Posted on

Turner Continues Rise

When you think of star power in the North Carolina State sophomore class, you think of Carlos Rodon, who many people think would be a shoo-in for the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, were he eligible.

But the guy playing second fiddle is pretty good too.

Shortstop Trea Turner took the college baseball world by storm as a freshman last year when he led the nation with 57 stolen bases. For good measure, he hit .336 with a .432 on-base percentage. He scored 72 runs, good for sixth in the nation. A 20th-round pick out of high school, Turner has flashed his skill-set every step of the way.

He’s only gotten better this year. While he isn’t running as much – he’s stolen 17 bases – he’s hitting .437, which leads the ACC and has him tied for second nationally. He’s also shown a bit of pop, with six homers.

Turner was an easy pick for a Cape League roster spot last year, but he was selected for Team USA and spent the summer with them. He’s back on the NC State roster this year, which is a good sign – Rodon was on the Harwich roster last year, went to Team USA and isn’t back on a Cape roster this year.

Whatever happens, Turner is a star, and Y-D would be lucky to have him.

Posted on

Foley an Emerging Ace

Rosters for the 2013 Cape Cod Baseball League season feature quite a few pitchers from mid-major programs with great track records.

Jordan Foley is pushing his way to the top of the list.

The Central Michigan righty, who’s on the Hyannis roster, has become a bona fide ace in his sophomore season with the Chippewas. He’s 6-1 with a 1.02 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 61.2 innings. He ranks seventh nationally in ERA and 14th in strikeouts. The only underclassmen ahead of him on the strikeout list are two you might have heard of – NC State’s Carlos Rodon and LSU’s Aaron Nola.

That’s impressive company, but Foley has proved every step of the way this season that he belongs there. He hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his starts this year, and he’s gone deep into the game every time. He leads the team in innings pitched by a wide margin. Opponents are hitting .185 against him.

All of this comes after Foley had a bumpy freshman season. The Texas native came in as one of the team’s most highly-touted recruits. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 26th round of the 2011 draft. On campus, though, he saw his ERA balloon to 8.20 ERA, largely because he walked almost a batter an inning – 34 in 37.2 innings. He’s improved drastically in that area this year, with 24 walks in 61.2 innings. The 70 strikeouts – and the 42 hits allowed – don’t hurt either.

If Foley keeps it up, he’ll be poised for a big summer. He just might stay at the top of the list.

Posted on

A New Power in New England?

Bryant University has had quite a year in athletics, the kind of year that would have been but a twinkle in the school’s eye not too long ago. Bryant, located in Smithfield, R.I., was a Division II school for many years, like many of its similar counterparts in New England. In 2007, the school – and its full complement of strong athletic programs – was invited to join the Northeast Conference. That year marked the first step in a five-year transition into Division I.

The 2012-13 academic year was always slated to be the culmination of that process, but I don’t know if anyone expected it to be like this. The men’s basketball team made national headlines when it went from two wins in 2011-12 to 19 in 2012-13. Now the baseball team – which has had plenty of recent success but hasn’t been eligible to compete in the postseason – is in the midst of another eye-catching season.

The Bulldogs own the nation’s longest active win streak. It currently sits at 19 games. They last lost on St. Patrick’s Day.

The college baseball world has taken notice, with the Bulldogs getting votes in national polls and Baseball America featuring them.

Before you write them off as just a nice story, consider this. Bryant plays in the Northeast Conference. So does Stony Brook. And last year, Stony Brook crashed the College World Series. The Bulldogs may not be quite as talented as their conference brethren, but there’s certainly potential for them to make some postseason noise.

As far as the Cape League, Bryant hasn’t been quite as busy as Stony Brook, which has started to send half-a-dozen every year. But a few Bulldogs have made the short trip, most notably when Kevin Brown (Orleans) and Craig Schlitter (Falmouth) did it last year. Brown has been Bryant’s most productive hitter this year, with a .397 average, four homers, 11 doubles and a team-best 29 RBI. Schlitter is second on the team in strikeouts and has a 3.64 ERA as a weekend starter.

Sophomore pitcher Kevin McAvoy will be the next to head for the Cape. He’s ticketed for Y-D in 2013.

No matter what happens to the Bulldogs this season, McAvoy won’t be the last. New England has a new – very new – baseball power.

Posted on

Brave Future for Freeman

The Bourne Braves will have the same number of players as everybody else in the Cape League this summer, but for now, they’ve got a few more lined up than most. Forty, to be exact.

And while the list includes standouts from powerhouse programs like LSU, Florida, Ole Miss and Arizona State, it’s a two-way player from East Tennessee State that is rising above the rest so far this spring.

Junior Clinton Freeman was tabbed by Baseball America as the preseason player of the year in the Atlantic Sun, and that pick has looked solid from the very beginning. Freeman blasted two home runs and a triple in the season opener and proceeded to go for 8-for-10 with five extra base hits on the first weekend.

Two months later, Freeman is hitting .369 with eight home runs, 24 extra-base hits and 35 RBI. He’s tied for the league lead in homers and is in the top five in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, RBI, doubles and triples.

And for good measure, he pitches out of the bullpen, where he’s saved five games while striking out 29 in 33 innings.

Freeman isn’t a flash in the pan either. He hit .365 for the Bucs last year, and he’s had summer success, too. He won the Alaska League batting title last year with a .379 mark.

As a junior, Freeman will be eligible for the draft this year, but if he ends up in Bourne, there’s no reason to think he won’t stand out again.

Posted on

Streaking Cavaliers Head to Tech

Virginia was unranked in Baseball America’s preseason poll. Thirty wins in 34 games later, and the Cavaliers are ranked fifth. They’ll get a test this weekend when they head to Atlanta to take on No. 19 Georgia Tech, a team that’s full of former Cape Leaguers.

Schedule
Friday, 7 p.m.
Saturday, 1 p.m.
Sunday, 1 p.m.
*Games will be broadcast on ESPN3

2013 Cape Leaguers
Virginia
Branden Cogswell – INF – Harwich
Nick Howard – INF – Harwich
Derek Fisher – OF – Harwich
Brandon Downes – C/OF – Y-D

Georgia Tech
Matt Gonzalez – INF – Bourne

Notable
Cape League Nucleus
The four Virginia players that are slated to play in the Cape League this summer also happen to be four of the team’s top five hitters. Branden Cogswell (Harwich) leads the way with a .367 batting average, while Brandon Downes (Y-D) has been the team’s most productive hitter, with a .311 average and team bests in home runs (five) and RBI (35). Interestingly, only one of the four – Derek Fisher (Harwich) – was a full-time starter last year, which might have something to do with the lack of preseason love for Virginia.

Gone Fishin’
The aforementioned Fisher might be the best prospect of the bunch. He was named the top prospect in the Northwoods League by Baseball America last summer. Outside of being the Cape’s top prospect, that’s about as well as you can do in summer collegiate baseball. Fisher is hitting .306 with three homers this year.

Tech Vets
Georgia Tech’s starting lineup is dominated by juniors and seniors, which is why the program won’t have a big Cape League presence in 2013. Most of Tech’s standouts have already played on the Cape. That list includes CCBL stalwarts Brandon Thomas, who’s hitting .429, and Daniel Palka, who’s at .372 with eight homers. Then there’s Zane Evans. He hit .128 for Harwich last summer. This spring, he’s hitting .347 and is tied for sixth in the nation with 10 home runs.

Gonzo
The one freshman regular in the Tech lineup – and the one 2013 Cape Leaguer – is second baseman Matt Gonzalez, and he has more than held his own among the veterans. His .371 batting average is good for fourth on the team. Gonzalez was an 11th round pick in the MLB draft last year.

Posted on

Eshelman in Control

At some point in his college career, Thomas Eshelman will walk someone.

At least I think he will. But at this rate, who knows?

The freshman from Carlsbad, Calif., has stepped into the Friday starter role for Cal State Fullerton and is putting together a tremendous season. At the top of the list? He has not walked a batter since he stepped foot on campus.

The streak stretched to 58 innings last week when he tossed eight shutout frames without giving up a free pass.

For perspective, the national leader in innings pitched has thrown 69. So, at 11 off that pace, Eshelman is up near the top. And, it’s worth repeating, he hasn’t walked anybody. The NCAA statistics database has a ranking of fewest walks per nine innings. Eshelman isn’t even on it – probably because the computer doesn’t understand the zero.

I’m not sure what the NCAA record is, but Eshelman is approaching the Fullerton record of 65.2 innings set by Wes Roemer in 2006. The Major League record is 84.1 innings, owned by Bill Fischer of the Kansas City Royals.

If Eshelman does eventually walk someone this year, it’ll be the end of something amazing – but it won’t be the end of an amazing season. Eshelman, who was undrafted out of high school, is 7-1 with a 1.09 ERA. He has struck out 39, has given up one home run and has allowed just seven earned runs. Opponents are hitting .170 against him, and his 0.55 WHIP leads the nation.

Eshelman will get the ball again this weekend when the Titans take on UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos will want to be swinging – not watching.

Posted on

Rebels, Commodores set for SEC showdown

No. 2 LSU and No. 10 Kentucky are squaring off this weekend, but that’s not the only SEC battle worth watching for Cape League fans. No. 3 Vanderbilt will visit Ole Miss, with each team featuring six players who are on 2013 Cape League rosters. As a bonus, all three games will be broadcast on ESPN3.

Vanderbilt is 26-4 overall and 8-1 in the SEC. The Rebels are 23-6 but have gotten off to a tough 4-5 start in conference play.

Schedule
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, 5 p.m.
Sunday, 2:30 p.m.

2013 Cape Leaguers
Vanderbilt
Tyler Beede – RHP – Cotuit
Carson Fulmer – RHP – Cotuit
Brian Miller – RHP – Cotuit
Rhett Wiseman – OF – Cotuit
Jared Miller – LHP – Orleans
Philip Pfeifer – LHP – Orleans

Missouri
Hawtin Buchanan – RHP – Bourne
Josh Laxer – RHP – Bourne
Chris Ellis – RHP – Cotuit
Brady Bramlett – RHP – Falmouth
Jacob Waguespack – RHP – Falmouth

Notable
Arms Race
Vanderbilt’s pitching has just been ridiculous this year. I don’t know how anyone can take a series from them. Former Cape Leaguer Kevin Ziomek has been the ace, but 2013 Cape Leaguers Tyler Beede (Cotuit) and Philip Pfeifer (Orleans) haven’t been far behind. Beede is 7-0 with a 0.99 ERA, best among starting pitchers in the SEC. Opponents are hitting .151 against him. Pfeifer has a 3.86 ERA.

Leading Off
Former Cotuit Kettleer Tony Kemp ranks sixth in the SEC in hitting at .375. He has also stolen 14 bases, and his on-base percentage is .486.

Bullpen Rebels
Hawtin Buchanan, Jacob Waguespack and Chris Ellis have all pitched sparingly for Ole Miss because of injuries, but Josh Laxer and Brady Bramlett have been two of the players who’ve picked up the slack. Bramlett has a 1.53 ERA in five appearances, with three starts. Laxer has also pitched out of the bullpen and in a starting role, posting a 2.45 ERA.

Emerging Ace
In his time on Cape Cod, Bobby Wahl was a lights-out closer for Cotuit. He’s now a starter – and an ace. Wahl is 6-0 for the Rebels with a 1.80 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 45 innings pitched. The Friday match-up between Wahl and Ziomek – both former Kettleers – should be a dandy.

Posted on

Bluegrass on Cape Cod

I don’t remember who he was, but I remember my dad getting his attention through the fence. He was from Louisville. So were we. We looked at each other with a bit of wonder. None of us quite belonged at a Cape Cod Baseball League field.

That’s the way it was for many years. I called Kentucky home for the first 22 years of my life. My parents are originally from Boston. Every summer, we packed up the Chevy Astro van and headed north. We always watched a lot of baseball. We never expected to see many hometown Cardinals. Even Wildcats were few and far between.

Basketball is king in Kentucky. Just look at the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Fours for proof of that.

But a funny thing is happening – college baseball is taking hold. Louisville made the College World Series in 2007. Kentucky has emerged as a perennial SEC power in the same timeframe, rising to its first-ever No. 1 national ranking last season. When the teams played each other Tuesday night, Louisville’s Jim Patterson Stadium was jam-packed.

Not coincidentally, bluegrass baseball players have been putting down more and more Cape League roots along the way.

From 2000 to 2003, a total of two Louisville players and seven Kentucky players played in the Cape Cod Baseball League. The numbers didn’t increase much over the next five years.

Now?

In 2013, Louisville has nine players ticketed for the Cape, more than any program in the country. Kentucky has six, which is also among the highest.

It’s not surprising, given their success and the increased profile of their programs, but it’s a unique rise to Cape Cod Baseball League prominence. Look at the statistics from the 2000 season, and you’ll see many of the schools that dominate the league today – Florida State, Cal State Fullerton, LSU. In the early part of the last decade, North Carolina, Vanderbilt and Oregon State increased their Cape presence while building themselves into powerhouses.

Louisville and Kentucky have come along more recently. For the Cardinals, the symbolic breakout happened on a July night in 2008, when Chris Dominguez blasted three home runs for Hyannis. Since then, it’s been a steady increase in players making the trek, up to a new high of eight last season.

Collin Cowgill, now a Major Leaguer, set the pace for Kentucky when he helped lead the 2007 Y-D Red Sox to the Cape League championship. Stars like Taylor Rogers have come through since, and five Wildcats played big roles for Cape League teams last year.

The impact that the Cape League has had on the two programs is difficult to measure, but if it was minimal, I don’t think the teams would send more and more players this way. It’s not a driver of success, but you can’t discount the value of a summer spent playing against the best competition in the country.

While their schools have been on a quest to prove their mettle as baseball powerhouses, individual Cardinals and Wildcats have been on the same quest 800 miles north. More and more, they’re succeeding.

My parents still come up every summer, and my dad always wears his Louisville sweatshirt to Cape League games. The players and fans might still be surprised to see it.

But that’s just a product of geography.

Bluegrass now belongs on Cape League fields.

Posted on

Gillaspie Following in Brother’s Footsteps

On this Major League Baseball Opening Day, we spotlight a 2013 Cape Leaguer with Major League – and CCBL – bloodlines.

Wichita State sophomore Casey Gillaspie, who is on the Falmouth roster for 2013, is the younger brother of former Commodore and Cape League MVP Conor Gillaspie, who came off the bench today for the Chicago White Sox in a 1-0 win over the Royals.

The similarities between the two are similar on the surface – Wichita State corner infielders with a great batting eye.

But Casey is making his own name for himself as we speak.

Already a little bigger than his brother – Casey is 6’4, Conor is 6’1 – Casey has gotten a bit more hype to this point. He was the fourth-best prospect in the Northwoods League last summer. Conor was a classic Cape League break-out, and his MVP summer that saw him hit .345 with seven home runs propelled him into prospect status. He was the 37th overall pick in the 2008 draft.

Where Casey winds up remains to be seen, but I think Falmouth will be very happy to have another Gillaspie roaming Guv Fuller Field this summer. Casey is hitting .295 thus far with a .469 on-base percentage, seven home runs, eight doubles and a team-best 20 RBI. He leads the Missouri Valley Conference in home runs and total bases.

For more on Conor, who wound up with the White Sox after a spring training trade, you can catch up on his travels in this Chicago Sun Times piece.

And to read how Casey views comparisons between him and his brother, check out this Wichita Eagle article.

Posted on

Tigers vs. Tigers

Before this season, a match-up between LSU and Missouri would have been a nice non-conference tilt. Now, with Mizzou moving into the Southeastern Conference, it’s got a little extra meaning. Missouri hasn’t quite put it together this season – with a 9-12 record – but they’re at home and will have a chance to make a splash with No. 4 LSU coming to town.

Schedule
Friday, 7 p.m.
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Sunday, 2 p.m.

2013 Cape Leaguers
LSU
Alex Bregman – INF – Harwich
Kurt McCune – RHP – Wareham
Christopher Chinea – 1B – Wareham
Sean McMullen – OF – Wareham

Missouri
Alec Rash – RHP – Falmouth

Notable
The next ace
With only one Cape Leaguer on its roster, Missouri isn’t exactly a team to watch from a CCBL perspective. But that one player is certainly worth watching. Freshman pitcher Alec Rash, a 6’6 righty, was the highest-selected high school player to head to college out of last year’s draft. He was a second round pick of the Phillies. Pitching on Sundays, he has been as good as advertised for the Tigers, leading the team in ERA at 0.53. He has stuck out 17 in 17 innings. The one earned run he gave up against Tennessee last weekend was the first he’s allowed in his career. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs against one of the nation’s best teams.

Explosive start
I wrote about Alex Bregman yesterday but I’ll mention him again here. The freshman shortstop is leading the team with a .443 batting average and looking like one of the top players in the country.

Waiting Game
Kurt McCune, who’s working his way back from injury, is expected to make his season debut in early April. He’s a former Friday starter for the Tigers.

Run Producer
Mason Katz had two pretty solid summers with Yarmouth-Dennis. Now the LSU senior is emerging as a star. He’s hitting .396 so far with 10 home runs, and he’s the national leader in RBI with 41.

Time to Shine
Fresh off the 2011 Cape League Pitcher of the Year award, LSU’s Ryan Eades wasn’t dominant last year. This year, he’s right back on track. Eades is 5-0 with a 1.63 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 38.2 innings.