Ex-prep teammate says Dixon can play.

Byline: Steve Mims The Register-Guard

Eugene Emeralds infielder Ray Stokes grew up playing sports with Dennis Dixon, so he knows what the Atlanta Braves saw when they drafted the Oregon quarterback in the fifth round of last week's major league baseball draft.

"I knew he was going to get drafted," Stokes said. "It was a surprise to some people, but I knew he would get picked. He's good. He's good in both sports. Whatever sport he plays, Dennis gives 100 percent because that is the kind of person he is in life."

Stokes said he and Dixon have played baseball, basketball and football together since seventh grade, and they were teammates at San Leandro High School in California. He said they still talk a couple times a week, although Stokes said Dixon has not informed him of his plans for baseball.

"I'm not sure what he's going to do, but it is good he got drafted," he said.

Stokes was picked in the 16th round out of Cal State-East Bay last year by the Padres. He was the Association of Division III Independents player of the year after he hit .400 with four home runs, 29 RBIs and 29 stolen bases as a junior in 2006.

He started last season in Eugene and went 2-for-4 when the Ems opened the season with an 11-7 win at Boise, but he was sent to rookie-level Peoria after he batted .186 in 11 games with the Emeralds. He finished the season in Peoria and hit .254 with a .403 on-base percentage in 21 games, helping Peoria win the Arizona League championship.

"It was fun here in Eugene and in Peoria," Stokes said. "We ended up winning the championship there so that was good and it was a good atmosphere."

Stokes has been in extended spring training with the Padres preparing for his return to the Northwest League, where he is listed as a second baseman for the Ems.

"I'm just trying to get better in all phases of my game," Stokes said. "(Extended spring training) was like another season before the Eugene season started."

Efforts by The Register-Guard to reach Dixon have been unsuccessful.

Roster expands

Five players joined the team during its second workout on Thursday, and another is expected to arrive today.

Infielders Lance Zawadzki and Andy Parrino, catcher Luis Martinez, outfielder Shane Buschini and pitcher Matt Teague have all been added to the roster, and outfielder Keith Conlon is expected to be on the field for today's 3 p.m. workout.

Zawadzki, a fourth-round pick from Lee University, is the highest-drafted player on the roster, and Teague was selected in the eighth round. Buschini and Martinez were picked in the 11th and 12th rounds, repectively.

Bush on the way?

One big name who could join the Ems during the season is Matt Bush, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 draft who played eight games for the Ems that season at shortstop.

Bush struggled at the plate in his first three seasons in the minors, combining for a .221 batting average with two home runs in 177 games. He started this season in Lake Elsinore, a long-season A affiliate of the Padres, and batted .204 before the Padres announced last month that he was being converted to a pitcher.

Bush was a pitcher and a shortstop at Mission Bay High School in San Diego when he was drafted. He is currently at San Diego's extended spring training complex in Peoria but could soon be promoted to Eugene.

"He's got a great arm and I would love to have him, and there is a good chance we will have him at some time this summer," Eugene manager Greg Riddoch said. "He throws in the mid- to high-90s, and he was a pitcher all his life until he signed. It's not like you have to teach him the position."

Elsewhere in the minors

Churchill graduate Ryan Royster was chosen to play in the South Atlantic League All-Star game. Royster, a left fielder in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization, is an all-star for the second time after being picked to play in the New York-Penn League game last year.

Royster is batting .313 with nine home runs and 37 RBIs for the Columbus Catfish, a Single-A affiliate of the Devil Rays.

Sheldon graduate Tim Brown is batting .264 with nine home runs and 32 RBIs for the San Antonio Missions, a Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

EMS OPENER

Eugene at Spokane, 6:30 p.m., Tuesday. Radio: KPNW-AM (1120).