Andrew Calica’s .425 season was one of the highlights of 2015.
In making some lists on 2015 Cape League alumni to watch this college season, I was struck by some of the standout performances of last summer. The season goes so fast and ends so abruptly that it’s easy to lose track of the season that was. And postseason top prospect lists tend to focus on the talent level, not on what the players, fans and organizations experience on the Cape’s sandy shores.
For a brief trip down memory lane, start with Andrew Calica. The Wareham outfielder didn’t qualify for the batting title until late in the season, but when he did, history was made. Calica hit .425, becoming the first Cape Leaguer to hit the .400 mark since 1990. Several had come close over the years, but no one finished it off until Calica.
Bobby Dalbec hit four home runs in the first week of the season for Orleans, left for Team USA, came back in July and hit eight more home runs, plus two in the playoffs. Dalbec hit a home run every 8.2 at-bats. And in a two-year career with Orleans, the Arizona slugger hit 19 home runs in 62 games. From that perspective, he’s a Cape League all-timer.
On the mound, Mitchell Jordan finished with a 0.21 ERA for Orleans, matching Eric Milton’s 1996 Cape League record. He allowed two earned runs the entire season. And Y-D’s Ben Bowden had a remarkable run for the Red Sox after his July arrival. In 17.1 regular season innings out of the bullpen, he didn’t allow a single run. The first time anyone scored off him was in game three of the Cape League championship series – and it didn’t much matter. The Red Sox won 8-1 and Bowden finished it off.
There were plenty more great moments, of course, but those performances really stick out. It was a fun year.
Notes
Three former Cape Leaguers spent part of their winter in the Australian Baseball League, a relatively new venture that aims to grow the game Down Under and also serve as a winter destination for players in MLB systems. Former Orleans Firebird Maxx Tissenbaum, a Tampa Bay farm-hand, was on the Brisbane team that won the ABL championship. That squad beat Dallas Gallant (Hyannis) and the Adelaide Bite in the title series. Falmouth alum Rhys Hoskins hit eight home runs for the Sydney Blue Sox.
One week before the Division I season opens, the D-II ranks will treat baseball fans to a terrific pitching match-up in California this Friday. Former Wareham Gatemen pitcher Ryan Olson of Cal Poly Pomona will square off with Tyler Wells of Cal State San Bernardino. Both hurlers will get some draft buzz. Baseball America projected as the D-II national pitcher of the year.
The Southern Conference tabbed 2015 Orleans star Kyle Lewis to repeat as the league’s Player of the Year. Lewis’ Mercer team is also atop the preseason poll.
Cape Leaguers Carmen Benedetti, Brett Adcock and Evan Hill lead a Michigan team that’s been picked as the Big Ten favorite.
Wareham announced the addition of new assistant coach Don Sneddon, the longtime coach at Santa Ana College and a former manager in the Rockies’ system. He joins a new-look staff that will be headed by first-year manager Gerry Weinstein, who was hired in September.
And lastly, the 2016 season begins in 119 days. Plan accordingly.
Gio Brusa is riding an 11-game hit streak for Y-D, who has won four in a row.
Baseball America listed Gio Brusa (Pacific) as the Cape League’s fourth-best prospect last summer. The other players in the top five all were selected among the first 73 picks in the 2015 draft. Brusa was selected with pick number 701, in the 23rd round. The 6’3, 225-pound outfielder was coming off an injury-hampered junior season and he had reportedly indicated to teams before the draft that he was leaning toward a return to Pacific.
With another year of college ahead, Brusa headed for the Cape and hooked on with the Y-D Red Sox, after spending last summer in Brewster. He got off to a shaky start, going 3-for-23 out of the gates, but since then, he has looked the part of the guy who kept good prospect company last year.
Brusa is on an 11-game hitting streak and hit his fifth home run in that span last night as Y-D beat Harwich 5-3. Brusa is now hitting .277, is tied for the league lead in home runs with five and ranks sixth in the league in RBI with 14.
Again, he has done essentially all of this in 11 games.
Brusa’s hot streak has helped the Red Sox find their footing, too. Tuesday’s win was their fourth in a row. They’re 7-4 in the month of July and have moved one game over .500 at 15-14.
Tuesday, they were tied with Harwich 1-1 before Brusa’s three-run homer powered a four-run fifth inning.
Donnie Walton (Oklahoma State) and Tommy Edman (Stanford) added two hits and an RBI each. Edman is on a hot streak of his own, with hits in nine straight games.
Stater Brett Adcock (Michigan) allowed two runs in 4.2 innings before a strong showing by the Y-D bullpen. Dalton Lehnen (Cincinnati) got the win in relief and Ben Bowden (Vanderbilt) picked up his first save. Bowden, a late arrival after Vandy’s run in Omaha, has struck out 12 in 6.1 scoreless innings this summer.
Y-D is now tied with Brewster for third place in the East and only one game back of Chatham for second. With Brusa streaking toward a second straight all-star summer, the defending champion Red Sox may be primed for another run.
Brewster 6, Chatham 0
Alec Rash (Missouri) delivered perhaps the best performance of his college and Cape League career as Brewster shut out Chatham. Rash, a former second-round pick of the Phillies that has struggled at Missouri, tossed six innings of one-hit ball against the Anglers. He struck out five and didn’t walk a batter. Three relievers followed him to the hill and finished off the shutout, as Chatham managed just three hits. Toby Handley (Stony Brook) led the Brewster offense with two hits and two RBI. League batting and RBI leader Nick Senzel (Tennessee) went 1-for-5 and knocked in his 19th run. J.C. Escarra (Florida International) and Ryan Peurifoy (Georgia Tech) also had RBI. Brewster is now just one game back of Chatham for second place in the East.
Hyannis 5, Falmouth 2
The Harbor Hawks stopped Falmouth’s four-game winning streak and upped their West division lead to four games with a 5-2 victory. Devin Smeltzer (Florida Gulf Coast) delivered his best start since his no-hitter last month, giving up one earned run and striking out five in 6.2 innings of work. Aaron Civale (Northeastern) notched his third save in relief of Smeltzer. Ryne Birk (Texas A&M) went 2-for-4 with three RBI to lead the Hyannis attack. Austin Hays (Jacksonville) homered, while Jacob Noll (Florida Gulf Coast) and Arden Pabst (Georgia Tech) had two hits each.
Orleans 8, Wareham 2
East-leading Orleans also gained a little more distance, pushing its lead to five games with a win over Wareham and a Chatham loss. Eric Lauer (Kent State), who’s doing his best to keep up with teammate Mitchell Jordan, struck out nine and gave up one run on two hits in five innings of work. Lauer is now second in the league in strikeouts to Jordan with 39 and fifth in ERA with a 1.45 mark. Catcher Sean Murphy (Wright State) went 3-for-5 for the second time in four games, raising his average to .235 and continuing his emergence as another big bat in the powerful Firebirds lineup. Bryson Brigman (San Diego) added two RBI.
Cotuit 3, Bourne 1
The Kettleers moved within two games of second-place Bourne in the tightly-packed West standings with a 3-1 win over the Braves. Jeren Kendall (Vanderbilt) had two hits, a home run and an RBI, giving him six hits in five games since his late arrival. Brett Stephens (UCLA) added two hits. Matthew Milburn (Wofford) allowed just an unearned run in 5.2 innings for the win. Justin Dunn (Boston College) tallied his fourth save.
What to Watch
Daulton Jefferies (California), who had a 2.57 ERA with Team USA, makes his return to Wareham as the Gatemen visit Chatham tonight.
Last Friday, Wareham beat Cotuit by a run with two runs in the top of the ninth inning. The go-ahead run scored on a passed ball. Wednesday, Wareham won by a run again, and this one might have been even more frustrating for the Kettleers.
A solo home run by Andrew Calica (UC Santa Barbara) in the sixth inning was the game’s only run – and Wareham’s only hit. Four Gatemen pitchers combined on a shutout as the Gatemen won 1-0.
Wareham improved to 10-9 and is one game back of Hyannis for first place in the West. Cotuit dropped to 6-13.
The Gatemen were 0-5 in one-run games before the 4-3 victory over Cotuit Friday. Their luck turned around in that game and apparently didn’t run out, either. Cotuit’s Jon Woodcock (Virginia Tech) obviously took a no-hitter into the sixth Wednesday, but the one hit sent him to the hardest of hard-luck losses.
Calica, the No. 9 hitter in the order, came up with two outs in the sixth and smacked a 2-1 pitch for his first home run of the summer. Calica, who hit .329 for UC Santa Barbara, only had one home run this spring, too. He’s now hitting .438 in six games on the Cape.
Woodcock didn’t allow anything else – his season ERA is now 1.50 – and Mitch Stallings (Duke) tossed two hitless innings. But Wareham’s pitchers remained in control.
Matt Krook (Oregon) started and went two innings. He walked four and struck out two but didn’t give up a run or a hit. Blake Fox (Rice) followed with 4.2 innings, Ian Hamilton (Washington State) tossed two-thirds of an inning and Shea Spitzbarth (Molloy) went the final 1.2 without surrendering a hit.
Cotuit threatened with a little luck of its own when Will Haynie (Alabama) led off the ninth by reaching on a dropped third strike. He made it to second on a bunt and third on a groundout, but Spitzbarth stranded him there. Kort Peterson (UCLA) lined out to end the inning.
The Kettleers finished with four hits but none went for extra bases. Wareham’s one hit did a little more damage.
Harwich 6, Bourne 2
Harwich scored four runs in the fifth to break away for a 6-2 win over Bourne. Johnny Adams (Boston College) and Connor Justus (Georgia Tech) went 2-for-3 with three RBI for the Mariners. Adam Pate (North Carolina) went 2-for-3 and now has 10 hits in eight games since Harwich picked him up after he was released by Orleans. Pate has three straight two-hit games and ranks third in the league with a .356 batting average. Pate’s UNC teammate Hunter Williams struck out seven in four innings and Ross Vance (West Virginia) got the win in relief after Harwich’s big inning. Joe DiBenedetto (Seton Hall) went three scoreless innings for his first save. Harwich did much of its damage at the plate against Bourne starter Nick Jensen-Clagg (Kent State), who hadn’t allowed a hit in his first two starts. He gave up six Wednesday, walked five and was charged with three earned runs.
Y-D 9, Chatham 2
The Red Sox built an early lead then pulled away with a six-run seventh inning in a win over Chatham. It was Y-D’s second win this week over Chatham, and the Red Sox sit just one game back of the second-place Anglers in the East standings. Donnie Walton (Oklahoma State) led the Y-D offense with three hits, a home run and two RBI. It was the fourth three-hit game of the summer for Walton, who’s batting .318. The homer was his first. Stephen Wrenn (Georgia) added two hits while Gio Brusa (Washington) – a 2014 CCBL All-Star – shook off his slow start to 2015 with a two-hit night. Barnstable native Will Toffey (Vanderbilt) made his Cape League debut and drew three walks. On the mound for Y-D, Brett Adcock (Michigan) walked five but surrendered only one run in five innings. Chatham got home runs from Luke Persico (UCLA) and Todd Czinege (Villanova).
Falmouth at Hyannis, PPD; Brewster at Orleans, PPD
What to Watch
Four games on tap today, including what should be a good pitching match-up at Red Wilson Field. Josh Rogers (Louisville), who was drafted in the 11th round this year but is planning to return to school, goes for Bourne against Y-D’s Shane Bieber (UC Santa Barbara), who went 7.2 shutout innings last time out. Also on the hill tonight is Chatham’s T.J. Zeuch (Pittsburgh), who will go against Brewster at Veterans Field. Zeuch has not allowed an earned run in his three starts.
University of Virginia players who make their way to Cape Cod often spend their summers with the Harwich Mariners. On the night when the Cavaliers won the national championship in Omaha – with Mariner alumni Joe McCarthy and Kenny Towns in the dog-pile – their brethren in Harwich also picked up a victory. The Mariners beat Brewster 5-3.
The Mariners actually don’t have a Virginia player on the roster this summer, but over the years, Whitehouse Field has been a frequent destination. Every Cape League team has school connections, and Harwich’s Virginia pipeline has remained strong as the Cavaliers have emerged as a national powerhouse. Some of their best players, like Derek Fisher, Steven Proscia, and Towns, have come through Harwich. Towns hit .250 for the Mariners last summer, while McCarthy finished at .314.
As those two got set for game three of the championship series in Omaha, Harwich used a four-run second inning to beat Brewster. The Whitecaps out-hit the Mariners 11-5 but didn’t have an extra-base hit and stranded seven runners.
Connor Justus (Georgia Tech) homered to spark the big second inning and Nick Walker (Old Dominion) had an RBI single. Stevie Berman (Santa Clara) added a sacrifice fly in the eighth as Harwich tacked on an insurance run.
Harwich starter Geoff Bramblett (Alabama) gave up eight hits but allowed just one run in five innings for the win, his third of the year, which is tied for the league lead. Luke Scherzer (Virginia Tech) picked up his league-best fifth save and kept his ERA at 0.00.
Robbie Tenerowicz (California) had three hits to lead Brewster and Nick Senzel (Tennessee) drove in two runs.
The win was the third in a row for Harwich, who moved to 8-5-1. Brewster dropped to 6-8.
Wareham 8, Hyannis 1
The Harbor Hawks still lead the West – as they have almost since day one – but Wareham still has their number. The Gatemen picked up their third victory in as many tries against Hyannis with an 8-1 victory at McKeon Park. Bailey Clark (Duke) matched the aforementioned Bramblett atop the league leaderboard with his third win, as he went five innings and gave up just a run. The offense did the rest, with six players delivering multi-hit games. Andrew Calica (UC Santa Barbara) went 3-for-4 with two RBI in just his second Cape appearance, while Jay Jabs (Franklin Pierce) went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Jarett Rindfleisch (Ball State), who was off to an 0-for-25 start this summer, broke out in a big way, going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. David MacKinnon (Hartford) had two hits and scored three runs. For Hyannis, Blake Tiberi (Louisville) delivered his fourth consecutive multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 night.
Bourne 5, Cotuit 0
Continuing to leave its 0-6-1 start in the past, Bourne won for the sixth time in seven games and suddenly finds itself in third place in the West. Josh Rogers (Louisville) struck out six in 5.2 scoreless innings before Gavin Pittore (Wesleyan) and Austin Conway (Indiana State) finished off the shutout. Reid Humphreys (Mississippi State) and Vince Fernandez (UC Riverside) both homered for the Braves – matching the team’s previous season total in one night – to account for four of the five runs. Cotuit managed just four hits in losing its fifth straight.
Y-D 2, Falmouth 0
The Red Sox won their third straight with a shutout of Falmouth. Brett Adcock (Michigan), who had a very strong spring but had gotten off to a slow start this summer, delivered six scoreless innings and struck out four. Alec Eisenberg (Hofstra) was dominant in relief, striking out six of the nine batters he faced in three perfect innings. Connor Wong (Houston) and Nathan Rodriguez (Arkansas) drove in one run each for all the offense Y-D would need. Luke Bonfield (Arkansas) was on base twice and scored both runs.
What to Watch
Only two games on the schedule, but the first meeting of the year between rivals Chatham and Orleans has the makings of a good one. T.J. Zeuch (Pittsburgh), a 6-foot-7 righty who hasn’t allowed an earned run in two starts, is slated to go for Chatham against Eric Lauer (Kent State), who has a 1.80 ERA for Orleans.
Brady Conlan catches a high throw at first during game one of Sunday’s doubleheader.
Hyannis had the most impressive doubleheader Sunday in the league, beating Brewster by 8-0 and 9-2 scores to run its league-best record to 6-1. But in terms of necessity, the bigger Sunday sweep belonged to the defending champion Y-D Red Sox.
After an 0-4 start, fresh off their first win, the Red Sox rolled past Cotuit 4-1 and 4-0 to get to 3-4 and leave their shaky first few games firmly in the past. Y-D used a four-run fifth inning to turn things around in Sunday’s first game. In the nightcap, a four-run third inning and a combined shutout from three hurlers sealed the victory.
The Red Sox had stumbled out of the gates, scoring only six runs and giving up 28 in their first four games.
Y-D broke out Saturday with 12 hits and a strong showing on the mound in a 5-0 win over Bourne, and it was more of the same Sunday.
Jacob DeVries (Air Force) pitched into the final frame of the first seven-inning affair, scattering seven hits and allowing just one run. After Will Haynie (Alabama) touched DeVries up for a one-out double, Brett Adcock (Michigan) relieved him, got an out, then made things interesting with two walks to load the bases. But with the go-ahead run at the plate, Adcock induced a pop-up to end the game.
Nick Ruppert (Dartmouth) had two RBI in the big fifth inning, while Cole Billingsley (South Alabama) and Nathan Rodriguez (Arkansas) knocked in one run each. The Red Sox had four hits – their only four hits of the game – in that inning, and also took advantage of two Cotuit errors.
In game two, Y-D pitching was even a little better as a trio combined for the team’s second shutout in three games. Christian Morris (Indiana) gave up three hits in five innings, before Dalton Lehnen (Cincinnati) and Gabriel Cramer (Stanford) finished the job with a scoreless inning each.
Billingsley, Donovan Walton (Oklahoma State) and Stephen Wrenn (Georgia) had two hits apiece to lead the offense.
Hyannis 8, Brewster 0; Hyannis 9, Brewster 2
The aforementioned Harbor Hawks were indeed impressive in their sweep of Brewster, who had come in at 3-1. Dakota Hudson (Mississippi State), who’s been mostly a reliever in two seasons in Starkville, made the start in game one and struck out seven while giving up only two hits in six shutout innings. Marc Skinner (Troy) pitched the seventh to finish out the victory. Bobby Melley (Connecticut) continued his hot start with three hits and three RBI, pacing a nine-hit attack. Hyannis led 3-0 after one, then scored five in the final inning. In the second game, four pitchers chipped in on a solid effort, with Nick Deeg (Central Michigan) picking up the win on one perfect inning. Jacob Noll (Florida Gulf Coast) led the offense this time, going 2-for-4 and driving in four of the nine runs. After going hitless for the first time all season in the doubleheader opener, Justin Arrington (Baylor) went 2-for-3. Hyannis, at 6-1, is not only in first place in the West, but also has the only winning record in the division.
Orleans 6, Wareham 2; Orleans 1, Wareham 0
It was also a sweep at Eldredge Park, where the Firebirds mashed three home runs in the opener then eked out a pitchers duel in the second game. Kyle Lewis (Mercer) hit his third home run of the young season to power the game-one win, while Bobby Dalbec (Arizona) knocked his second as part of a 3-for-3 day. Sean Murphy (Wright State) went 2-for-3 and hit his first homer. Kyle Cedotal (SE Louisiana) tossed five scoreless innings for the win, and Kit Scheetz (Virginia Tech) delivered his third scoreless relief outing of the summer. In the second game, Orleans was limited to three hits by Wareham starter Anthony Kay, a standout at UConn this spring, and reliever Ryan Olson (Cal Poly Pomona), but the Firebirds scratched one run across and held down the Wareham offense completely. Dalbec’s second home run of the doubleheader provided the only offense. Mitchell Jordan (Stetson) gave up one hit in five innings. Stephen Nogosek (Oregon) and Jason Harper (Southern Connecticut) closed the shutout. Orleans, now 5-2, moved into first place in the East with the sweep.
Harwich 1, Bourne 1; Harwich 6, Bourne 2
Bourne picked up a tie in the opener (there’s an innings limit in doubleheader games) but remained winless as Harwich took a 6-2 victory in the nightcap at Whitehouse Field. Cameron Duzenack (Dallas Baptist) homered in the third inning of the first game but Harwich answered in the fourth on an RBI double by Drew Ellis (The Citadel). Neither team would score again through nine full innings. Kyle Driscoll (Rutgers) and Austin Conway (Indiana State) were lights-out in the Bourne bullpen – with Conway striking out five of seven batters he faced – while Spencer Trayner (North Carolina) and Williams Durruthy (Florida International) did the job for Harwich. In game two, Preston Palmeiro (NC State) and Michael Hernandez (Nova Southeastern) drove in two runs apiece to power the six-run burst. Bourne was within a run in the sixth before Harwich pulled away. Hunter Williams (North Carolina) picked up the win with 5.2 solid innings. Sheldon Neuse (Oklahoma) – the rare two-way player on the Cape – picked up the save in his first outing on the mound.
Chatham 6, Falmouth 4; Falmouth 3, Chatham 2
The only split of the busy Sunday came at Veterans Field, where Chatham took the opener but watched Falmouth score the go-ahead run in the ninth to win the second game. Trenton Brooks (Nevada) went 2-for-3 with an RBI in the first game. Kyle Adams (Richmond) added two RBI, while Will Craig (Wake Forest) had two hits and scored a run. James Mulry (Northeastern) pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the win and Andre Scrubb (High Point) got the save. Brooks was hot again in the second game, notching his third straight two-hit game and upping his league-best average to .500. But Falmouth had the last laugh, breaking a 2-2 tie on a Boomer White (Texas A&M) RBI single. The hit scored Mitch Longo (Ohio), who had reached on an error, taken second on a sac bunt and stolen third. Andrew Frankenreider (Northern Illinois) grabbed his second save in as many days with a scoreless bottom of the ninth.
What to Watch
It’s a league-wide off-day Monday. Getting back to action Tuesday, Hyannis and Cotuit will renew their rivalry with a 5 p.m. game at Lowell Park.
The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox surged to their fourth Cape Cod Baseball League championship in 11 years last summer, completing the run with a sweep of Falmouth in the title series. They made the run after finishing third in the East Division during the regular season and shuffling their roster regularly.
Another talented group, led by a deep pitching staff and a host of big-name freshmen, is on its way.
FIVE TO WATCH
1. Mike Shawaryn
2. J.J. Schwarz
3. Will Toffey
4. Cole Billingsley
5. Brett Adcock
NOTABLE
Maryland is headed to a Super Regional and ace Mike Shawaryn has been a big reason why. After setting a school record for wins as a freshman, Shawaryn took the leap into bona fide ace territory this year, going 13-2 with an eye-popping 133 strikeouts. This may be the first preview, but it’s hard to imagine anyone in the Cape League has a better pitching coming to town than Y-D has with Shawaryn.
Shawaryn heads a list of starting pitchers with strong track records on the Y-D roster. Brett Adcock, Brandon Bailey and Shane Bieber were workhorses this year, with Adcock and Bailey both striking out more than 90.
Y-D had the league’s most fearsome closer last year in Phil Bickford. David Ellingson may not have the same pedigree, but he’s got the numbers. The Georgetown standout saved nine games with an ERA under 1.00 this season.
The Cape League always has a few native sons in uniform. Barnstable native Will Toffey could be the best in recent memory. The Vanderbilt freshman already lit up the Futures League last year and has forced his way into the lineup for the defending College World Series champions as a freshman.
TCU’s Brian Howard stands 6’9. That is all.
Y-D is slated to have three freshman catchers from powerhouse SEC programs. All have big potential, but J.J. Schwarz has made it good on more quickly than the others, with 15 homers for Florida in his debut season.
Y-D could have a very athletic outfield, with Stephen Wrenn of Georgia and South Alabama’s Cole Billingsley patrolling. Wrenn had started at center field in every game of his college career and flashed potential for Bourne last summer. Billingsley ranked 16th in the nation in stolen bases this year.
St. John’s Mike Donadio didn’t have a great sophomore year, at least compared to his Big East Rookie of the Year campaign in 2014, but he’ll be a valuable presence for the Red Sox this summer. A late addition last year, Donadio hit .367 with two home runs in the playoffs.
The Red Sox will likely have one of the youngest teams in the league, with 13 freshman ticketed for Red Wilson Field. That includes nine position players, who often struggle as freshmen on the Cape.
PITCHERS
Brett Adcock – SO – Michigan – Third-team all-Big 10 lefty K’d 95 in 90 IP, with a 3.10 ERA
Brandon Bailey – SO – Gonzaga – Strong starter for Gonzaga went 8-3 with 3.72 ERA and tied for 3rd in WCC with 91 Ks
Shane Bieber – SO – UC Santa Barbara – Dominated in West Coast League last summer and earned all-conference nod this year
Ben Bowden – SO – Vanderbilt – Native of Lynn, Mass., has been valuable bullpen arm, with 45 Ks in 34.2 IP
Gabe Cramer – JR – Stanford – Saw limited action in first two years, emerged as good reliever this year
David Ellingson – SO – Georgetown – Dominant closer had 9 saves, .75 ERA this season
Alex Faedo – FR – Florida – Late-round pick last year has been solid swing guy this spring, with 3.36 ERA
Mitch Hart – FR – USC – Jumped right into weekend rotation and posted 4.07 ERA; second on team in IP
Brian Howard – SO – TCU – Six-foot-nine righty struck out 43 in 43 innings this spring, pitching mostly out of bullpen
Dustin Hunt – SO – Northeastern – ERA ballooned near five, but righty from Andover, Mass., led Huskies in Ks
Dalton Lehnen – FR – Cincinnati – Freshman lefty led Cincy in starts but went 1-7 with 5.56 ERA
Mike Shawaryn – SO – Maryland – One of nation’s best pitchers went 13-2, had 1.66 ERA and struck out 133, 4th nationally
Ricky Thomas – FR – Fresno State – Freshman lefty had solid debut with 3.92 ERA
Chris Viall – SO – Stanford – Solid swing man on pitching staff had 4.73 ERA this season
CATCHERS
Mike Papierski – FR – LSU – 16th-rd pick in 2014 draft has hit .214 in limited action for loaded LSU team
Nathan Rodriguez – FR – Arkansas – Talented catching prospect was declared ineligible this season and did not play
J.J. Schwarz – FR – Florida – 17th-rd pick last year has had huge freshman season: .320 with 15 HR, 66 RBI
INFIELDERS
Tommy Edman – SO – Stanford – Started every game this spring, hit .296 with a homer
Dalton Guthrie – FR – Florida – Late-round pick in 2014 has started every game in debut season, posting .290 average
Ryan Lillard – FR – Arizona State – Iowa native hit .233 in 26 games as a freshman
Will Toffey – FR – Vanderbilt – Barnstable native & top prospect in Futures League last year hitting .309 in first year at VU
Connor Wong – FR – Houston – Hit .248 with six homers in first season with Cougars
OUTFIELDERS
Cole Billingsley – JR – South Alabama – Had big year after medical redshirt in 2014, batting .345 and swiping 30 bags
Luke Bonfield – FR – Arkansas – Mets’ 21st-rd pick in ’14 has hit .164 in limited duty for Razorbacks
Michael Donadio – SO – St. John’s – Big East Rookie of Year in 2014 batted .302 this year
Ryan Noda – FR – Cincinnati – Hit .230 and was second on UC to former CCBL all-star Ian Happ in HRs with 7
Stephen Wrenn – SO – Georgia – Has started all 109 games of UGA career in CF; hit .324 with 8 HR this year
