SAUGET, Ill. — A minor-league baseball team in southwestern Illinois is mourning the death of one of its rookie pitchers.

Twenty-three-year-old Brandon Villalobos died last weekend in California in a dune buggy accident that also killed another passenger. Villalobos was from Glendora, Calif.

The left-hander chosen by the Chicago White Sox in the 23rd round of the Major League Baseball draft but chose to attend college. He went to Long Beach State and later San Diego State, where he sat out last season while recovering from arm surgery.

Villalobos was scheduled to report to the Frontier League's Gateway Grizzlies in Sauget (SAW'-zhay) on May 6.

Grizzlies Manager Phil Warren says the club "lost a promising young ball player and an even better person."

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Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com