June 12, 2012
By Jon Cooper
Sting Daily
The pressure of planning a summer vacation has been alleviated for at least 19 members of Georgia Tech Baseball.
With summer leagues gearing up, many of the Yellow Jackets are packing their gloves, spikes, bats, sun-screen and sunglasses and heading to various parts of the United States.
Sting Daily will follow the exploits of the Jackets in these various leagues, including a weekly review.
Here’s a guide of the assignments and a little bit of background to each of the leagues in which Yellow Jackets will be participating.
Cape Cod Baseball League
Location: Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Number of Teams: 10
Number of Yellow Jackets: 6
Length of Season: June 14-Aug. 7
Number of Games: 44
Note: Jake Davies helped the Harwich Mariners win the 2011 Cape Cod League Championship.
Sam Dove, OF/3B, Harwich Mariners
Zane Evans, C/RHP, Harwich Mariners
Mott Hyde, SS, Wareham Gatemen
Dusty Isaacs, RHP, Cotuit Kettleers
Daniel Palka, 1B/LHP/OF, Wareham Gatemen
Cole Pitts, RHP, Harwich Mariners
Valley League
Location: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
Number of Teams: 12
Number of Yellow Jackets: 5
Length of Season: June 1-July 23
Number of Games: 44
Note: The Turks led the league in both batting average (.288) and ERA (3.20) last season.
Alex Cruz, RHP, Harrisonburg Turks
Mitch Earnest, C, Front Royal Cardinals
A.J. Murray, C, Harrisonburg Turks
Charles Sheffield, OF/1B, Harrisonburg Turks
Thomas Smith, 2B, Harrisonburg Turks
New England Collegiate Baseball League
Location: Played in all six New England States (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont)
Number of Teams: 10
Number of Yellow Jackets: 3
Length of Season: June 8-Aug. 1
Number of Games: 42
Note: Goodall Park, home of the Sanford Mariners, is the park where Babe Ruth hit his final home run as a member of the Boston Red Sox.
Chase Butler, 3B, Danbury Westerners
Paul Kronenfeld, OF/1B, Sanford Mariners
Daniel Spingola, OF, Danbury Westerners
Coastal Plain League
Location: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia
Number of Teams: 16
Number of Yellow Jackets: 3
Length of Season: June 12-July 17
Number of Games: 30
Note: Among recent Yellow Jackets to have played with Peninsula are Clay Dalton (’10), Jake Davies (’09), Jarrett Didrick (’09), Buck Farmer (’10), Patrick Long (’09), Evan Martin (’09) and Deck McGuire (’08).
Cameron Gibson, OF/RHP, Peninsula Pilots
Josh Heddinger, RHP, Peninsula Pilots
Jonathan Roberts, RHP, Peninsula Pilots
Northwoods League
Location: Minnesota (6), Wisconsin (7), Iowa (1), Michigan (1), Ontario (1)
Number of Teams: 16
Number of Yellow Jackets: 1
Length of Season: May 30-Aug. 12
Number of Games: 70
Note: Lakeshore, in its first year in the league, is owned by a group that includes Baseball Hall of Famer and former Milwaukee Brewer Robin Yount and Brewers announcer Bob Uecker.
Connor Lynch, C, Lakeshore Chinooks
Sunbelt Baseball League
Location: Georgia
Number of Yellow Teams: 8
Number of Yellow Jackets: 1
Length of Season: June 2-July 26
Number of Games: 29
Note: The Bulls are in their 17th year of existence, their fifth owned by former Atlanta Brave Todd Pratt, and their third in the Sunbelt Baseball League.
Michael Hodorowski, OF, Douglasville Bulls
