FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After winning the 2016 NCAA Division II national championship, 11 Sharks from the national championship team shipped out all across the country to compete in their respective summer leagues. Four more Sharks that will don the blue and grey in 2017 also competed in summer leagues, including Jeremy Vasquez, who played in the prominent Cape Cod Baseball League.
Jake Anchia, DuPage Drones, Prospect League
Anchia carried his success from his breakout freshman campaign into the summer, and was named the Prospect League's sixth-best prospect by Baseball America. He started 43 games all over the field, spending time in left field, right field, first base, third base, and as the designated hitter, in addition to his natural role behind the plate. He finished the summer hitting .287, with 13 doubles, three home runs, 32 runs batted in, and 26 runs scored, while also stealing three bases. He started the summer with two multi-hit games, with two stolen bases and one of four three-hit games in his first game, then three RBI in his second, to match what would be a season-high in his second. Anchia hit his first two homers in back-to-back games on June 16th and 17th. In 17 games in July, he hit .372, with eight doubles and a homer, to go along with 15 runs scored and 17 driven in. His third homer of the summer came on July 7th, the third of three consecutive mult-hit games, and his first of two such streaks that month. He had a season highs with four hits and three runs scored and driven in on July 26th. He also showed off his strong arm while behind the plate, throwing out 12 of 24 runners attempting to steal a base.
Thomas Barberi, Sanford River Rats, Florida Collegiate Summer League
Appearing in 12 games out of the pen, Barberi had a record of 3-2 with one save and 13 strikeouts to just three walks in 17.2 innings. He didn't watch any of the first 44 batters he faced, a streak spanning 11 innings, and allowed just one of 11 inherited runners to score. In his last nine appearances, he had an ERA of 3.65, a WHIP of 1.05 and opponents hit just .238/.298/.310 against him, as he struck out 12 of 49 batters faced. He retired 16 consecutive batters and 27 of 32 from June 29th through July 21st, bringing his ERA to 4.40, WHIP to 0.81 and opponent batting average to .192, all summer lows. He recorded a summer-high four strikeouts in back-to-back games on July 19th and 21st, the first of which was in a season-high three innings of work, and the second of which was in his first save. Barberi had a ground out-to-fly out ratio of 1.50 during the entire season and threw 62% of his pitches for strikes. In the first game of the playoffs, he pitched 1.2 scoreless innings to help the River Rats advance to the league championship game, which was played at Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays. Barberi also played four Innings at second base and was 0-for-1 with a fly out to center field at the plate.
Derik Beauprez, Newport Gulls, New England Collegiate Baseball League
Beauprez appeared in 13 games in relief, compiling three saves and a 1-3 record. He also had 27 strikeouts and a 4.58 ERA In 19.2 innings. On June 22nd, he struck out a season-high five batters and pitched a season-high three innings in each of his first two outings, the second of which was his first save of the season. In six outings in July, he was 1-0 with two saves, a 1.50 ERA, .200 opponent batting average and 10 strikeouts in six innings, aiding the Gulls to a playoff berth. Beauprez also drew a walk and scored a run as the designated hitter in his first game of the season.
Taylor Blatch, La Crosse Loggers, Northwoods League
Blatch pitched in 12 games this summer, three of which were starts, with one win and one loss and 32 strikeouts in 27.1 innings of work. He inherited four baserunners in his nine relief efforts, and prevented all four of them from scoring. His best work was as a starter to end the season. On August 7th, he struck out 10 batters in 6.2 scoreless innings. In his last two games, he had an ERA of 0.77, with 14 strikeouts in 11.2 innings pitched, with a .239 opponent average and .286 opponent slugging. He induced 24 groundouts and five popouts during the summer, compared to just 10 flyouts.
Cameron Churchill, Thunder Bay BorderCats, Northwoods League
As the only Shark playing on foreign soil this summer, 40 miles north of the Canadian-American border, Churchill made eight starts and three relief appearances, compiling a record of 4-5 to lead the team in wins. Of his eleven appearances, Churchill held his opponent scoreless in four of them, including on June 26th, when he came within two outs of a 7-inning perfect game, before completing the nine-strikeout complete game shutout. He followed that with seven strikeouts and just three hits allowed in 5.2 scoreless innings on July 2nd and ended the season with another seven shutout innings, this time in relief, with six strikeouts and three hits allowed on August 13th. In his 48.1 innings, he struck out 37 batters and allowed only one home run and ended the season with a 5.36 ERA, holding opponents to hit .274/.336/.374 against him.
Sebastian Diaz, Front Royal Cardinals, Valley Baseball League
Diaz played in 29 games and started 20 to aid his team to the league's Divisional Finals. Defensively, he displayed versatility, with time at third base and shortstop, as well as all three outfield positions. After a slow start in his first three games, he picked it up quickly, getting on base at a .354 clip in his last 22 games of the regular season, with 12 runs scored and nine walks to 11 strikeouts. He hit one home run during the summer, in a 4-2 victory on July 6th, after entering the game as a pinch-runner. His best game of the summer came in a 7-2 win on July 21st, in which he was 1-for-2 with an RBI double, a run scored, two walks and two stolen bases. He ended the season with six stolen bases in nine attempts, and drew a walk in each of last six starts during the regular season, hitting .333 with a .545 on-base percentage from July 16th-24th. On defense, he maintained a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in the outfield, successfully converting 25 chances in 106.2 innings. Diaz also made two appearances on the mound, recording a strikeout and hitting 91 in an inning of work in his first appearance, a 10-3 win on July 12th.
Joe DiBenedetto, La Crosse Loggers, Northwoods League
DiBenedetto recorded a save in 15 relief outings, with 15 strikeouts in 16 innings, and 15 hits allowed, for a batting average against of just .242, only four of which were for extra bases. In his last 13 games, he struck out 13 batters and allowed just 10 hits in 14 innings, with a 4.61 ERA and .200 opponent average. He struck out at least one batter in 11 of those last 13 games, and didn't allow a run in seven. He pitched a season-high 2.2 scoreless and hitless innings in a 10-4 victory on July 15th, also matching a season-high with two strikeouts.
Drew Freedman, St. Cloud Rox, Northwoods League
In 49 games for the Rox, Freedman hit .280 with a .413 on-base percentage. He scored 33 runs, drew 30 walks, and led the team with 19 stolen bases in 21 attempts. In the All-Star Game on July 19th, he started at second base, with an RBI single and a run scored. He had eight multi-run games, eight multi-hit games, and eight multi-walk games. Freedman had a season-high three runs with three walks and two stolen bases in a 15-12 victory on June 18th. He set a season-high with his first of two three-hit games on June 29th, to go along with two runs, a stolen base and his first extra-base hit of the season. He had a season-high four stolen bases on July 1st, while reaching bases in all five of his plate appearances, on two hits, two walks and a hit by pitch, coming around to score twice, bringing his batting average to .418 and his on-base percentage to .543, both season-highs, thanks to 14 walks, compared to just eight strikeouts, in those first 17 games, in addition to 17 runs scored and 23 hits. He recorded an extra-base hit in three consecutive games to begin the month of August, including his first home run of the season on the 1st and his first triple on the 2nd, with five of his eight extra-base hits in an eight-game span from July 31st-August 6th, in which he slugged .571. Freedman was also safe on his first 13 stolen base attempts.
Brandon Gomez, Kalamazoo Growlers, Northwoods League
After leading the 2016 National Champions with 21 home runs, Gomez kept mashing throughout the summer, with six homers, second on his team, in just 35 games. Among all players in the league with at least 100 at bats, Gomez was 11th in games per home run (5.83) and 13th in at bats per home run (20.83). His first homer was on June 21st, his fourth game of the season, but his best game was on July 15th, when, in support of his teammate, starter
Devin Pellien, he hit two home runs in an eight-run second inning, a solo shot to lead off and a three-run homer as the inning's last run. It was his second game that month with four hits and four RBI. His first was on July 1st, when he had a season-high two doubles, his first two of the season. Playing in 12 games in the first half of July, he had two or more hits in six of them, hitting .375 with a .646 slugging during this time. Defensively, Gomez made 21 of his 32 starts in the outfield, and held a flawless 1.000 fielding percentage for his first 16 games and 136 innings in the field, finishing the season with just one error in 186 innings in the outfield.
Kyle Kilbourne, DuPage Drones, Prospect League
Kilbourne made eight appearances for the Drones, starting his last two games, and was 2-0 with a save in 22.1 innings. He had a 4.84 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP, and a batting average against of .268, striking out 15 batters and walking just six. In his first start, on July 27th, he gave up two run on just three hits, with six strikeouts in six innings, to earn the win. Kilbourne had an ERA of 2.45 and an opponent batting average of .222 in five games in the month of July, allowing eight hits and three walks, with eight strikeouts in 11 innings.
Ronny Orta, Sanford River Rats, Florida Collegiate Summer League
Orta was electric in 10 games in relief in the Florida League, between the regular season, playoffs and Prospect Showcase, totaling three saves, 18 strikeouts, a 1.93 ERA and .180 opponent average in 14 innings. He struck out a batter in all but one of his outings, recording a season-high three strikeouts twice, including in the Rats' first playoff game on August 3rd, while tossing another season-high of 3.2 innings to earn the win in extras. He threw a pair of 1-2-3 innings with two strikeouts in the Prospect Showcase against the SunBelt League on July 17th. Orta picked up all three of his saves in his last three games of the regular season, getting strikeouts for seven of the 10 total outs in those games.
Jonny Ortiz, Willmar Stingers, Northwoods League
Ortiz made five starts for the Stingers, posting a 3.12 ERA, with 25 strikeouts to just eight walks in 34.2 innings. He went the distance on July 5th to earn the win, striking out four in his nine-inning complete game, and recorded a season-high seven strikeouts in six innings in his last game on July 12th. On June 20th, he allowed a season-low one run on four hits, with six strikeouts in seven innings, the first of three consecutive quality starts, in a 2-1 victory.
Devin Pellien, Kalamazoo Growlers, Northwoods League
Pellien was one of the best pitchers in the Northwoods League, with a 7-1 record, 71 strikeouts and a 1.83 ERA in 73.2 innings in total. He pitched in 14 games, starting 11, and was second in the league in wins, innings, and strikeouts, in addition to the third-lowest ERA among starters. Pellien also struck out a batter in a 1-2-3 inning in the Northwoods' All-Star Game on July 19th. He won his first seven decisions, and had a 1.59 ERA and .195 opponent average in 12 games at the end of July. Eight of his 11 starts were quality starts, as he allowed three earned runs or fewer in all of them, and didn't allow any runs four times. He had a 1.68 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 69.2 innings as a starter, averaging 6.1 innings per start, and struck out 65 batters with only 55 hits, 21 walks, and one home run allowed, as opponents hit just .213/.279/.291 against him. His first start on June 5th was seven-shutout-inning performance, and he threw 15 consecutive scoreless innings from June 20th-July 2nd, including eight shutout innings with eight strikeouts and just two hits allowed on June 26th. Pellien threw five no-hit innings on July 15th before giving to way to the bullpen, who came within three outs of completing the no-hitter.
Kevin Suarez, Winchester Royals, Valley Baseball League
Suarez started 15 of his 16 games played, patrolling centerfield for all 136 of his innings in the Valley. He hit two home runs, with seven walks and six stolen bases, while scoring and driving in nine runs each. Despite a slow start, he rebounded to hit .317 with a .412 on-base and .488 slugging in his last 13 games, with hits in 10 of 12 starts, and making just one error on 32 chances. He was 2-5 with a run, RBI, walk and two stolen bases on June 17th and again stole two bases, this time with a hit, a walk and two runs scored on June 26th. He drove in two runs in back-to-back games on June 22nd and 24th, and followed that up with his first homer on June 25th, his second homer coming just three games later on June 29th.
Jeremy Vasquez, Chatham Anglers, Cape Cod Baseball League
Vasquez played in 23 games to help Chatham to a playoff berth in college baseball's top summer league, and another five games in the playoffs. He finished the season with 13 RBI, 13 walks and 20 hits – four doubles and a home run. After a slow start, he found his stroke quickly, hitting .273 with a .388 on-base and .382 slugging in the last 17 games of the regular season, along with 10 RBI and 11 walks to 12 strikeouts. He hit his first two extra-base hits of the season, both doubles, in back-to-back games on July 21st and 22nd, then hit his first homer on August 1st, followed by a season-high three hits and his third double the next day. He had back-to-back two hit games in the playoffs, starting on August 7th, with his fourth double in a 3-1 series-clinching win to advance to the second round, and in addition to two RBI in the first game of the second round on August 8th. Vasquez had seven multi-hit games during the summer, four of them in eight games in August, during which time he hit .321/.412/.500 with seven RBI and four walks to four strikeouts.
Dylan Woods, Willmar Stingers, Northwoods League
Woods played in 49 games over the summer, hitting .270 with four doubles, four homers and a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts. He also participated in the league's Prospect Showcase on August 9th. During a season-long 10-game hitting streak from July 11th-26th, he hit .368 with a .605 slugging percentage, 10 runs, three home runs and 12 RBI. He set a season-high with four RBI when he hit a three-run homer, his first of the summer, on July 11th to start his streak, then set a new high just three games later, with a grand slam and five RBI on July 14th. His third home run was on July 26th to extend the streak to ten games. He hit all four of his homers in 22 games in the month of July, when he hit .310 with a .344 on-base percentage and a .460 slugging, along with 15 of his 17 RBI on the season and eight of 13 multi-hit games. His fourth home run was on July 30th, as part of his second three-hit game of the season. On August 7th, he had a season-high two walks and two stolen bases, his ninth and tenth of the season. Woods' was one of two players to steal 10 or more bases during the Northwoods regular season without being caught.
The Sharks will begin their fall practice season on October 1st and are already gearing up to defend their national title.
