Aug. 20, 2015
By Jon Cooper | The Good Word
With school back in session it’s a perfect time to take a final look at Georgia Tech Baseball’s summer of ‘15.
Most of the Yellow Jackets were already home by the time their leagues began their playoffs but a couple were able to stay around to get a taste of the postseason. While not all of the Jackets had a summer to remember statistically, all of them had a memorable summer.
Here is a look at the how the Yellow Jackets fared in their various Summer Leagues.
Cape Cod League
JACKETS PLAYING:
Brandon Gold, Brewster Whitecaps
Kel Johnson, Brewster Whitecaps
Ryan Peurifoy, Brewster Whitecaps
Zac Ryan, Brewster Whitecaps
Keenan Innis, Cotuit Kettleers
Jonathan King, Cotuit Kettleers
Matt Gonzalez, Harwich Mariners
Connor Justus, Harwich Mariners
Arden Pabst, Hyannis Harbor Hawks
Ben Parr, Wareham Gatemen
Brandon Gold: Brandon finished the summer batting .231 (15-for-65), with 15 hits, including a double, and five RBIs and finished on a good note, singling in two of his final three at-bats while reaching base via hit in four of his final six games, with two runs scored. He pitched in two games during the summer, allowing four earned runs in 6 ⅓ innings (a 5.68 ERA), and four hits, striking out one while walking six. Opposing hitters managed only a .190 average against him. He threw one scoreless outing, covering four innings, and allowed four runs over 2 ⅓ in a mop-up role. Defensively, Gold picked ‘em at a .962 percentage (four errors in 101 chances) at third.
Kel Johnson: Following a tremendous showing at the TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby, Kel had an abbreviated stay on the Cape, playing 14 games with Brewster. He finished hitting .151 (8-for-53), with a homer and seven RBIs, driving in runs in each of his final two games, and four runs scored. A good sign was the mobility on his rehabbed ankle, going 1-for-1 in stolen base attempts.
Ryan Peurifoy: Ryan hit .228 for the summer (21-for-92), but finished on a torrid stretch that saw him go 5-for-10 over his final three games, including a 2-for-3, three RBI game, in which he belted his first home run of the summer. Peurifoy tied for the Whitecaps’ lead with two triples, tied for third with 16 walks, tied for fifth in runs (14), tied and RBIs (12), was seventh in on-base percentage (.349) and tied for eighth in hits (21).
Zac Ryan: Zac finished 2-0 in 13 games (one start), with a 4.20 ERA (14 ER in 30 innings — he allowed 19 runs overall). He allowed 30 hits, striking out 24 while walking 14 (he also hit four batters). Opponents hit .273 against him but managed only one home run. Ryan’s summer saw him make seven scoreless appearances, four of those multi-inning appearances, and didn’t allow an earned run in nine games. He allowed at least three runs in four of the five games in which he was scored upon, including his final game of the year, during which he allowed five runs (four earned) in two innings.
Keenan Innis: Keenan played eight games for Cotuit during the summer batting .200 (5-for-25), with three walks, three runs scored and a stolen base (he was 1-for-2 in stolen base attempts). Defensively, he was perfect in the field, taking in all eight chances.
Jonathan King: Jonathan finished the summer 1-3, with a 4.97 ERA in eight games (all starts) but had a tough finish. After going 1-0, with a couple of hard-luck no-decisions, and a 2.63 ERA (seven earned runs over 24 innings) over his first five starts, King went 0-3 over his final three starts, allowing 14 earned runs in 14 innings (a 9.00 ERA), including allowing a summer-high seven runs (all earned) and nine hits over 5 ⅔ in his finale. Overall, opponents batted .297 off King, who allowed 44 hits, but he made big pitches, striking out 28, while walking only 12.
Matt Gonzalez: Matt finished the summer hitting .232 (23-for-99), fifth on the team, with team-high-tying four homers and seven RBIs, and was in the midsts of a torrid stretch when he left. After digging himself a deep hole in June, going 3-for-15 (.200), Gonzales put up five multi-hit games over his final eight, batting .355 (11-for-31), with two doubles, three homers and five RBIs over that stretch, capped off by going 4-for-7 over his final two games. The onslaught included a two-homer game in Harwich’s 8-3 win at Chatham on July 26.
Connor Justus: Connor finished hitting .210 (26-for-124), but was second on the team in runs (18), and tied for the team lead in homers (four), triples (two) and RBIs (18), and was third in stolen bases (six, in nine tries) in 38 games. Justus, like Gonzalez, left a nice final impression, as he hit in five of his final seven games, with four of those games being multi-hit games. C.J. hit .333 over that seven-game stretch (9-for-27), with three doubles, a triple and two homers, giving him a ridiculous .741 slugging percentage. Defensively, he finished with a .958 fielding percentage, making only six errors in 136 chances.
Arden Pabst: Arden finished with a .195 batting average (17-for-87), with two doubles and three RBIs, and a .465 OPS in 23 games. He also was fortunate enough to play in postseason, but was 0-for-4 in five playoff games for the Harbor Hawks. Pabst had a superb final week, doubling his multi-hit games total, going for a three-hit game with a run scored and an RBI in the July 30 loss to Orleans then tacking on a two-hit game two nights later in the 9-3 loss to Falmouth. Defensively, he had 32 assists and a .972 fielding percentage (seven errors in 241 chances).
Ben Parr: Ben finished 0-1, but pitched to an outstanding 1.92 ERA (four earned runs in 18 ⅔ innings) in 11 games (two starts). He struck out 14 while walking 11, and held opponents to a .229 batting average. Parr pitched scoreless ball in nine of his 11 appearances, with five- and four-game scoreless appearances streaks. Parr allowed two-or-fewer hits in nine appearances, including each of his last five, allowing only three hits twice, in back-to-back games, but none after July 14.
Brewster: The Whitecaps were 6-3-1 down the stretch to finish 24-19-1 (49 points) in second place in the East, 14 back of division-leader Orleans. They qualified for the playoffs but were knocked out in two straight in the first round by eventual champion Yarmouth-Dennis.
Cotuit: Cotuit finished 4-6 and ended at 17-27-0 (34 points), fourth in the West. Although 15 points out of first the Kettleers qualified for postseason. In the playoffs, however, they ran into a buzz saw, never leading in losing in two straight to Hyannis.
Harwich: The Mariners went 6-3-1 down the stretch and finished 20-22-2 (42 points), but were fifth in the East and missed qualifying for the playoffs by two points.
Hyannis: The Harbor Hawks were 6-4 over their final 10 and, at 24-19-1 (49 points), took home the West Division by three points over the Bourne Braves. In the playoffs the Harbor Hawks won their first five games, blowing away Cotuit in two in the first round, sweeping Bourne in the semifinals, then taking the first game of the finals against Yarmouth-Dennis, 9-1. But they would not come get the clincher, as they would be outscored 17-4 over the final two games and would not lead in either of the final two games.
Wareham: The Gatemen went 3-6-1 over their final 10 to end up 17-25-2 (36 points). That was good enough to edge out Cotuit for third place in the West by two points. But in the playoffs Wareham scored only one run in two games, in getting swept by Bourne.
Valley League
JACKETS PLAYING:
Wade Bailey, Harrisonburg Turks
Jared Datoc, Harrisonburg Turks
Patrick Wiseman, Harrisonburg Turks
Tanner Shelton, Harrisonburg Turks
Wade Bailey: Wade finished the summer hitting .185 (5-for-27) in 10 games with a double, an RBI and eight runs scored. Defensively, he was perfect in 41 chances (13 putouts, 28 assists).
Jared Datoc: Including playoffs, Jared finished the summer 1-1 with a 2.67 ERA (10 ER in 33 ⅔ innings). Datoc was was 1-1 with a.3.03 ERA (10 ER in 29 ⅔ innings), striking out 21 vs. 14 walks and holding opposing hitters to a .223 batting average during the regular season before putting on a heroic postseason performance. Most of the damage he endured came in his final appearance, when he allowed four runs (all earned) in two innings on July 31 in taking the loss at Waynesboro. It was the third appearance over his final four during the season in which he allowed at least two runs. Jared would get even with Waynesboro in the first round of the playoffs, as he appeared in both games, throwing four scoreless, hitless innings. Only two batters reached, one on an error, the other was hit by a pitch.
Patrick Wiseman: Patrick finished 3-0 with two saves and an immaculate 1.58 ERA (four earned runs in 22 ⅔ innings). He was scored upon in only four of his appearances, whitewashing opponents in six straight and holding opponents to a .139 batting average and a .209 on-base percentage. Wiseman allowed only 11 hits and boasted a better than 4:1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio (21Ks vs. 5 BBs). He did not pitch in the postseason.
Tanner Shelton: Tanner was a combined 0-2 with a 5.28 ERA (nine earned runs 15 ⅓ innings). During the season he allowed 19 hits, while recording 19 strikeouts vs. 12 walks and opponents batted .305 against him. In the playoffs, Shelton took the loss in Game Two, as he was charged with the go-ahead run in the seventh, his second inning of work. A walk, a wild pitch and a single set up a squeeze play to break a 4-4 tie. The durable Shelton pitched more than one inning in six of his seven games, with a high of 5.0 innings on July 7 vs. Aldie.
Harrisonburg: The Turks went 6-4 over their final 10, to finish 29-13, tied with Stauton for the top spot, but the Braves won the division by owning the tiebreaker. in the playoffs, Harrisonburg was eliminated in the first round by Waynesboro, 2-1, with both losses coming by one run.
Coastal Plain League
JACKETS PLAYING:
Matt Phillips, Lexington County Blowfish
Matt Phillips: Matt finished 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA (seven earned runs in 10.0 innings) in eight games (four starts). He pitched in tough luck, as half of the 14 runs he allowed were unearned. He allowed 11 hits, limiting opponents to a .275 batting average, while striking out nine. He had some struggles with his control, however, walking 19.
Peninsula: The Pilots qualified for postseason as third seed in the East, thanks to a strong first half, but fell, 2-1, in the East Semifinals to second-seed Wilmington. Lexington County: The Blowfish also rode a strong first half to qualify for postseason as the fourth seed in the West and swept Asheboro in the West Semifinals, before falling in the West Championship to second seed Gastonia.
Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League
JACKETS PLAYING:
Grant Wruble, Southern Ohio Copperheads
Grant Wruble: Grant finished a tremendous summer batting .305 (29-for-95), tied for second on the team, with two homers (tied for second) and an .801 OPS, which ranked third. When he left he also was top-five on the Copperheads’ in hits (29), doubles (5), runs batted in (15), runs scored (15) and walks (11).
Southern Ohio: The Copperheads finished 22-18, in fourth place, 8.0 games back but still qualified for postseason. They lost, 6-3, to the Licking County Settlers in the first round.
Sunbelt League
JACKETS PLAYING:
Trevor Craport, Brookhaven Bucks
Trevor Craport: Trevor put a wrap on an outstanding summer in which he led the Bucks in batting average (minimum 20 ABs) at .411 (30-for-73), hits (30), and on-base percentage (.463), was second or tied for second in runs (19), OPS (1.011), and slugging percentage (.548), and was tied for or is third in RBIs (11) and doubles (7). He was fifth on the team in stolen bases going a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts. In the playoffs, Craport’s fourth-inning single brought in the Bucks only run in their 2-1 loss to Gwinnett. On the mound, Trevor pitched to a 6.00 ERA in six games (two starts), and sported a strikeouts-to-walks ratio that approached 7:1 (20 K’s vs. 3 BB’s). He starting behind the plate for the victorious East Squad in the Sunbelt League All-Star Game, and, participated in the Southeast Collegiate Prospect Showcase at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium.
Brookhaven: The Bucks finished at 15-12, third in the East 4 ½ games back, but earned a wildcard berth in the Sunbelt League playoffs. In the Eastern Division Wild Card Game, the Bucks fell, 2-1, to the Gwinnett Tides.
