KINSTON, North Carolina (April 23, 2025) - The Bird Dawgs made three selections in the Frontier League Draft on Wednesday. The draft followed the two-day Frontier League Tryout Camp, held at Ozinga Field in Crestwood, Illinois—home of the Windy City ThunderBolts. Along with managers from all 18 Frontier League clubs, scouts and members from several MLB teams and other independent leagues were also present. In addition to the draft picks, the Bird Dawgs have also signed RHP TJ Czyz earlier this week.

The Bird Dawgs selected Tristan Walton with the second overall pick, added Elias Stevens in the second round and picked Stan King in the third round.

Walton began his collegiate career at Lawson State Community College, where he made 29 appearances with 24 starts while striking out 112 batters over 127.2 innings. After a solid junior college career, Walton transferred to Division I University of Tennessee at Martin, and in the 2023 season, he posted a 5.04 ERA in 18 games played while striking out 73. In 2024, Walton held a 2.88 ERA in 15 games played as he delivered 98 strikeouts in 93.2 innings pitched. Upon graduation, Walton began his professional career in the Pioneer League with the Boise Hawks as he played in three games for a total of 9.2 innings pitched while striking out seven batters.

Stevens spent five seasons with Division II Maryville, starting in 2020, where he played just 12 games and bat .138. In 2021 appeared in 34 games as he bat .268 while launching seven home runs. Stevens returned for his junior season in 2022, where he played in 49 games and made 45 starts as he hit .328 and was named to the GLVC Second Team All-Conference and the ABCA/Rawlings Midwest All-Region Second Team. During the 2023 season, Stevens started all 56 games as he broke the school career and single-season home run records while batting .313 with 18 doubles, 64 RBI en route to a D2CCA All-America Honorable Mention and was named GLVC All-Conference First Team. In his final collegiate year in 2024, Stevens played in 59 games while batting .257 as he homered 24 times. Stevens played professionally in 2024 upon graduation, as he played in six games in the Frontier League for the Gateway Grizzlies while batting .191.

King won two state championships with Baylor High School in Tennessee during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. After graduating from high school, King attended Tennessee Tech University and Tallahassee Community College before heading to NAIA Georgia Gwinnett College, where he pitched one inning in relief in 2022. Most recently, King played for the Jackson Rockabillys of the Prospect League, a collegiate wood bat league, in 2024 as he batted .246 throughout 35 games while bringing in 22 runs.

The earlier signing of TJ Czyz brings the total number of pitchers to 17 on the Bird Dawgs active roster.

Czyz was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 12th round of the 2022 MLB draft out of Cosumnes River College. While at CRC, he pitched in 15 games while delivering 85 innings with a 2.96 ERA. Before Czyz was drafted, he pitched in four games for the Frederick Keys of the MLB Draft League while maintaining a 1.50 ERA. During his first season in professional baseball in 2022, Czyz played for the Lansing Lugnuts in High A and in the Arizona Complex League, where he posted a 2.35 ERA in six games while striking out 12 batters. In 2023, Czyz played for the Low A affiliate of the A’s, the Stockton Ports, and again in the Arizona Complex League, as he played in 36 games while holding a 5.98 ERA and striking out 42 batters. Czyz started the 2023 season playing for Stockton, where he made 33 appearances while holding a 5.44 ERA as he delivered 35 strikeouts in 41.1 innings pitched before he was released by the A’s in late July. Czyz joined the Oakland Ballers of the Pioneer League for the remainder of 2024 as he played in six games while striking out 14 batters and holding an 11.91 ERA in 11.1 innings pitched.