Ricky Thomas starred for Y-D last summer and is slated to return this year.
It’s very early in the college baseball season, a time for small sample sizes and differing opponent quality, but it’s never too early to take a peek at which future Cape Leaguers are off to fast starts. Not every roster has been posted yet, so this is far from a complete list, but it’s a start.
Jeren Kendall hit .253 in 20 games for Cotuit last summer and is ticketed for a return trip this year. He’s off to a roaring start for Vanderbilt, batting .474 with three home runs and 16 RBI through 10 games. He’s also stolen 10 bases. Teammate Alonzo Jones, a highly-touted freshman who is slated to join Kendall in Cotuit, is third on the team with a .333 average. The Commodores are at Stanford this weekend.
Future Orleans catcher Riley Adams is hitting .481 for San Diego, against competition that includes powerhouse Vanderbilt.
Chatham will welcome in a pair of Seattle University pitchers, and they’ve both been lights out so far. Tarik Skubal is one of the nation’s leaders in strikeouts with 23 in 13 innings. He has walked just one batter and has a 0.00 ERA. Rotation-mate Nick Meservey, who’s also bound for the Anglers, boasts a 0.00 ERA, as well.
Florida’s Alex Faedo had one of the most noteworthy pitching performances of the young season when he struck out 12 in 6.1 scoreless innings as the top-ranked Gators scored a marquee win over Miami. The sophomore is slated to play for Y-D this summer.
Also penciled in for the Y-D rotation will be returning standout Ricky Thomas, one of the breakout stars of the 2015 Cape League season. Thomas has picked up where he left off for Fresno State, going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 12 innings.
Defending national champ Virginia has gotten a torrid start from sophomore infielder Ernie Clement, who is on the Harwich roster for 2016. Clement is batting .515 through eight games and is among the early national leaders.
Missouri state preseason all-conference pick Jake Burger is hitting an even .500 and five of his 16 hits have been home runs. Burger is set to play for Falmouth in the summer.
From Alabama to Texas to California, Chatham’s roster includes three hitters who have been red-hot. UC Irvine’s Keston Hiura is batting .500 with four home runs, on the heels of earning Perfect Game Summer All-American honors in the West Coast League. Texas Tech’s Tanner Gardner is hitting at a .429 clip, and Samford’s Austin Edens is at .364 with three home runs.
Rhode Island’s Tyler Wilson, who is slated to play for Harwich, has already picked up one Atlantic 10 award and will likely pick up a few more. The reigning A-10 Pitcher and Rookie of the Year was named A-10 Pitcher of the Week after striking out 11 in seven shutout innings against a good Maryland team last weekend.
Future Falmouth Commodore Kyle Nelson has already appeared in five games out of the UC Santa Barbara bullpen and has struck out 17 in 10.1 innings, while allowing no earned runs and only three hits.
