Greetings! Why, yes, this is an off-season Right Field Fog post. Hopefully, the first of many.
This time last year, I was knee-deep in my first season of covering college basketball in Rhode Island, and was hibernating in an igloo, but I’ve got a little more of a handle on it now and it’s warm all of a sudden. So, you can expect some regular stuff here in the next few months — this new hot stove notebook, plus college, draft and alumni talk.
Happy New Year to you and yours. Let’s talk baseball.
It’s a bit quiet on the roster front, with only Cotuit, Harwich, Brewster andOrleans posting rosters at this point. A couple of names that caught my eye — Harwich’s Tyler Wilson was the Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year as a freshman at Rhode Island and has big-time potential. Brewster’s Brent Rooker, who had a late cup of coffee with the Whitecaps last year, was the NECBL MVP.
Circle June 10 on your 2016 calendar. That’s day one of the Cape Cod Baseball League season. Wareham visits Y-D and Orleans heads to Brewster for 5 p.m. starts, with Hyannis visiting Bourne at 6, Cotuit heading to Harwich at 6:30 and Chatham finishing things off at 7 with a home game against Falmouth. Also of note in the schedule — no more scheduled doubleheaders.
The league also announced that Veterans Field in Chatham will host the 2016 All-Star Game July 23. If I remember right, the last one in Chatham was pretty good.
Congratulations to Judy Walden-Scarafile on her retirement as Cape League president.
Y-D manager Scott Pickler has been inducted into his high school alma mater’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Considering his propensity for CCBL championships, it should come as no surprise that he won a California state baseball championship as a player.
The MLB Draft is set for June 9. Much can happen between now and then, but MLB Pipeline likes Orleans outfield-mates Kyle Lewis and Bryan Reynolds as Top 10 picks with former Firebird teammate Bobby Dalbec not far behind. Other CCBL names of note in the top 50 include Nick Senzel, Matt Krook, Jake Fraley and Ben Bowden.
Check out some alumni and college notes while you’re here. Yes, that’s 3 offseason posts!
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