Stanford is visiting Rice this weekend for a three-game set. It’s the biggest series on the opening weekend schedule, and it’s one with plenty of Cape League connections, particularly on one side.
The Cardinal has nine players on its roster who are slated to come to the Cape. That’s tied with Florida for the most in the league for the upcoming season.
And it’s not just any nine players. The list features four of the top sophomores in the country — Mark Appel, Kenny Diekroeger, Stephen Piscotty and Jake Stewart — and and three of the top freshmen — Austin Wilson, A.J. Vanegas and Brian Ragira.
That’s a lot of talent. Appel and Diekroeger are potentially the top two college prospects for the 2012 draft, while Wilson is the only freshman on Baseball America’s three preseason All-American teams. Appel and Diekroeger are ticketed for Y-D, while Wilson is slated to play for Harwich.
With so much talent coming to the Cape, it’s not surprising that Stanford has a lineup full of underclassmen. The projected starting nine doesn’t have a single junior or senior. That hasn’t hindered expectations, though. Stanford is a consensus top 25 team, ranking as high as 10th in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
Appel, who has shined as a reliever, is expected to start Friday’s game one.
As for Rice, the Owls have two players on Cape rosters — sophomore pitcher Tyler Duffey and freshman pitcher John Simms, both of whom are on the Falmouth roster. Simms, who’s ranked among the top freshmen in the country, is jumping right into the Friday starter’s role, making the opening-game match-up very interesting.
Friday, 5:30 p.m. – Live Stats
Saturday, 3 p.m. – Live Stats
Sunday, 2 p.m. – Live Stats
2011 Commodores Roster Note
WCU’s Ross Heffley Named SoCon Player of the Week
Junior led the team with a .750 batting average in three-game sweep
Junior Ross Heffley was today named the Southern Conference’s Player of the Week for his performance against Morehead State over the weekend.
Baseball Home
Feb. 21, 2011
Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina second baseman Ross Heffley was today named the Southern Conference’s Player of the Week for games played over opening weekend the league announced.
The weekly honor is the first for Heffley, who garnered the SoCon’s Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-America plaudits during the 2009 season. It is also the first player of the week award for Western Carolina since Tyler Kirkpatrick picked up the accolades last season for April 12, 2010.
Heffley led WCU to the three-game sweep over Morehead State by hitting 9-for-12 with two doubles and a home run for a .750 batting average and a 1.167 slugging percentage. Bolstered by three walks in the series finale and a hit batsman, the Snellville, Ga., native recorded a .812 on-base percentage. He additionally drove in nine runs over the three-games in Cullowhee.
During Saturday’s 18-0 blanking of the Eagles, Heffley was a perfect 5-for-5 marking a career-high in base hits. Including six games at the conclusion of the 2010 season, Heffley is currently riding a nine-game hitting streak for WCU.
Western Carolina (3-0) visits Wake Forest on Tuesday, Feb. 22 in the first game at WFU’s new off-campus ballpark. Tuesday also marks the first game back on the bench for Demon Deacon head coach Tom Walter who recently donated a kidney to freshman outfielder Kevin Jordan. Wake Forest (0-3) dropped its first three games at LSU over the weekend without Walter on the bench.
Other storylines for Tuesday include Catamount head coach Bobby Moranda returning to the site of one of his previous assistant coaching stints, while also facing former player and assistant coach Grant Achilles who is on the bench with WFU. Achilles spent two seasons coaching at WCU with Moranda.
Tuesday’s game will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network with a 3:45 air time ahead of the 4:00 pm first pitch from Winston-Salem.