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Catching Fire

Brian Miller had three hits as Orleans won its fourth straight game.
Brian Miller had three hits as Orleans won its fourth straight game.

 
All of a sudden, the best team in the league since day one has somebody hot on its tail.

Harwich lost 4-2 to Chatham for its third straight defeat last night. In the meantime, Orleans shut out Hyannis 4-0 for its fourth straight win. The Firebirds are now just a game back of the Mariners for first place in the East.

Orleans was 7-8 when its win streak began, and the streak has followed a pretty classic good baseball formula – three runs or fewer allowed in each game, at least nine hits and only two errors total across the four-game stretch.

The pitching was at its best in Saturday’s win. Joe Ryan (Cal State Northridge), who has allowed a run or less in each of his four starts, went five strong innings, giving up four hits and striking out three. The bullpen then held up its end of the bargain in dominant fashion. Eli Morgan (Gonzaga), Zach Willeman (Kent State) and Zach Logue (Kentucky) didn’t surrender a hit in teaming up for the final four innings.

At the plate, Keegan McGovern (Georgia) hit his second home run in the win streak, a pinch-hit solo shot in the eighth. Brian Miller (North Carolina) drove in the other three runs for the Firebirds with a 2-for-5 night. Riley Adams (San Diego), Justin Jones (Georgia State) and Will Golsan (Ole Miss) scored a run apiece.

Success on the mound and at the plate in the win streak has put Orleans in third place in both team ERA and team batting average – making them the most balanced team in the league by that measure. A few more wins, and the Firebirds could become the best in the league by another measure.

 

Y-D 3, Falmouth 1

The Red Sox aren’t far behind Orleans for label of hottest team in the league. They topped Falmouth for their third straight win Saturday, rallying from a 1-0 deficit with a run in the seventh and two in the ninth despite finishing with only four hits. Mikey Diekroeger (Stanford) knocked an RBI single to tie the game in the seventh. In the ninth, Will Toffey (Vanderbilt) delivered an RBI double to plate the go-ahead run. Matthew Whatley’s (Oral Roberts) sacrifice fly made it 3-1, and Bryan Pall (Michigan) pitched the bottom of the ninth for his third save. Cal State Fullerton standout Connor Seabold earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief in his Cape League debut. Diekroeger and Toffey had two hits each, the only hits for the Red Sox. Y-D is 10-9, over .500 for the first time this season. Falmouth got a home run from Trevor Larnach (Oregon State) and six innings of one-hit, shutout ball from Florida freshman standout Brady Singer before the Red Sox rallied.

Chatham 4, Harwich 2

Losers of four straight, Chatham knocked off first-place Harwich with runs in the seventh and eighth innings to break a 2-2 tie. Stuart Fairchild’s (Wake Forest) third hit of the night plated the go-ahead run in the seventh. Patrick Mathis (Texas) hit his second home run of the summer in the eighth for a little insurance, and Moises Ceja (UCLA) tossed a scoreless ninth for his third save. That made a winner out of Isaac Mattson (Pittsburgh), who struck out five of the 10 batters he faced in 2.2 scoreless frames. Starter Tanner Chock (Presbyterian) also pitched well, allowing two runs in 5.1 innings. Chase Pinder (Clemson) had three hits and an RBI for the Anglers and Gunnar Troutwine (Wichita State) also knocked in a run. For Harwich, Packy Naughton (Virginia Tech) struck out five in 4.2 innings and leads the league in Ks with 26. Austin Filiere (MIT) had two hits and two RBI.

Bourne 2, Brewster 1

Bourne stopped a two-game slide and remained in first place in the West with a win over Brewster. An RBI single by Jake Mangum (Mississippi State) plated the go-ahead run in the seventh. Mangum, the SEC batting champ, finished 3-for-4, raising his average to .392. Connor Wong (Houston) and David MacKinnon (Hartford) added two hits each. Patrick Raby (Vanderbilt) allowed one run in five innings and left with the game tied. Doug Norman (LSU) earned the win in relief and Andrew Wantz (UNC Greensboro) picked up his third save with his fourth consecutive scoreless outing. Brewster got seven strong innings from Konnor Pilkington (Mississippi State), who took the hard-luck loss. Nick Dunn (Maryland) had two hits.

Wareham 3, Cotuit 2

Friday, Cotuit won a one-run game for the first time in seven tries. Saturday, Wareham returned the favor, dropping the Kettleers to 1-7 in one-run games with a 3-2 victory at Spillane Field. Three runs in the third inning were all the Gatemen needed as three pitchers combined on a solid showing. Ethan Small (Mississippi State) went four scoreless innings for the win and Ryan Wilson (Pepperdine) escaped trouble in the eighth and tossed a perfect ninth to finish off the win. Colton Shaver (BYU) upped his league-best RBI total to 20 and Gavin Sheets (Wake Forest) also drove in a run. For Cotuit, Colton Hock (Stanford) allowed two earned runs in six innings. Jason Delay (Vanderbilt) homered and Greyson Jenista (Wichita State) had two hits.

What to Watch

Today brings the openers in the two-game home-and-home holiday sets. As has been the case throughout the year, Harwich and Brewster looks an intriguing match-up. Two-time Cape League Pitcher of the Week Shane McCarthy (Seton Hall) gets the ball for the Mariners today against Brewster’s high-powered offense.

 

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Y-D Charge

Tyler Houston and Y-D vaulted into a third-place tie in the East with Friday's win.
Tyler Houston and Y-D vaulted into a third-place tie in the East with Friday’s win.

 
J.J. Schwarz (Florida) singled in his long-awaited Cape League debut and that was just the start of a good night for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in Harwich. Three pitchers combined on a one-hit shutout as the Red Sox topped first-place Harwich 3-0 and vaulted into a tie for third place in the East.

Schwarz has been a big name in college baseball and prospecting circles since he burst onto the scene as a freshman at Florida last year by hitting .332 with 18 home runs. He didn’t have quite as much success this year but remains near the top of every early 2017 draft preview you’ll see.

Last summer Schwarz was on Y-D’s roster but ended up with Team USA. This year, after Florida’s loss in Omaha, he’s in town and immediately becomes a must-see attraction for scouts. Friday, he singled to lead off the second inning in his first Cape League at-bat and finished 1-for-3.

The bigger story for the Red Sox in terms of impact on Friday’s game was the pitching. Erich Uelmen (Cal Poly) allowed one hit in six shutout innings and struck out four. Coming off a spring in which he had a 3.68 ERA, Uelmen has delivered two scoreless outings in his two Cape starts, having gone five shutout innings his last time out.

Nathan Kuchta (San Diego) followed Uelmen to the hill and pitched a quick seventh inning. Calvin Faucher (UC Irvine) then notched his first save in emphatic fashion, striking out five of the six batters he faced in two perfect innings.

Harwich, as usual, had good pitching of its own, but a Y-D run in the fifth and two in the sixth provided the difference against starter Hunter Williams (North Carolina). Deon Stafford (St. Joseph’s) reached on an error and came around on a passed ball in the fifth. Dillon Persinger (Cal State Fullerton) doubled and Kevin Smith (Maryland) had an RBI to key the sixth inning rally.

Y-D has won two in a row and is 9-9 on the year, hitting the .500 mark for the first time. The Red Sox started the season with five straight losses.

 

Falmouth 5, Bourne 1

Falmouth topped Bourne for its second straight win and moved within one point of the Braves for first place in the West. Willie Burger (Penn State) homered and had two RBI to lead the Commodore offense. Trevor Larnach (Oregon State) and Bryce Johnson (Sam Houston State) added two hits each. Brady Puckett (Lipscomb) surrendered one run in five innings for his third win of the season and his third consecutive start allowing one run or less. Three relievers combined for four scoreless frames. Bourne got two hits from Mississippi State teammates Jake Mangum and Elih Marrero. Falmouth was without leadoff man and top hitter Kevin Merrell (South Florida), who is apparently injured and has been released, according to the league’s transactions page.

Hyannis 10, Chatham 0

The Harbor Hawks jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and cruised past Chatham at Veterans Field. Zach Rutherford (Old Dominion), Carl Stajduhar (New Mexico) and Brett Netzer (Charlotte) led the early burst. Rutherford would finish 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBI, while Netzer drove in three. Chris Hudgins (Cal State Fullerton) and Kameron Esthay (Baylor) also homered. Eight different Harbor Hawks had hits and six of those hits went for extra bases. Much of the offense came against Chatham’s Jacob Stevens (Boston College), who had tossed five shutout innings in his previous start. Alex Eubanks (Clemson) was the beneficiary of the offense and tossed six shutout innings for a second consecutive start. Tyler Stevens (New Mexico) and Garrett Cave (Florida International) finished off the win.

Orleans 7, Brewster 2

The Firebirds broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the sixth and tacked on two more in each of the seventh and eighth innings to pull away. The win allowed Orleans to take over second place in the East at 10-8, as Brewster fell to 9-9. Ethan Paul (Vanderbilt) and Drew Lugbauer (Michigan) had two hits and two RBI apiece. Riley Mahan (Kentucky) added two hits and Justin Jones (Georgia State) scored three runs. John O’Reilly (Rutgers) picked up the win in relief and three of his bullpen mates combined for three scoreless innings to finish it off. For Brewster, Matt Davis (VCU), Brent Rooker (Mississippi State) and Ryan Gridley (Mississippi State) all had two hits. Davis hit his league-best sixth home run. Rooker is now hitting .400.

Cotuit 7, Wareham 6

Cotuit got on its first win streak of the season, beating Wareham for a second consecutive victory. Jackson Klein (Stanford) went 4-for-5 with three RBI and homered for the second straight game. Recent arrival Jason Delay (Vanderbilt) – a former Orleans Firebird who was picked in the 11th round of last month’s draft by the Giants – went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Cal Stevenson (Arizona) and Patrick Dorrian (Herkimer) added two hits each, with Dorrian hitting his first home run of the summer. Taylor Lehman (Penn State) was credited the win in relief after surrendering one run in 3.1 innings. Wareham rallied within a run in the ninth on a three-run homer by Colton Shaver (BYU) – his fifth of the year – but Alec Byrd (Florida State) struck out Gavin Sheets (Wake Forest) to end the game.

What to Watch

Falmouth and Y-D will both try to make it three wins in a row when they square off in Falmouth at 6 p.m. Oliver Jaskie (Michigan) makes his first start for Y-D. For Falmouth, Florida’s Brady Singer – the highest unsigned high school pick in the 2015 draft (second round by the Blue Jays) – will make his Cape League debut.
 

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High Score

Nick Dunn of Maryland is hitting .381 for the Whitecaps.
Nick Dunn of Maryland is hitting .381 for the Whitecaps.

 
For a while there, the Brewster Whitecaps’ league lead in runs scored could be explained by the 11 and 14 runs they tallied in their second and third games. That’s a nice head start.

Now, with the season about to hit the three-week mark, the Whitecaps still lead the league in scoring – and you can’t just point to the head start anymore.

Their lead has grown.

After a 13-10 slugfest win over Hyannis Wednesday, the Whitecaps have scored 111 runs, 38 more than the next closest team. They’re averaging 6.5 runs per game and are on pace to score 287 runs this season. That’s more than a powerful Orleans team scored last year (219), more than slugging Harwich racked up in 2014 (234), more than a power-hitting Falmouth team tallied in 2013 (254), and more even than Y-D scored in the juiced-ball 2012 season (278).

It will be a tough pace to maintain, but the Whitecaps are showing no signs of slowing down.

In Wednesday’s game, every starter had at least one hit and one run, and the lead was 10-2 before the game was three innings old.

Ryan Noda (Cincinnati) homered for the second straight game and has matched teammate Matt Davis (VCU) for the league lead with five. Noda is also tied for the league lead in RBI with 15.

Logan Warmoth (North Carolina) homered, as well, giving the Whitecaps 17 long balls in their 17 games. That leads the league, too.

Warmoth finished 2-for-4 with three RBI. His running mate at the top of the order, Nick Dunn (Maryland), also went 2-for-4 with three RBI, as did No. 9 hitter Beau Jordan (LSU). Brent Rooker (Mississippi State) had a hit and two RBI, while running his hit streak to 10 games. Last year’s NECBL MVP, Rooker is batting .391.

All the offense ended up being enough to get past Hyannis, which had its own big day with the bats. Brewster’s Zac Lowther (Xavier) had the best showing on the mound and earned the win in relief. The Whitecaps moved to 9-8 on the year.

 

Falmouth 4, Wareham 0

Jake Bird (UCLA) and three relievers combined on a shutout as Falmouth topped Wareham. It was the second six-inning, no-run outing of the summer for Bird, who was coming off an up-and-down spring with the Bruins. Bird struck out four and allowed four hits this time. Tyler Jones (Wichita State), Brett Gilchrist (Dallas Baptist) and Stephen Villines (Kansas) pitched one inning each in finishing off the shutout. Trevor Larnach (Oregon State), Tristan Gray (Rice) and Tyler Lawrence (Murray State) drove in one run each to lead the Commodores at the plate, while Michael Gigliotti (Lipscomb) had two hits to run his average up to .318. Coming off two strong springs at Lipscomb, Gigliotti has started every game for the Commodores and has gotten a hit in all but two of them.

Orleans 4, Harwich 1

Orleans rallied from an early 1-0 deficit for a victory over first-place Harwich. Now at 9-8, the Firebirds are tied for second place in the East with Brewster. Riley Adams (San Diego) went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Zach Kirtley (St. Mary’s) drove in two for the Firebirds, who managed three runs off Harwich starter Tyler Wilson (Rhode Island). Armed with the lead, Orleans used six pitchers to finish the job, and the five who came out of the bullpen didn’t allow a run. Chandler Day (Vanderbilt), a highly touted freshman, struck out the side in his one frame. Kit Scheetz (Virginia Tech) a recent arrival who’s back from last year, struck out two in the ninth for a save. For Harwich, Ernie Clement (Virginia) went 2-for-4 and is hitting .424, tied for the league lead.

Cotuit 8, Chatham 2

Cotuit picked up its third win of the year thanks to a big inning and solid outings by five pitchers. Alonzo Jones (Vanderbilt) tripled with the bases loaded to key a five-run fifth inning and Patrick Dorrian (Herkimer) had an RBI single. Greyson Jenista (Wichita State) finished with two hits and three runs scored, while Jackson Klein (Stanford) homered and drove in two runs. On the mound, the Kettleers didn’t have a pitcher go more than three innings, but cobbled it together and shut down Chatham for the final five innings. J. Connor Simmons (Georgia Southern) was credited with the win. Alec Byrd (Florida State) led the way with three scoreless innings of relief. For Chatham, Jake Palomaki (Boston College) had two hits and an RBI.

Y-D 4, Bourne 1

One of the first three pitchers to make four Cape starts, Will Gaddis (Furman) continues to make them count. Gaddis, who struck out 92 this spring in his sophomore season, tossed eight shutout innings as Y-D beat West-leading Bourne. Gaddis struck out six, walked one and allowed only three hits. He has a 1.37 ERA and leads the league with 24 strikeouts. Wednesday, he was staked to a lead as Y-D scored a run in the second and two in the third. Tyler Houston (Butler) led the charge with three hits and an RBI. Deon Stafford (St. Joseph’s) went 2-for-3 with two RBI and late arrival J.J. Muno (UC Santa Barbara) had two hits in his Cape debut. For Bourne, Justin Yurchak (Binghamton) pushed his hitting streak to seven and is tied with Clement for the league lead in hitting.

What to Watch

Off-day around the league Thursday. When the holiday weekend begins Friday, Brewster will visit Orleans in a battle for second place in the East.
 

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Anything you can do…

Hunter Williams delivered a strong start on opening night, the first of many for the Mariners so far
Hunter Williams delivered a strong start on opening night, the first of many for the Mariners so far

 
It’s tough to say which unit has been the most impressive for the undefeated Harwich Mariners. Is it the starting rotation, with five guys delivering strong debuts? Or is it the bullpen and its two runs allowed in five games?

The Mariners don’t have to choose – it’s all working just fine together.

Harwich improved to 5-0 Tuesday with a 5-2 victory over Orleans, and pitching again set the stage. Ryan McAuliffe (St. John’s) allowed one run and struck out five in six innings of work. Brad Bass (Notre Dame), Teddy Rodliff (Stony Brook) and Zach Schellenger (Seton Hall) went the final three innings, with Rodliff allowing the only other run.

McAuliffe became the fifth consecutive Harwich starter to earn a win. As little as wins matter as a statistic, they do reflect in this case that Harwich’s starters are pitching well and pitching deep into games – something that doesn’t always happen in the Cape League, especially at this point in the year.

Hunter Williams (North Carolina) and Packy Naughton (Virginia Tech) each went five innings. McAuliffe, Shane McCarthy (Seton Hall) and B.J. Myers (West Virginia) went at least six innings in their first start.

The four runs Naughton allowed in his start are the most surrendered by a Harwich starter.

And when the starters have passed the baton on to the bullpen, the numbers have been even better. In 15 innings, Harwich relievers have allowed a total of two runs. Bass, Schellenger, Matthew Minnick (Mercyhurst), Peter Solomon (Notre Dame) and Spencer Stockton (Jacksonville) are all proud owners of 0.00 ERAs.

Of course, there’s also been plenty of support for the Harwich arms. The Mariners lead the league in runs scored (in one extra game than eight of the league’s teams). Tuesday, the Mariners made the most of seven hits and capitalized on four Orleans errors. Trey Harris (Missouri) and Ryan Brown (College of Charleston) knocked in a run apiece. Tyler Kirkpatrick (Marist) scored two runs.

At 5-0, the Mariners are a quarter of the way to last season’s win total, when they missed the playoffs.
 

Bourne 7, Cotuit 5

Bourne is also unbeaten, moving to 4-0 with a victory over still-winless Cotuit. The Kettleers scored five runs in the seventh in rallying from a 4-0 deficit, but the Braves responded with a run in the eighth and two in the ninth. A sacrifice fly by Luis Alvarado (Nebraska) tied the game in the eighth. Willy Yahn (Connecticut) tripled in Connor Wong (Houston) in the ninth and scored on a David MacKinnon (Hartford) sac fly. The rally made a winner out of reliever Keith Weisenberg (Stanford), with Conner O’Neil (Cal State Northridge) notching the save. Bourne starter Brady Miller (Western Oregon), who struck out 89 in the D-II ranks this spring, had a big Cape debut with six shutout innings and seven strikeouts. For Cotuit, the five-run seventh inning was a good sign for a team that had scored only four runs coming into the game. Hagen Owenby (East Tennessee State) had two hits and two RBI to lead the Kettleers.

  • Falmouth 5, Hyannis 0

    • The Commodores authored the third shutout of the Cape League season and improved to 3-1 while dropping Hyannis to 0-5. Jacob Godfrey (Arizona State) went five innings for the win, scattering five hits and striking out two. Four relievers went an inning each to finish off the shutout. At the plate, Falmouth got two-hit games from Kevin Merrell (South Florida), Michael Gigliotti (Lipscomb), Trevor Larnach (Oregon State) and Michael Cantu (Texas). Merrell is hitting .529 with at least one hit in every game.

  • Chatham 4, Y-D 3

    • Defending champ Y-D also is still in search of its first victory after a lead Chatham built in the sixth held up for a 4-3 win. Patrick Mathis (Texas) did all the damage in the key inning for the Anglers, smacking a three-run homer to put the Anglers ahead 4-1. Y-D answered with two in the bottom of the sixth but would get no closer. Chatham starter Tom Cosgrove (Manhattan) gave up one run in five innings before getting charged with the two in the sixth. Matt Pidich (Pittsburgh) ended the threat with a pair of strikeouts. His college teammate Isaac Mattson went the final two innings for the save. Y-D was led by Brendan Skidmore (Binghamton), who knocked in two.

  • Wareham 3, Brewster 2

    • The Gatemen managed only three hits but turned them into three runs as they improved to 3-1 with a victory over Brewster. Gavin Sheets (Wake Forest) and Jonathan Engelmann (Michigan) drove in runs for the Gatemen on a groundout and a fielder’s choice. Robert Metz (George Washington) scored what proved to be the winning run on a wild pitch. Anthony Herron, Jr. (Jefferson College), a 34th-round draft pick last week and a Missouri State commit, started and went four shutout innings in his Cape debut. Ryan Selmer (Maryland) earned the win in relief and Ryan Wilson (Pepperdine) recorded a three-inning save. For Brewster, Ryan Feltner (Ohio State) allowed two earned runs in 5.1 innings but took the loss. Jacob Wloczewski (Binghamton) struck out three in 2.2 scoreless innings of relief.

    What to Watch

    Four makeup games from Saturday’s rainouts are on tap. Keep an eye on the proceedings at Doran Park, where Bourne will start another D-II standout after Brady Miller’s strong performance Tuesday. Ty Cohen struck out 98 in 90.1 innings for Florida Tech and gets the ball against Chatham.
     

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    Young talent leads Commodores

    Screen shot 2016-06-10 at 4.18.26 PM

     
    Falmouth missed the playoffs last season but has a talented team ready for a return trip.
     

    FIVE TO WATCH

    1. Luken Baker
    2. Brady Puckett
    3. J.J. Matijevic
    4. Bryce Montes de Oca
    5. Brady Singer

     

    NOTABLE

  • The Falmouth roster no longer includes the guy who stole all the headlines in the preseason. Missouri State All-American Jake Burger is on the Team USA roster. But there’s plenty of talent left . . .

  • A late addition who stands as a good replacement for Burger is TCU freshman Luken Baker. The Big 12 Freshman of the Year came in highly touted and has been a force at the plate and on the mound. He’s also at his best right now, coming off four home runs in the Big 12 Tournament.

  • Baker is one of 12 freshmen on the roster – a high number – but there’s quite a pedigree for a lot of them. Florida’s Brady Singer was the highest unsigned high school pick in the draft last year, Tyler Holton and Cole Sands grabbed spots in the Florida State rotation right off the bat, and Josh Watson leads a powerful TCU team in home runs.

  • The Commodores will have some veterans to lean on around the youth. J.J. Matijevic was a breakout star for the Commodores last summer and is one of the few returning Cape League all-stars. Stephen Villines and Evan Skoug are also slated to be back after a good summer.

  • Brady Puckett, who’s penciled in as the opening night starter for the Commodores, had a fantastic sophomore season en route to Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Year honors. He’s also 6-foot-8.

  • Cadyn Grenier didn’t have a great first season at Oregon State but has the credentials. He was a 21st-round pick who was mentioned as a possible first-round pick last year.

  • Dallas Baptist continued its emergence as a baseball power this year and will send three players to Falmouth.

  • In addition to Baker’s success at TCU, Falmouth has Skoug and Watson hitting in the middle of the Frogs’ order.

  • Missouri’s Bryce Montes de Oca, another 6-foot-8 pitcher, lit up the radar gun last summer as he continued a comeback after Tommy John surgery in high school. Unfortunately, he was shut down after .1 inning this year and had surgery, but this indicates he starts rehab in June, so he may still pitch for Falmouth.

    •  

    PITCHERS

    Jake Bird – SO – UCLA – Had solid freshman season before struggling to ERA over six this season
    Seth Elledge – FR – Dallas Baptist – One of the nation’s leaders in saves, racked up 14 with 1.61 ERA, 31 Ks in 28 innings
    Glenn Otto – SO – Rice – Busy reliever for Owls tallied eight saves and struck out 76 in 71.2 innings
    Brett Gilchrist – FR – Dallas Baptist – Two-sport standout struggled in first year with DBU, finishing with 14.54 ERA in 10 appearances
    Tyler Holton – FR – Florida State – Two-way player having more luck on mound in first year, with 2.92 ERA, team-best 78 Ks
    Cole Sands – FR – Florida State – Went 6-6 with 4.21 ERA in weekend rotation for Seminoles, striking out 46 in 66.1 innings
    Tyler Jones – SO – Wichita State – Pitched out of the bullpen for Shockers, finishing with 6.18 ERa, 35 Ks in 39.1 innings
    Turner Larkins – SO – Texas A&M – Working as a starter and reliever for Aggies, has 2.82 ERA, 35 Ks in in 38.1 innings
    Brady Singer – FR – Florida – Highest unsigned high school pick in the 2015 draft, has 4.95 ERA in relief for Gators
    Corbin Martin – SO – Texas A&M – Has struck out 33 in in 26.1 innings pitched out of bullpen for Super Regional-bound Aggies
    Stephen Villines – SO – Kansas – Standout closer for Jayhawks and Falmouth last summer had 5 SV, 2.13 ERA this year
    Bryce Montes de Oca – SO – Missouri – Flamethrower who flashed potential with ‘Dores last year pitched just .1 inning this year
    Kyle Nelson – SO – UC Santa Barbara – Standout reliever on Gauchos’ first-ever Super Regional squad has 2.08 ERA, 84 Ks in 69.1 IP
    Thomas Ponticelli – FR – San Francisco – Grabbed Saturday starter role as a freshman and finished with 5.94 ERA with 44 Ks
    Brady Puckett – SO – Lipscomb – Six-foot-eight righty earned A-Sun Pitcher of the Year after going 9-2, 2.93 ERA, 101 Ks in 107.2 IP
    Bo Tucker – SO – Georgia – Posted 3.71 ERA and three saves while striking out a batter an inning out of Georgia bullpen
     

    CATCHERS

    Matt Duce – FR – Dallas Baptist – Delivered strong debut for regional club, batting .321 with 4 HR, 30 RBI
    J.J. Matijevic – SO – Arizona – Finished third in Cape League in AVG last year and batted .289 with 4 HR in sophomore season
    Evan Skoug – SO – TCU – Major run producer for Frogs batting .290 with 9 HR, 50 RBI, team-best 30 XBH
     

    INFIELDERS

    Luken Baker – FR – TCU – Projected as one of the top frosh in the nation and hasn’t disappointed — .382 with 8 HR, 54 RBI plus 1.70 ERA
    Tristan Gray – SO – Rice – Returning Commodore hit .295 with five homers for Owls this spring
    Dane Myers – SO – Rice – Also a pitcher, hit .264 with two home runs and saved seven games out of Owls bullpen
    Cadyn Grenier – FR – Oregon State – Highly touted freshman struggled a bit in debut, hitting .240
    Deacon Liput – FR – Florida – 39th round pick out of high school has started all but one game for Gators and is hitting .277 with 13 SBs
    Matt McLaughlin – SO – Kansas – Started every game for Jayhawks and hit .256 with two homers
     

    OUTFIELDERS

    Ryan Chandler – SO – Rice – Reigning CUSA Freshman of the Year followed with .270 sophomore season, adding 2 HRs, 20 RBI
    Michael Gigliotti – SO – Lipscomb – Hit .302 and stole 15 bases a year after strong debut season with Lipscomb
    Trevor Larnach – FR – Oregon State – Scuffled with the bat in first season in Corvallis, finishing with average under .200
    Josh Watson – FR – TCU – Hitting .282 and leading the Horned Frogs in home runs with 11 in first season