NYCBL Diamond Notes 3/31/07

With the start of the Major League Baseball season just one day away, and the minors kicking off next weekend, I’ve had a bevy of news stories cross my desk that I felt y’all should hear about. Of course, the biggest news of all, there are 67 days until the start of the 2007 New York Collegiate Baseball League season. Remember, if you have any stories I’m missing out on, please let me know.

Pence Says Schenectady’s Better Than Ithaca: Well, sort of. The Houston Astros optioned Hunter Pence (Schenectady ’02) to Triple-A Round Rock on March 21st. The former Mohawk got the last laugh against the big club on Thursday night when Round Rock played an exhibition game against the Astros at the Dell Diamond. Houston won the game, 6-4, but Pence shined in his Triple-A debut. He tallied two hits, including a two-run home run, in the fifth inning, off Astros closer and fellow NYCBL-alum, Brad Lidge (Ithaca ’96).
Round Rock, TX = NYCBL Alum Central: When the Round Rock Express, of the Pacific Coast League, open the 2007 season, they will have three former NYCBL players on their roster: Hunter Pence (Schenectady ’02), Aaron Williams (Hornell ’01), and Scott Sauerbeck (Ithaca ’92). Pence and Williams were teammates last season with Double-A Corpus Christi. Williams had two separate cups of coffee with the Express while Pence spent the entire season in Double-A. Sauerbeck signed with the Astros in the off-season and was invited to Major League spring training as a non-roster player. He most recently pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cleveland Indians.
Kinney To Miss 2007 Season: The last few years for Josh Kinney (Hornell ’00) have been nothing short of remarkable. From college, to the Frontier League, to the Cardinals farm system and then winding up in the St. Louis bullpen during the stretch run last summer. He remained with the team through the playoffs and helped the Cardinals win the World Series. Unfortunately, he will not get a chance to help the Redbirds defend their title. After soreness in his arm during spring training, an MRI revealed that Kinney will need to have Tommy John surgery. According to an article on MLB.com, he will miss the entire season. We wish Josh the best of luck with his surgery and rehab.
Change of Address: Terry Tiffee (Hornell ’98) and Brendan Harris (Schenectady ’99) have both spent their share of time at the Major League level; Tiffee with the Twins, Harris with the Expos/Nationals and the Reds. But, each will have a new address this year. Tiffee signed with the Baltimore Orioles over the winter. He’ll begin the 2007 season in the International League with the Norfolk Tides. Harris chose not to remain with the Cincinnati Reds organization. He signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It looks like Harris made the big club and will start the season in Tampa Bay.
Buccos Send Davis Back To Indy: Rajai Davis (Hornell ’00) made his Major League debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates last August. He remained with the team through the end of the season and appeared to have earned his spot with the big club. Last year, Davis was second in the International League in stolen bases and has swiped 179 bases in five years with the Pirates organization. He begins the 2007 season with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. Another solid performance with the I-Tribe should land him in Pittsburgh by mid-season.
Dodger Blue Most Prominent Among NYCBL Alums: One scroll down the NYCBL alumni in professional baseball list and you’ll notice a lot of Hornell Dodgers. The organization, born in 1994, has won four league championships and countless Western Division titles. One of the franchise’s most prominent alums is Atlanta Braves starter Tim Hudson (Hornell ’96). Currently, 12 former Dodgers are set to play professional baseball this season. That doesn’t include Josh Kinney (Hornell ’98), who will miss the season due to surgery. The list of Dodgers includes: Tim Hudson (Hornell ’96), Rajai Davis (Hornell ’00), Terry Tiffee (Hornell ’98), Aaron Williams (Hornell ’01), Dallas Braden (Hornell ’03), Brett Carroll (Hornell ’02), Justin Souza (Hornell ’04), Angel Cabrera (Hornell ’05), Jared Locke (Hornell ’05), Mike Benacka (Hornell ’05), Ryan Bethel (Hornell ’03), and Nate Espy (Hornell ’97). The Amsterdam/Schenectady Mohawks are the next closest to Hornell with nine. Glens Falls has seven.
Bennington Bombers Field On Hold: The Bennington Bombers will not play their inaugural season at Bennington Bombers Field. According to a March 30th article in the Rutland Herald, the building of the field has been put on hold because of unexpected costs. However, the Bombers organization will still field a team in the New York Collegiate Baseball League this season. Right now, the team is in negotiations with Southern Vermont College to play games on the school’s field. 2007 will be the Bennington Bombers first season in the NYCBL. They will play in the Eastern Division along with Amsterdam, Glens Falls, Little Falls and Watertown. The Bombers open the season on June 8th, hosting the defending-champion Saratoga Phillies.
Miners Tab Augustana Pitching Coach As Assistant Coach: The Little Falls Miners announced this week that they have signed John Matlick to be an assistant coach this season. Currently, Matlick is the pitching coach at Augustana (IL) College. He is a 2006 graduate of Western Illinois. As a senior, Matlick set the school’s single-season save record. He played at WIU under current Miners manager Justin Gordon. Matlick’s Vikings are currently ranked sixth nationally in Division III.
Saratoga’s Zongol Engineering RPI To Wins: This past week, RPI junior pitcher, Joe Zongol (Saratoga ’06-’07), was named the Liberty League “Pitcher of the Week.” Last weekend, he pitched a complete-game one-hitter as RPI defeated third-ranked Montclair State, 1-0, in Little Falls, New Jersey. The Flower Mound, Texas, native struck out eight and allowed the Red Hawks only hit in the top of the first inning. Friday, Zongol tossed a four-hitter over six innings as Rensselaer nipped St. Lawrence, 2-1. This season, the junior is 2-0 with a 0.65 earned run average. He leads the team in innings pitched (27.2) and strikeouts (24).
Former Golden Eagles Collect Awards: University at Albany catcher Tom Hill (Glens Falls ’04) and pitcher Casey Walsh (Glens Falls ’05) were named America East co-“Player of the Week” and “Pitcher of the Week” on Monday. Hill batted .526 with two home runs, five runs batted in, 10 hits, four doubles and four runs scored. Against Western Kentucky, Hill went 3-for-6 with three RBI and three runs scored. The senior backstop has started every game this season for the Great Danes. Hill was also named to the College Baseball Foundation’s National Honor Roll. Walsh earned two wins and tossed 12 shutout innings. He hurled a three-hitter over six innings in Albany’s win over Delaware State on March 19th. Walsh pitched a four-hit shutout over six innings against Western Kentucky on March 25th. The Great Danes won the game, 7-0. It was Albany’s first shutout since a complete-game shutout was thrown by current Devil Rays farmhand Mark Suchowiecki (Amsterdam ’05) in 2006.

NYCBL Alumni In The Pros, non-MLB (3/30/07)

Nippon Baseball League (Japanese MLB)
Greg LaRocca (NYCBL '92) Orix Buffaloes

Triple-A
Rajai Davis (Hornell '00) Indianapolis Indians (PIT)
Justin Mallett (Watertown '02) Louisville Bats (CIN)
Jason Motte (Rome '01) Memphis Redbirds (STL)
Val Pasucci (Schenectady '97) Iowa Cubs (CHI NL)
Hunter Pence (Schenectady '02) Round Rock Express (HOU)
Scott Sauerbeck (Ithaca '92) Round Rock Express (HOU)
Earl Snyder (Little Falls '96) Louisville Bats (CIN)
Terry Tiffee (Hornell '98) Norfolk Tides (BAL)
Brett Wayne (Wellsville '01) Durham Bulls (TB)
Aaron Williams (Hornell '01) Round Rock Express (HOU)

Double-A
Sebastien Boucher (Plattsburgh '02) West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (SEA)
Dallas Braden (Hornell '03) Midland Rockhounds (OAK)
Chip Cannon (Cortland '01) New Hampshire Fisher Cats (TOR)
Brett Carroll (Hornell '02) Carolina Mudcats (FLA)
Dennis Diaz (Mohawk Valley '02) Reading Phillies (PHI)
Brad Hassey (Newark '99) New Hampshire Fisher Cats (TOR)
Matt Pali (Rome '02) Arkansas Travelers (LAA)
Anthony Raglani (Schenectady '02) Jacksonville Suns (LAD)
Mike Rozema (Mohawk Valley '02) Mississippi Braves (ATL)

High Class-A
Corey Haggerty (Rome '01) Winston-Salem Warthogs (CHI AL)
Joe Serfass (Wellsville '03) St. Lucie Mets (NY NL)

Low Class-A
Terry Blunt (Glens Falls '04) Clinton LumberKings (TEX)
Quentin Davis (Amsterdam '03) Rome Braves (ATL)
Matt Devins (Rome '02) Columbus Catfish (TB)
Kale Garrison (Wellsville '03) Great Lakes Loons (LAD)
Daniel Griffin (Saratoga '04) Augusta GreenJackets (SF)

Short-Season Class-A
James Barksdale (Allegany County '04-'05) State College Spikes (PIT)
Steve Calicutt (Glens Falls '04) Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (SF)
Jeremy Goldschmeding (Glens Falls '04) Vermont Lake Monsters (WAS)
Derrick Gordon (Amsterdam '04) Vancouver Canadians (OAK)
Andrew Holder (Alfred '03) Tri-City Valley Cats (HOU)
Lance Marcum (Alfred '04) Batavia Muckdogs (STL)
Michael Schellinger* (Watertown '05) Batavia Muckdogs (STL)
Justin Souza (Hornell '04) Everett Aqua Sox (SEA)
Jed Stephen (Saratoga '04) Aberdeen Ironbirds (BAL)
Jeff Vincent (Watertown '04) Lowell Spinners (BOS)
Casper Wells (Saratoga '04) Oneonta Tigers (DET)
Brett Zamzow (Glens Falls '04) Spokane Indians (TEX)
* - Missed all of 2006 due to shoulder surgery

Rookie
Angel Cabrera (Hornell '05) GCL Reds (CIN)
Chris Carlson (Glens Falls '04) GCL Tigers (DET)
Matt Enuco (Watertown '04) Bristol Sox (CHI AL)
Shawn Hayes (Watertown '04) Idaho Falls Chukars (KC)
Jared Locke (Hornell '05) AZL Rangers (TEX)
Andrew Mead (Mohawk Valley '02) Bristol Sox (CHI AL)
Cody Merrell (Saratoga '05) Burlington Indians (CLE)
David Pellegrine (Watertown '04) Orem Owlz (LAA)
Matthew Reilly (Plattsburgh '04) AZL Angels (LAA)
Steven Suarez (Rome '01) Casper Rockies (COL)
Mark Suchowiecki (Amsterdam '05) Princeton Devil Rays (TB)

Independent
Mike Benacka (Hornell '05)River City Rascals (Frontier)
Ryan Bethel (Hornell '03) Evansville Otters (Frontier)
Steve Checksfield (Schenectady '98) Brockton Rox (Can-Am)
Josh Colafemina (Amsterdam '04) Grays (Can-Am)
Nate Espy (Hornell '97) York Revolution (Atlantic)
Billye Hollister (Allegany County '05) Slippery Rock Sliders (Frontier)
Adam Kroft (Amsterdam '02) Rockford Riverhawks (Frontier)
Matt Mazurek (Mohawk Valley '05) Evansville Otters (Frontier)
Shawn McNamara (Glens Falls '05) North Shore Spirit (Can-Am)
Ray Navarrete (Geneva '96) Long Island Ducks (Atlantic)
Shawn Ryan (Glens Falls '04) Quebec Capitales (Can-Am)
Jake Upwood (Watertown '01) South Georgia Peanuts (South Coast)
Andy Weimer (Rome '01) New Haven County Cutters (Can-Am)

If I missed anyone, please send information to SaltCitySports@aol.com

NYCBL Alumni, Major League Baseball (as of 3/30/07)

Name (NYCBL Team), MLB Team
Jeremy Accardo (Wellsville '03)
Toronto Blue Jays

Scott Cassidy (Geneva '97)
San Diego Padres

Brendan Harris (Schenectady '99)
Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Tim Hudson (Hornell '96)
Atlanta Braves

Josh Kinney (Hornell '98)**
St. Louis Cardinals
** Will miss entire 2007 season because of Tommy John surgery

Steve Kline (Little Falls '92)
San Francisco Giants

Brad Lidge (Ithaca '96)
Houston Astros

John McDonald (Cohocton '93)
Toronto Blue Jays

Lou Merloni (NYCBL '90)
Oakland Athletics*

Mitch Wylie (Hornell '97)
San Francisco Giants*
*Non-roster invitees to spring training

NYCBL Diamond Notes 3/29/07

Welcome back everyone for our weekly look around the New York Collegiate Baseball League. I apologize for not posting anything last week, but I was out of town and did not have access to a computer. March is finally coming to an end and now warmer temperatures, sunny skies and the 2007 NYCBL season are now within reach. Once April begins, we’ll have just two short months before the season gets rolling. Speaking of rolling, lets roll over to the news.

ROSTERS: Just about every NYCBL has posted a roster for the 2007 season. The only teams still without rosters are Elmira, Geneva and Little Falls. The rosters that are posted are not set in stone. Kids may earn looks in other leagues or decide they want to stay closer to home. Check out your favorite team’s website to view their current roster.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: If someone on your favorite team, or an alum of your favorite team has been selected as a league “Player of the Week,” please let us know at SaltCitySports@aol.com. Congratulations to Rob Sumner (Brockport ’07) and Jake Dennstedt (Brockport ’06) on earning Division III National Hitter and Pitcher of the Week honors last week. There is a separate blog talking about those two. Earlier this week, Brent McWhorter (Glens Falls ’06), of William & Mary, was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) “Player of the Week.” He followed that up by being selected to the College Baseball Foundation Honor Roll. Last week, McWhorter batted .625 (10-of-16) with three home runs, seven RBI, nine runs scored and two stolen bases. In the opening game of W&M’s series with James Madison, McWhorter was 4-for-6 with a home run and three RBI. Through Monday, he was batting .385 with 21 RBI for the Tribe. Kevin Nieto (Amsterdam ’07), of Manhattan, was tabbed as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s “Rookie of the Week” on Monday. The Miami, Florida, native batted .571 (4-for-7), scored three runs and stole two bases as Manhattan swept conference-rival Canisius. Dan Maycock (Mohawk Valley ’05), of Cortland State, was tabbed as the State University of New York Athletic Conference “Player of the Week” on Monday. The junior hit .600 (9-of-15) in four victories for the nationally-ranked Red Dragons. He also collected two home runs, five RBI, seven runs and he stole three bases. For the second-straight week, Jake Dennstedt (Brockport ’06) was the SUNYAC “Pitcher of the Week.” He pitched seven strong innings and earned a victory against defending NCAA Division III national champion Marietta College. He allowed the ‘Etta Express one run and struck out six.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK, PART II: Here’s a few I’ve missed. Zach Lutz (Hornell ’07), of Alvernia College, was named the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference “Player of the Week” on March 19. Lutz batted .536 (15-of-28) for the week. On Alvernia’s trip to Arizona, Lutz went 12-for-20 with eight runs scored and 11 runs batted in. Lutz went 6-for-6 against third-ranked Montclair State and drove in six of Alvernia’s 13 runs. Dylan Rees (Rochester ’06), of Rochester Tech, was named the Empire 8 “Pitcher of the Week” on March 12 (week ending March 11). He compiled a pair of complete-game victories on RIT’s spring trip to Florida. Rees tossed a six-hitter against Pomona on March 4. He followed that up with an eight strikeout performance against Lebanon Valley on March 11.
FORMER RED WING HELPING PURPLE EAGLES SOAR: Tim Alberts (Geneva ’06) star started rising last year for Niagara University. He finished the season on a 22-game hitting streak and led the Purple Eagles with a .379 batting average. Alberts helped Niagara to the MAAC tournament and a third-place tournament finish. And last summer, Alberts patrolled the outfield for the Geneva Red Wings. The Baldwinsville, New York, native hit .259 and drove in 22 runs. He was second on the team in most offensive categories behind NYCBL “Player of the Year” Nick Stewart (Geneva ’06). Alberts got hot at the end of the season and teamed with Stewart to nearly lead Geneva to one of the final playoff spots. Alberts success has spilled over into this spring. Through Wednesday, Tim leads Niagara with a .438 batting average, six home runs and 20 RBI. He also leads NU in at-bats (64), runs scored (18), hits (28), total bases (53), slugging percentage (.828) and on-base percentage (.429). We wish Tim and the Purple Eagles the best of luck this season.

Amsterdam Mohawks Notes 3/29/07

McGhee has Huge Week for LSU

Chris McGhee (‘07) earned the starting second base job at LSU a few weeks ago and hasn’t looked back. He has had two big weekends for the Tigers against SEC foes South Carolina and Kentucky. Against 8th ranked Kentucky Saturday, McGhee, batting leadoff, went 3 for 4 with a homerun in a 6-5 loss. He is hitting .385 on the season.

McGhee’s LSU teammate Ryan Bird (’07) picked up a win pitching 5 innings in a 5-3 win over SE Louisiana in a non-league game last Tuesday

Kevin Nieto (’07) had a big weekend for Manhattan and was named MAAC Rookie of the Week

Kentucky improved its record to 23-2 and has climbed to 8th in the polls with the help of three Amsterdam Mohawks. Duran Ferguson (’06) is 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA in 23 innings, Tommy Warner (’05) is 2-0 in 7 appearances, while Brock Wright (’07) is hitting .286 with 4 homeruns in 17 games played

John Allman (‘04) went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs in Kansas’ 6-3 in over 14th ranked Oklahoma State. As Kansas’ number three hitter in the lineup, he is hitting .408 on the season

Mike Parker (’04) continues to shine at George Washington, hitting .341 with a team leading 6 homeruns on the season

Jordan Wolf (’05) continues to lead Xavier in hitting. The catcher is hitting .352 with 4 homeruns

Chris Garcia (coming in ’07), a former Boston Red Sox draft pick out of high school, is hitting a whopping .448 for St. Petersburg CC. He has 6 homeruns and 50 RBIs on the season. The 50 RBIs lead the entire Florida CC region

Mario Williams (’06) is second to Garcia in RBIs in the Florida CC region with 45. The Lake City CC catcher/outfielder is hitting .338

Robbie Dominguez (’07) picked up his 7th win of the season for Cerritos CC in Los Angeles. On the year, the 2006 Seattle Mariners draft pick is 7-0 with a 1.97 ERA.

Bryan Cryer (’05) pitched a complete game in a 13-1 win over Arkansas-Little Rock to improve his record to 3-2

Vince Riggi (‘04-‘06) hit a pinch hit grand slam to lead Richmond to an 8-5 in over Old Dominion. On the year, Riggi is hitting .333

Riggi’s teammate at Richmond, Alex Wotring (’05) is hitting .360 on the season)

Alden Crissey (’05) has had a monster few weeks for Davidson going 18 for his last 31 with 3 homeruns in that stretch. He is hitting .368 with 4 homeruns on the season

Matt Boylan (’07) pitched five innings in his first collegiate start for Brown in a 2-0 loss to Sacred Heart

Matt Untiet (’06) is hitting .329 as Connecticut’s first baseman

Brian Szarmach (’06) is hitting .314 with 3 homeruns for Cincinnati

Notes provided by Amsterdam Mohawks GM Brian Spagnola.

Riverbats Sweep Division III National Awards

So far, its been an eventful off-season for the Brockport Riverbats. The franchise has a new name and last month, announced a brand new coaching staff. On Thursday, one future Riverbat and one former Riverbat, received national awards.

New Jersey City University's Rob Sumer (Brockport '07) and Brockport State's Jake Dennstedt (Brockport '06) have been named the NCAA Division III National Hitter of the Week and Pitcher of the Week, for the week of March 12-18, 2007, as chosen by representatives of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Sumner, a junior from Union, New Jersey, batted .560 (14-for-25), with five home runs, 14 runs batted in, 10 runs scored, four doubles and a 1.320 slugging percentage. He was perfect in stolen base attempts (4-of-4) and extended his hitting streak to 13 games (dates back to last year). Sumner's best performance of the week came against Finlandia on March 15. He set a New Jersey City University-record by smashing three home runs, in a single game, and went 4-for-5 with seven RBI. The Union, New Jersey, native also opened up back-to-back games with a home run, in contests against Suffolk and Illinois College. Sumner was also named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Week and New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Division II/Division III Player of the Week. Last season, Sumner was first team All-NJAC and second team all-region.

Dennstedt, a senior from Churchville, New York, went 2-0 with a 0.00 earned run average. He started two games for Brockport State and pitched 13 scoreless innings. He tossed a complete-game shutout (seven innings) against Keene State (NH). The crafty righty follwed that up by allowing one unearned run in six innings against Dickinson. Dennstedt struck out five and walked three. He was also tabbed as the SUNYAC Pitcher of the Week.

Last summer, Dennstedt helped lead the Riverbats to a Central Division title. He was also one of the Riverbats representatives in the NYCBL All-Star Game. This summer, he will be the Riverbats pitching coach, assisting new manager, Jim Maciejewski.

Vote For Brett Zamzow

Over at MinorLeagueBaseball, they're running a contest to name the player with the best name in the minors.

It's modeled after the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

One of the players listed is Brett Zamzow (Glens Falls '04). Zamzow pitched for the Spokane Indians of the Northwest League last summer.

He was a member of the 2004 Eastern Division regular season champion Glens Falls Golden Eagles.

Vote for Brett in his first round match-up with Corey Hart. Here's the link to vote.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/fans/moniker_madness.jsp

Mid-week Diamond Notes 3/14/07

How about this heat wave we’re having here on the east coast? I hear its up in the 50s and 60s in upstate New York this week. Down here in Virginia, we’re operating in the low-to-mid 70s. It felt strange driving around with the windows down this afternoon in mid-March. But alas, the cold weather is supposed to come back this weekend. However, the warm weather has inspired some news and notes on this great Wednesday!

OWL NAMED HEAD MINER: Temple University assistant baseball coach, Justin Gordon, has been named as the field manager of the Little Falls Miners. Gordon replaces Kansas University assistant coach, Kevin Tucker, who skippered the Little Falls team to a second place finish in the Eastern Division a season ago. Gordon was the pitching coach last summer for the Harwich Mariners of the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League (Editors Note: John worked for Harwich in 2004). Mariners ace Dan Merklinger (Seton Hall) was a Cape League all-star under Gordon’s watchful eye. Prior to joining the Owls, Gordon was the pitching coach at Western Illinois. Last spring, the Leathernecks won a school-record 32 games and made the conference championship game. His pitchers were among the league leaders in strikeouts and earned run average. Gordon also had a successful playing career. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 32nd round of the 1999 Major League Baseball amateur entry draft. Justin played in the Brewers system for five years and advanced as high as High Class-A High Desert.
BARKSDALE HEADED FOR ALLEGANY COUNTY: Don’t worry Dodgers fans, I don’t mean 2005 NYCBL Most Valuable Player James Barksdale. He’s currently playing in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system. Sean Barksdale (Allegany County ‘07), of Temple University, will join the Nitros outfield this summer. Barksdale recently showed off his offensive prowess against the UB Bulls. In a doubleheader played on March 11, Barksdale finished 6-for-6 with four runs batted in. His best success came in the second game of the doubleheader. The Glenolden, Pennsylvania, native went 4-for-4 with three runs batted in, one run scored and a stolen base. Currently, Barksdale leads the Owls with six stolen bases and is second with a .315 batting average. He’ll be joined this summer in Scio by fellow Temple outfielder Janie Abercrombie (Allegany County ’07).
FUTURE MOHAWK EARNS SEC AND NATIONAL HONORS: University of Kentucky freshman outfielder Brock Wright (Amsterdam ’07) has been named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week and to the College Baseball Foundation’s National Player of the Week Honor Roll. Last week, Wright batted .455 (5-for-11), smashed three home runs, scored 10 runs, slugged 1.273 percent, and drew six walks. The Paducah, Kentucky, native is batting .370 for the Wildcats this spring and has helped UK off to their best start in school history (17-0). Former Mohawks Tommy Warner (Amsterdam ’05) and Duran Ferguson (Amsterdam ’06) also play for Kentucky. UK infielder Michael Seaborn (Amsterdam ’07) will join Wright at Shuttleworth Park this summer.

Power On!

The beginning of March brought the release of the New York Collegiate Baseball League schedule, and the Internet debut of the Niagara Power. The Power will be the first NYCBL franchise to operate in the wonderful border city of Niagara Falls. The last team to call Niagara Falls home was the Niagara Falls Rapids of the New York-Penn League. The Rapids played at Sal Maglie Stadium (the old one) from 1989-1993. Prior to that, the Niagara Falls Sox and the Niagara Falls Pirates called the city home.

Currently, the new and renovated Sal Maglie Stadium plays host to the Niagara University Purple Eagles baseball team. But, this summer, it will host the Niagara Power. The franchise will be affiliated with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The same group sponsors a team in the MINK (Missouri-Iowa-Nebraska-Kansas) League, the FCA Grays. Local Grand Island resident, Cal Kern will be the team’s president.

Already, the FCA group, in association with the current Power staff, has done a superb job with the website. Here’s the link again: http://www.fcabaseball.org/FCASummerCollegiateMinistry/NiagaraPower/
In the future, they may want to look into purchasing a regular domain name from a hosting company, something along the lines of NiagaraPower.com. But, this website is perfectly fine. I love the banner at the top of the page. It has the team’s logo and the scenic skyline of Niagara Falls. The navigation for the page is on the left side. It’s pretty easy to navigate between the roster, the news, schedule etc.

From the schedule, the Power will have some extra home dates. They’ve lined up a few games against local and Canadian competition before the NYCBL season begins on June 7. Then, during the season, the Power will travel to Duffy Fairgrounds on July 5th, the day before the All-Star Game, for an exhibition contest with the Watertown Wizards.

I’m a big fan of the logo. It incorporates a solid color scheme of blues, and pays homage to the Falls and has a P with a lightning bolt through it, signifying power. I love it.

Sam Kirby will be the first manager of the Niagara Power. He’s an assistant baseball coach at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon. This will be his second season coaching for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was an assistant coach last year for the FCA Grays. Prior to that, Kirby worked with the Bend (OR) Elks of the Pacific International League. Kirby will be assisted by Joe Scarano. Scarano is the head coach at Division III Gordon College in Wenham, Mass.

Again, all-in-all, a great website. It seems like the Power is stepping off on the right foot. Hopefully, they can become one of the model franchises of the league and receive great support from the fans. Niagara Falls is a great place and a beautiful vacation spot in the summer. Now, you’ve got a bit of a battle as to the best resort town in the league – Saratoga Springs or Niagara Falls? Good debate. But that’s another blog entry. Congrats to the Power on a great website. We hope to bring you more information from there as the off-season rolls along.

NYCBL Diamond Notes 3/11/07

Welcome back everyone to our weekly edition of NYCBL notes. I hope everyone remembered to turn their clocks ahead last night. Hopefully the extra hour of daylight is not only helpful to you, but also to all the college baseball teams around the country who don’t have lighted fields.

Players of the Week: Here’s some more “Player of the Week” news from around the country. Remember, if you have information on someone that’s been honored, please send it to SaltCitySports@aol.com. There’s NYCBL players from all over the country and its hard to check out every conference every week. Mark Kelly (Glens Falls ’07), of Southern Illinois, was honored on March 5th as the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week. From February 26 through March 4, Kelly batted .647 (11-for-17), with four runs scored, two doubles, his first collegiate home run and eight runs batted in. Kelly recorded a hit in all four games and at the time of the award, had a nine-game hitting streak. (Editors Note: As of press time, Kelly had extended his streak to 11 games). Kelly’s best performance of the week came against Tennessee-Martin. He went 5-for-6 with two runs scored, a double and three runs batted in. Later in the week, Kelly’s first home run came against Northern Illinois. Mark’s performance also earned him a nod on the College Baseball Foundation’s National Honor Roll for the second time this season. Southeast Missouri State’s Dustin Renfrow (Watertown ’07) was honored on the same day as the Ohio Valley Conference “Pitcher of the Week.” Renfrow earned the award for his mound victory against Cleveland State. Renfrow retired the first 10 batters he faced, before allowing a base runner on an error (who would later score, unearned) and the last 10 batters he faced in seven and one-third innings of work. For the game, Dustin allowed four hits, but did not walk anyone and struck out six. Entering this weekend, Dustin’s 1.08 ERA was second in the Ohio Valley Conference. Finally, Ben Austin (Watertown ’07), of Wofford College, was tabbed as the Southern Conference “Pitcher of the Week.” Austin earned his third straight win, on February 24, against Army. He gave up one run, on four hits, in six and two-thirds innings. Austin is spending his first full season in the Wofford rotation after splitting time between the bullpen and the outfield last year. As of press time, Austin has won five-straight starts.
Saratoga’s Spiers Throws No-No: Jon Spiers (Saratoga ’06) pitched his first-career no-hitter this past Monday as Division-II Nova Southeastern defeated Dominican College, 13-0. Spiers struck out 11 batters and faced four over the nine-inning minimum during the complete-game no-hitter. Jon helped the Saratoga Phillies to their first-ever NYCBL crown this past summer. I’ve been informed by the Phillies front office that Spiers will return to pitch for the Phillies in 2007. As of today, seven players from the Phillies championship team have agreed to return this summer. You can see the list of the other six in last week’s blog entry. However, all seven are eligible for the MLB amateur draft at the end of the collegiate season.
New Skipper For Nitros: Eastern Kentucky assistant baseball coach Brandon Scott is the new manager of the Allegany County Nitros. Scott replaces Francis Marion assistant, Robbie Wilson, who is going to coach the Outer Banks Daredevils of the Coastal Plain League this summer. Scott is a 2006 graduate of Eastern Kentucky. He pitched for the Colonels from 2002-2004 and enjoyed great success out of the bullpen. Scott Loiseau (Franklin Pierce) had originally been listed as the Nitros manager for 2007. He was removed from the team’s website earlier this month, and as of now, Brandon Scott is listed.
Phillies Go Hollywood, Documentary Style: The 2007 Saratoga Phillies will be the subject of a new baseball documentary, produced by Bain Street Productions. The film will focus on the Phillies players, the organization, the New York Collegiate Baseball League and the city of Saratoga Springs. Award-winning director Chris Brandt, of Bain Street Productions, will helm the project. Recently, the Cape Cod Baseball League (“Touching the Game”) and the New England Collegiate Baseball League (“Eye on the Dream”) have been featured in documentaries.
Dodgers Assistant Coach Closing Playing Career in Style: Jason Ziegler is a senior at Alvernia College in Reading, Pennsylvania. This summer, he’ll be an assistant coach for the Hornell Dodgers. This spring, Ziegler is a starting pitcher for the NCAA Division III Alvernia College Crusaders, who play in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference. Recently, Ziegler earned his 25th career win, a new school record at Alvernia. Last year, as a junior, Ziegler helped Alvernia to the NCAA playoffs and won a team-high eight decisions. He’ll be coaching three of his college teammates this summer: Dale Curry, Andrew Long and pre-season All-American Zach Lutz.
NYCBL, TRZ Sports and TEAMLINE Partner To Broadcast Every NYCBL Game: For the second year in a row, the New York Collegiate Baseball League has partnered with TEAMLINE and parent company, TRZ Sports, in an agreement to have every NYCBL regular season game broadcast over the Internet. Fans can go to the TEAMLINE website (http://www.teamline.cc) and listen to free, live audio of their favorite teams. Each team will have its own home broadcaster(s) that will broadcast every home game. The NYCBL All-Star Game, on July 6th, will be broadcast live, as well as every playoff game. For more information, visit the TEAMLINE website.

NYCBL Diamond Notes 3/4

It’s Sunday, so that means its time for some more NYCBL notes. March is here, and that means we are just three months away with the start of the 30th season of play in the New York Collegiate Baseball League. The good news, collegiate baseball, at all levels is in full swing. That means you can check out how your future Bolivar Athletics, Hornell Dodgers and Glens Falls Golden Eagles are doing at their respective schools. And, spring training games have started too.

Saratoga Phillies Notes

These were passed along by Phillies co-owner Keith Rogers. Good news for Phillies fans, there are two more players from last year’s championship team that are going to return to Saratoga Springs for the 2007 season. 2006 NYCBL Championship Series Most Valuable Player Jason Downey (Rutgers) will return to the mound at East Side Rec. This will be Jason’s third season with the Phils. He’s a local product, originally from Ballston Lake. Another returning piece of the championship puzzle will be Jon Nicolla (Duke). He was one of the top Phillies home run hitters last season. Jon’s another local guy, from Rensselaer.

Nicolla and Downey join Cory Kuzmik (New Jersey Tech), Joe Zongol (RPI), Matthew O’Rourke (Spartanburg Methodist), Tyler Zeronda (Lafayette) and Darin Mastroianni (Southern Indiana) as holdovers from last year. The entire coaching staff is back too, with Garett Baron skippering the Phils for the second-straight year.

No surprise that Darin Mastroianni is already tearing it up for the Screaming Eagles of USI this spring. He’s batting a team-best .536 with one home run, eight RBI and ten stolen bases. He has 15 hits in 28 at-bats and has scored 12 runs. He led Southern Indiana in almost every offensive category last year. Mastroianni was a first-team NYCBL all-star, won the NYCBL All-Star Game Home Run Derby (as a late replacement) and was the Offensive MVP of the playoffs. With the numbers that Darin is putting up, he’s a good candidate to be drafted in June. He is a junior right now, so this will be his first draft-eligible year since he entered college.

Jonnie Geiger (Columbus State) will join the Phillies this summer. He’s off to a good start for the Cougars. He’s batting .329 with eight runs batted in and a team-high 17 stolen bases in 19 games. One would have to imagine that he’ll be topping the Phils order with that type of speed.

Columbus State-NYCBL Alum Notes

Checking out Jonnie Geiger’s stats for Columbus State, I stumbled upon a pair of NYCBL alums that are having success for the Columbus, Georgia, school. Billy Howard (Allegany County ’05) was a first-team NYCBL all-star in 2005 and a big part of Allegany County’s franchise-record 33 wins. He leads Columbus State with a .390 batting average, 30 hits and eight doubles. Brad Linton (Wayne County ’05) played in the NYCBL the same year as Howard. Linton made the NYCBL All-Star Game as a member of the now-defunct Wayne County Raptors. Last week, he was the Columbus State Athlete of the Week for hitting .700 in four games and helping the Cougars to a 3-1 record. Linton is hitting .315 for the season. Columbus State is ranked third in the nation in Division II.

NYCBL versus the Boston Red Sox

Spring training games are underway in Florida and several former NYCBL players were able to play against Major Leaguers. Last week, the Boston Red Sox played both Northeastern University and Boston College.

Nine members of the Northeastern University Huskies are former NYCBL players or will play in the NYCBL this coming summer. Former Watertown Wizard James Donaldson ('06) and future Watertown Wizard David Gustafson recorded the Huskies only two hits against Red Sox pitching. Gustafson, the first batter of the game, singled off Red Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett. Donaldson singled in the Northeastern third inning off Boston reliever Craig Breslow.

Five pitchers with NYCBL ties took the mound: Trevor Smith (Saratoga ’06), Bobby Carrington (Glens Falls ‘05/Watertown ’06), Danny Zehr (Watertown ’05), Tyler Thornton (Watertown ’05) and Aaron Greenblatt (Watertown ‘05/Geneva ’06). Smith, a NYCBL all-star last season, had the most success of any NU hurler. Trevor threw one and one-third innings of scoreless baseball and struck out both Mike Lowell and Alex Ochoa. Smith entered the game in the bottom of the first and stranded two Red Sox runners on base to keep the game scoreless.

On Friday night, the Boston Red Sox played their annual exhibition game against Boston College. Japanese-phenom Daisuke Matsuzaka was the starting pitcher for the Red Sox. Jared McGuire (Amsterdam ’04) was a member of the Golden Eagles starting line-up. McGuire was able to face Matsuzaka in the top of the first inning with a runner on third. Unfortunately, Jared struck out looking on a 92-mph fastball from Matsuzaka. Former Geneva Red Wings backstop Harry Darling (Geneva ’05-’06) also plays for Boston College.

New and Improved Websites

The Geneva Red Wings web site recently underwent a little bit of a change. The Red Wings logo was added as the background and now the frames on the right side of the page are light yellow. Overall it’s a really nice upgrade and gives the site a better feel. Pictures of McDonough park remain on the site, but they’ve been edited down to appropriate size, as opposed to taking up a large portion of the screen. Check out the new-look ‘Wings website at http://www.genevaredwings.com/

The Little Falls Miners haven’t taken the field yet, but they have already made an upgrade on the Internet. After the end of last season, the Diamond Miners website went down to the murky deep, to never be seen again. The new ownership group already has purchased a domain name and the new site is in the works. You can check out the new Miners page at http://www.littlefallsminers.com/

News and notes can be sent to SaltCitySports@aol.com

NYCBL Schedule Notes 3/4/07

I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that the New York Collegiate Baseball League family has their thoughts and prayers with everyone affected by the Bluffton College baseball team bus tragedy that unfolded Friday morning in Georgia. It’s horrible tragedy and please keep them in your thoughts this first weekend of March.

The beginning of March has brought the release of the 2007 NYCBL schedule. It’s a 42-game schedule, spanning from Thursday, June 7th and running through Saturday, July 28th. Sunday, the 29th will be used as a rain date. Hopefully, it won’t be needed. If it’s not used, the playoffs may start a day earlier than the scheduled start of July 30th. As has already been written about and discussed, there will be no inter-mingling of Eastern and Western divisions during the regular season, in the guise of an official, league game.

The two divisions will oppose one another in the NYCBL All-Star Game on Friday, July 6th, at Shuttleworth Park in Amsterdam. The day before, at Watertown’s Duffy Fairgrounds, there will be a non-league, inter-division game. The Watertown Wizards (Eastern Division) will host the Niagara Power (Western Division) on July 5th. The game will not count in the league standings and it doesn’t count against the 42-game schedule of either club.

Aside from those two days, the two divisions will not meet until the NYCBL Championship Series in early August. The playoffs though will run along divisional lines. There’ll be two rounds of divisional play with four teams participating in the playoffs from each division. Like in years past, the playoffs will consist of best-of-three series. The winners meet for the title in either a 1-1-1 or 1-2 format. Last year, even with the divisions mixing in the playoffs, the championship was still decided with “East” versus “West” as Saratoga tangled with Allegany County.

Now for some tidbits. There will be four games on opening night and all four games will be played by Western Division teams. The first pitch of 2007 will be thrown at SUNY Brockport as the defending Central Division champion Brockport Riverbats host their Rochester-area rivals, the Webster Yankees. That game will begin at 5:00 PM. Old rivals Hornell and Allegany County face off at Hornell’s Maple City Park at 7:00 PM. Last year Allegany County won the West and Hornell had one of its worst records in franchise history. We’ll also have a holy war of sorts at Bolivar-Richburg Central School. The Niagara Power (sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes) will play their first-ever game against the Bolivar Athletics (sponsored by Athletes in Action). First pitch will be at 7:00 PM on the Astroturf. And the final game starts at 7:30 PM at McDonough Park. Reason being, the sun goes down over the left field wall, in the batters and spectators eye, so they try to start as late as possible. Geneva will host Elmira in the first of their six meetings this season. Geneva and Elmira are only an hour apart. This could develop into a nice rivalry between two former minor-league towns with nice parks.

The Eastern Division gets underway the following night with three games, plus the four games from the Western Division. The Bennington Bombers will open up at home with a 3:00 PM doubleheader against the defending league-champion Saratoga Phillies. More on Bennington and doubleheaders later. The Watertown Wizards open up at home for the first time in recent memory with a game against the Glens Falls Golden Eagles. Watertown has started on the road the last two years. This will be the Golden Eagles first trip up to Duffy Fairgrounds since 2005 and one of four this year. The Mohawk-River Rivalry is the other Eastern Division game on the first Friday night of the season. Amsterdam travels to nearby Little Falls for a 7:00 PM first pitch. Each team boasts a new owner or new co-owner. But can the Mohawks and Miners put together some exciting games like the ones last year?

The Niagara Power play their first-ever home game on the same Friday night. The Webster Yankees get the honor of traveling to Sal Maglie Stadium to be the Power’s first visiting opponent. That game will begin at 7:00 PM. Speaking of the Yankees, they won’t get a chance to open up in their new digs until June 13. The Yankees play their first game at Empire Park against the Elmira Pioneers with a 7:00 PM start. Empire Park will have the exact dimensions of the current Yankee Stadium and we’re told it will be lighted. So after playing all 5:00 PM weekday home games last year, the Yankees will get to take the field under the lights in Webster.

Another date of note: the Fourth of July. The last few years, the league has been inactive on this day. But, that’s not the case this year. There will be two games on the nation’s birthday in upstate New York. The Hornell Dodgers will host the Geneva Red Wings at 3:00 PM. Afternoon baseball, the Fourth of July, and crisp, white Dodgers uniforms in the summer sun; not much gets better than that. The other Fourth of July game will be in the Eastern Division. It’s a 7:00 PM start at East Side Recreation Park between the defending league-champion Saratoga Phillies and the Watertown Wizards.

With the 42-game schedule, Western Division teams will see their opponents each six times this summer; three games at home, three on the road. The Eastern Division is a little different with only six teams. Teams will play one another at least eight times. That accounts for 40 games. Then, it’s broken up into three-team pods as to the extra games. Watertown, Little Falls and Amsterdam will play two extra games between one another as will Saratoga, Glens Falls and Bennington. And that comes along geographic lines as the three teams are closest to one another.

Speaking of Bennington, they have quite the interesting schedule. The Bombers will play seven home doubleheaders this year, beginning with the twin bill against Saratoga on June 8th. All but one of the doubleheaders (June 8th), will fall on a weekend. Watertown will play four games against Bennington at Bombers Field in the span of two days (June 16th, 17th) and then not return the rest of the season. Only Little Falls and Glens Falls will venture in to Bombers Field for a weeknight single game. And those games will begin at 5:00 PM. This works two-fold. It gives Bennington a ton of time off at the end of the season (seven games in the final two weeks), but it will really be taxing on the pitching and the team in general in June, when they play a majority of their games. The Bombers also will not play any doubleheaders on the road, so it’ll be a tough travel go for them having to make four separate trips to Watertown, Little Falls and Amsterdam.

Staying in the Eastern Division, as mentioned before, Amsterdam will host three games during ParkFest 2007 at Shuttleworth. The NYCBL All-Star Game is July 6th, then the Tribe hosts Glens Falls on the 7th and Little Falls on the 8th.

And Amsterdam will also be involved in an interesting road game versus Watertown. In years past, the Wizards have gone on the road during the annual Jefferson County Fair. This year, they’ll have a home game, of sorts, during the Fair. Watertown and Amsterdam meet, July 12, at Indian River High School in Philadelphia, NY. Philadelphia, according to Mapquest, is around 18 miles north of Watertown. It’s located right by the military reserve at Fort Drum. It’s also not very far from the US-Canadian border either. Should make for an interesting atmosphere.

The first Dodgers-Yankees game will be on June 14 at Maple City Park in Hornell. Then the two teams will turn around and face-off at Empire Park the following night. They’ll do the same thing on July 10th and 11th. It’ll be a wonderful visual to see the Yankee pinstripes and the Dodger blues under the lights at Maple City Park and Empire Park.

7:00 PM will be the magic time for the NYCBL this year. I’d say 75%-to-80% of the league’s games will begin at 7:00 PM. Obviously Brockport and Bennington are the exceptions, since neither team has a lighted home field and they’ll start home contests at 5:00 PM and Geneva has to start at 7:30 PM. This is a good thing. It creates a sense of uniformity in the league where most nights and places, you’ll be playing under the lights at 7:00 PM and fans will get used to it. Although, there are occasional weekend afternoon games at Hornell, Elmira, Bennington and Brockport.

There’s several morning starts again this year. The Allegany County Nitros will host their annual Kids Day game at 11:00 AM on June 13 against the Niagara Power. Thankfully, the Power will already be in the area since they play at Hornell the night before. In the past, this game has been played at Wellsville Elementary. I’m not sure if that’s the case this year, I’ll check with the Nitros. Then, an 11:00 AM start on Flag Day in Hornell. The first Yankees-Dodgers (Webster-Hornell) game will be a morning start and you can expect the kids out in full force in the Maple City. Watertown traditionally hosts a Flag Day morning game as well. They are home on Flag Day against the Little Falls Miners. The scheduled start time is 1:00 PM right now. The last two years, Watertown has had the game at 11:00 AM. I’ll check with the Wizards on the time.

So that’s the schedule. You can find the full schedule on the league web site, www.nycbl.com . Already, Allegany County, Brockport, Hornell and Webster have posted full Western Division schedules. Geneva’s home schedule is up. In the Eastern Division, Amsterdam, Glens Falls, Saratoga and Watertown have posted schedules. Little Falls announced their schedule to the local media, but its not posted online yet.

Any questions, comments can go to SaltCitySports@aol.com