The Cibao Valley is formed by the Yaque del Norte river passing through the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera Septentrional.
Chris McGuiness- Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in South Carolina behind Columbia and has a population of 120,000 people. It is on the East Coast bordering the Atlantic Ocean. McGuiness’ favorite things about his hometown are Melvin’s BBQ and Duke’s Buffet.
Mike Olt- New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second largest city in Connecticut with a population of approximately 130,000. It was founded in 1638 and is the home of Yale University. Olt’s favorite thing about his hometown is that it’s a small town so everyone knows everybody.
Jurickson Profar- Willemstad, Curacao
Willemstad is the capital of the island nation in the southern Caribbean Sea. It was formerly the capital of the Netherlands Antilles. Approximately 140,000 people call Willemstad home.
Guilder Rodriguez- Lara, Venezuela
Lara is located in northern Venezuela and has a population of approximately 1.8 million people. It’s one of 23 Venezuelan states.
Engel Beltre- Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Santo Domingo is the capital city of the Dominican Republic with a total population of approximately 1.4 million. The city was founded in 1496 and is located on the Caribbean Sea at the mouth of the Ozama River.
Brad Hawpe- Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the fifth largest city in the state of Texas. Fort Worth has a population of close to 750,000 people. The city was established in 1849 as an Army outpost.
Jared Prince- Poulsbo, Washington
Poulsbo is a city on Liberty Bay which is part of Puget Sound and has a population of more than 9,000 people. Pince’s favorite things about his hometown are the people, water, trees, and mountains.
Ryan Strausborger- Osceola, Indiana
About 2,500 people call Osceola home. The town is named after Osceola, a Seminole fighter.
Written by: Jarah Wright
Graphic by: Alex Yocum-Beeman
