Blue Ox add 3 to pitching staff

The Bangor Blue Ox continued to stock up on pitching, signing former Rhode Island Tiger Shark closer Ray Coleman and two other pitchers, John Quirk and Sean Barry, Wednesday.

Coleman compiled a 7.20 ERA and allowed 12 hits, eight runs, and seven walks in 10 innings against Bangor last year.

Coleman fared much better against the rest of the Northeast League, however. He finished the 1996 season with a 2.89 ERA, five saves, and a 3-6 record for the 19-61 Tiger Sharks.

“He had a hand in half their wins. He was one of the few guys in the league we had in mind to sign if they ever became available,” said Bangor media relations director Sean Bigham. “Ironically, he called us first, and now he’s a Blue Ox.”

Club officials see the righthanded reliever as either a setup man or the team’s closer.

Quirk, 26, is a 6-foot-4 lefthander with four years of minor league baseball experience as both a starter and reliever. He was a 23rd round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox in 1993.

Barry is a 6-3, 210-pound righthander from Colchester, Conn. The 23-year-old Keene State College student will graduate in May and has four years of college experience.