Staying with LSU for a moment…  offensively, the Tigers are being lead by three Cape Leaguers who are batting .400 or better through their first 13 games  -  Micah Gibbs (Y-D, ‘09) is leading the way at .422. Gibbs is followed by Blake Dean (Wareham, ‘07-’08) who is hitting at a .407 clip and Leon Landry (Harwich, ‘09) who is batting .400. In a recent article posted to lsusports.net by Chad Vignes, Landry referred to his summer in the Cape League as one that has helped transform him from a free-swinger to a more complete hitter. Landry said “I ended up hitting .364 there, which is good for a wooden-bat league, which favors pitchers. It really signaled my transformation from a pull hitter to someone who could utilize all fields.”

Boston College’s Mike Dennhardt (Chatham, ‘09-’10) and Andrew Del Colle (Chatham, ‘10) have gotten off to very tough starts for the Eagles. In three starts, Dennhardt is 1-2 with a 12.66 ERA. Del Colle is 0-1 with an ERA of 39.00. Del Colle has the unwanted distinction of not lasting more than 1.1 innings in any of his three starts. On a positive note for the Eagles, freshman C/DH Matt Watson (Y-D. ‘10) is batting .364 with 2 HR and 11 RBI. Watson drove in all three runs as BC beat 13th-ranked Miami 3-0 last night.

Texas’ Tant Shepherd (Brewster, ‘09) cracked a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning last night to help the Longhorns post their third consecutive come-from-behind victory in a 2-1 win over Iowa

In the opener of the biggest series of the weekend, #1 Virginia beat #3 Florida State, 5-0. Virginia’s Dan Hultzen (Hyannis, ‘10) limited FSU to 2 hits over 6 innings. He struck out 6 and did not issue a walk. Hultzen improved to 3-1 for the year. Hultzen was followed to the mound by Tyler Wilson (Hyannis, ‘09-’10) who pitched two perfect innings. Dan Grovatt (Harwich, ‘09) lead the way offensively for the Cavs, going 4-5 with 3 RBI. Virginia handed FSU’s Sean Gilmartin (Harwich, ‘10) his first loss of the year as he fell to 3-1. Gilmartin was touched for 4 runs while allowing 11 hits in his 6 innings.

Yesterday afternoon, UC Santa Barbara’s Mario Hollands (Cotuit, ‘08; Y-D. ‘09) struck out 16 in a complete game effort against Northern Illinois. Hollands gave up just 5 hits in UCSB’s 5-1 victory. The 16 K’s ties a school record that was held by Barry Zito (Wareham, ‘97-’98).

The early leader for “Name of the Year” in the CCBL may belong to Duke outfielder Will Piwnica-Worms (Orleans). It’s also somewhat fitting that Oklahoma infielder Chad Kettler will be playing in Cotuit for the Kettleers this summer.

Jared Mitchell, ranked as the number one prospect in the Chicago White Sox organization by Baseball America, was badly injured while making a catch and crashing into a wall during an exhibition game yesterday. According to various media reports, Mitchell has a torn tendon in an ankle that will require surgery. He could miss the entire 2010 season. Mitchell played in five games for Yarmouth-Dennis in 2008.

Let’s hope the infamous Sports Illustrated cover jinx doesn’t strike Baltimore Orioles star catcher Matt Wieters (Orleans, ‘06). Wieters is on the cover of the current issue, dated March 15. Mentioning Wieters’ name reminds me how quickly time moves on. I can’t believe it has been almost four years since I saw him blast a homerun onto the bandstand at Eldredge Park. 

Tyler Burgoon who won the Russ Ford Award as the CCBL’s top relief pitcher last year while pitching for Y-D is now working as a starter at Michigan. Burgoon is 2-1 with a 7.71 ERA. Through the Wolverines’ first 11 games, infielder Anthony Toth (Wareham, ‘10) is batting .318.

Univ. of Florida freshman 1B/DH Austin Maddox (Bourne, ‘10) is second on the team in batting with a .357 avg. and his 4 HR and 18 RBI leads the Gators. Shortstop Nolan Fontana (Bourne, ‘10) is batting .341. Two future Orleans Firebirds have gotten off to strong starts for Florida. Preston Tucker is splitting time with Maddox as the 1B/DH and is batting .357. Sophomore LHP Alex Panteliodis is 4-0 with a 1.10 ERA. Panteliodis has 17 strikeouts in 16.1 innings.

Manuel, BA’s editor-in-chief, makes the case for HBCUs to prioritize baseball programs just as they do basketball and football. (Of course all of this is secondary to academics.) But I believe there is also a case to be made that summer collegiate leagues like the Cape Cod Baseball League and my own West Coast League also need to prioritize recruiting at HBCUs.

If the lure of an NFL or NBA contract motivates players at any college, so does an MLB contract. And we all know that appearances on the Cape can increase the likelihood of an MLB contract. So does an elite summer league like the Cape have an extra responsibility to reach out to HBCUs in recruiting? I believe so.

Over the years since we started CodBall I have written about the issue of diversity in the major leagues and the summer college leagues.

I don’t find any record of players from HBCUs on Cape rosters — this season or ever.  There may very well be Cape Leaguers from HBCUs but I can’t find any record so perhaps someone can set me straight.

Here’s an idea. Why doesn’t one of the Cape teams invite Xavier Macklin (pictured) to play the 2010 season? Manuel calls him out as a kid who hit .364 with 12 homers and 14 steals in 2009.

“He’s got unbelieveable bat speed, but he’s still so raw. He has a chance to be pretty good but he has a lot of developing to do,” according to his coach.

Isn’t that precisely the role for the Cape and other summer leagues?

My first game of the year was the University of Washington Huskies versus the Fresno State Bulldogs – the battle of the dogs. (Believe it or not in this canine classic a Wolfe was followed in the lineup by a Lamb!)

I was excited to see the game in hopes of catching two future Cape Leaguers and see two former ones. Orleans’ 2009 rosterees Josh Poytress (LHP) got the win today, and Danny Muno went 0-3 with a walk.

The new Cape Leaguers from Fresno State are outfielder Dusty Robinson and a RHP, Derek Benny. Dusty struggled at the plate today against a very competent sophomore Andrew Kittredge for the UW Huskies.  Why the Cape League is so slow to recruit talent from the UW (where Tim Lincecum’s jersey is retired out in right field) I will never know. Kittredge kept the Bulldogs off balance all day with a low-90s fast ball followed by a deadly curveball that breaks in sharply on lefties and away on righties.

Benny pitched Friday night giving up 6 runs on 7 hits.

Tulane has announced that star catcher Jeremy Schaffer (Brewster ‘10) has been suspended for 11 games for violation of the “student-athlete policy.” The suspension is the equivalent of 20 percent of the Green Wave’s season. After a stellar freshman season last year, Schaffer was on the Johnny Bench Award Watch List and earned Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American honors. Schaffer is on the Brewster Whitecaps roster for the 2010 season. For more on this story, see Tammy Nunez’ column in The Times-Picayune:  http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/2010/02/tulane_baseball_catcher_jeremy.html

I’m hearing that the Yarmouth-Dennis organization will be putting some of the remaining Yawkey Grant money toward a new scoreboard at Red Wilson Field.

The Bourne Braves will celebrate their first-ever league championship by honoring the 1965 Sagamore championship team. Lou Lamoriello, President of the New Jersey Devils and recent CCBL Hall of Fame inductee, was on that 1965 team and may attend if there isn’t a conflict with the National Hockey League playoffs. The Braves open the season on June 14 against Falmouth.

Bourne will have two new assistant coaches this year. Jason Walck, an assistant at the University of New Orleans and Aracelio Rivera, an assistant at DeAnza College will join Harvey Shapiro’s staff. Pitching coach Josh MacDonald is the lone returning assistant.

Falmouth could have an outstanding pitching staff. Problem is, two of the biggest names may not make it to the Cape. Kyle Winkler (Texas Christian) has already received an invitation to Team USA and his TCU teammate, Matthew Purke, may be receiving his invitation soon. Purke was the highest pick in last year’s MLB draft not to sign a pro contract. The Texas Rangers selected Purke with the 14th overall pick.

Speaking of Team USA, Harwich could end up being hardest hit by losing players to the red, white and blue. Matty Ott (RHP; LSU), Austin Nola (INF; LSU), Mikie Mahtook (OF; LSU) and Tyler Pill (RHP, OF; Cal. State-Fullerton) are on the Mariners roster and they all show up as Team USA invitees. Other players who have received invitations and who appear on Cape League rosters are Sonny Gray (RHP; Vanderbilt/Cotuit), Brad Miller (INF; Clemson/Cotuit), Dan Hultzen (LHP, INF; Virginia/Hyannis) and Matt Jensen (INF; Cal. Poly./Yarmouth-Dennis).

Hyannis’ Casey McElroy (INF; Auburn) has a broken finger. He is expected to miss 4-8 weeks, so his availability to the Mets should not be affected. McElroy’s Auburn teammate, and ex-Harwich Mariner, Trent Mummey could also be sidelined an extended period of time with a severely sprained ankle.

For an update on the work being done at Eldredge Park, check out this story on the Orleans website:  http://www.orleanscardinals.com/021710.html       

In a scheduling quirk, Yarmouth-Dennis doesn’t play division rival Chatham until July 12. By then, the Red Sox will have played Orleans five times and they will finish their six game season series with the Firebirds the next day.

New England schools represented on league rosters are headed by UConn with 7 Huskies scattered across the Cape. They are followed by Boston College (4), Maine (3), Franklin Pierce (2), Northeastern (1) and UMass-Lowell (1). 

One of the games that was thought to be an interesting matchup on this opening day of the Division 1 season turned into a blowout. Kentucky beat Virginia Tech, 15-6. Alex Meyer (Y-D ‘10) was the winning pitcher. Meyer struckout 8 batters in five innings. The Wildcat offense was lead by Chris Bisson (Cotuit ‘09) who went 4 for 5, scored 2 runs and had 2 RBI. Keenan Wiley (Y-D ‘08; Harwich ‘09) was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI. Marcus Nidifer (Harwich ‘09) scored 3 runs. Justin Wright (Harwich ‘09) started for Virginia Tech and took the loss. Wright lasted only 2.1 innings and gave up 10 runs (8 earned.) Austin Wates (Y-D ‘09) was 2 for 3 and drove in 2 runs for the Hokies. Anthony Sosnoskie (Harwich ‘09) also had 2 hits and added 2 RBI in a losing cause.

Cape League fans will have an opportunity to check out a few players who are expected to come to the Cape this summer: 

Bethune-Cookman:  Ali Simpson, LHP, Yarmouth-Dennis
UCLA:                     Trevor Bauer, RHP, Yarmouth-Dennis (likely Saturday starter)
                              Cody Keefer, OF, Yarmouth-Dennis
                              Tyler Rahmatulla, INF, Chatham
                              Beau Amaral, OF, Chatham
                              Dan Klein, RHP, Chatham

For more information regarding the Urban Invitational Tournament, go to:   http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100217&content_id=8083448&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Drew Leenhouts, a 6′3″ sophomore lefthander from Franklin and Northeastern Univ., will be pitching for the Harwich Mariners. As a freshman for the Huskies in 2009, Leenhouts appeared in 16 games and compiled a 1-1 record with a 2.37 ERA and 3 saves. Leenhouts struck out 41 batters in 30.1 innings and opponents hit .268 off him.

As a senior at Franklin HS, Leenhouts produced a 7-1 record to go along with a 1.47 ERA and 62 strikeouts on his way to being named Hockomock League MVP. He was a two-time league All-Star and Boston Globe All-Scholastic.

Leenhouts pitched for the Peekskill Robins in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League last summer and went 4-1 with a 4.05 ERA. He is competing with former Harwich Mariner Les Williams for the Friday starter role with the Huskies. Harvard head coach, and ex-Wareham Gatemen pitching coach, Joe Walsh has predicted that Leenhouts will be “playing in the big leagues some day.”

For anyone interested in getting an early preview of their favorite team, or for those who want to find out who may be coming to the Cape this summer so that you can follow the players through their college season, this is a tremendous addition to the league website.

There is not a lot of disagreement between the two. Texas is numero uno in both preseason polls. NCBWA has Louisiania State in second, Virginia in third, Cal State Fullerton in fourth and Rice in fifth. Baseball America switched Virginia and LSU but had the same top 5.

LSU beat Texas in last year’s College World series. Are they destined for a rematch in Omaha?

Regardless, we will see many of the players in these rankings on the Cape and in other summer leagues soon enough.

Let’s fire up the hot stove and take a look at some of the Massachusetts players who will be playing in the Cape League this summer. With four teams not yet posting their rosters, there may be even more locals than we are presently aware of who will be displaying their talents on the Cape. Keeping in mind that we are waiting for Falmouth, Harwich, Chatham and Orleans to post their rosters, having six players signed to permanent contracts before the season starts seems like a pretty high number. That number may go up when we hear from those four teams and there will likely be other locals who sign as temps and end up earning permanent contracts.

Here is a mini-profile on the Bay Staters:

Mike Dowd (Brewster / Franklin Pierce).  5′9″; 205 lbs. Bats: R. Throws: R. Sophomore  catcher from East Bridgewater. Four-time All-Catholic Central League selection at Cardinal Spellman HS. While starting 53 games for the Ravens as a freshman, Dowd hit .380 to go along with 7 HR and 43 RBI, earning ECAC Division II Rookie of the Year honors. Other honors included ECAC Division II All-Star First Team, Northeast-10 Conference Co-Freshman of the Year, All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team Selection and Daktronics All-America Honorable Mention. His .450 mark lead the Northeast-10 in on-base percentage. Finished tied for second in the conference in hits (78), tied for third in hit-by-pitch (14), fourth in batting average and total bases (116), tied for fourth in doubles (15) tied for fifth in runs scored (47), and placed seventh in slugging percentage (.566). Dowd will face a challenge for playing time behind the plate with the Whitecaps who also have Robert Brantly (UC-Riverside), Jeremey Schaffer (Tulane) and Tyler Ogle (Oklahoma) on their roster.

Michael Yastrzemski (Cotuit / Vanderbilt).  5′10″; 168 lbs. Bats: L. Throws: L. Freshman outfielder hailing from Andover. Played high school ball at St. John’s Prep. Any baseball fan of a certain age knows this legendary name. Grandson of Captain Carl, Hall of Famer, and major league baseball’s last Triple Crown winner in the Impossible Dream season of 1967. Son of the late Mike Yastrzemski who also played in the Cape League. Michael was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 36th round of last year’s MLB Draft but opted to attend Vanderbilt. Would have been drafted much earlier if not for an ironclad commitment to the Commodores. Some projections showed Yastrzemski as a fifth round talent. Also played for the powerful Andover American Legion team. Batted .368 with a .505 OBP and was 9 for 10 in stolen base attempts for the St. John’s Prep team that lost in the Div. 1 North finals last year. He finished his high school career with a .374 average.

Jack Leathersich (Orleans / UMass-Lowell). 6′; 185 lbs. Sophomore LHP from Beverly. While at Beverly HS, set school records for strikeouts and career wins. Bay State Games gold medalist. As a freshman at UMass-Lowell, Leathersich started 10 of the 13 games he appeared in. Compiled a 7-4 record with a 2.18 ERA and pitched 3 complete games. Held opposing batters to a .226 avg. Named the NE-10 Freshman Pitcher of the Year. Also honored as NE-10 All-Star First Team and the All-Rookie Team. Leathersich was  named the top prospect in the Valley Baseball League by PG Cross Checker last summer.

Keith Bilodeau (Wareham / Maine). 6′4″; 175 lbs. RHP from Sagamore who is returning to the Gatemen for a second summer. Perfect Game Baseball ranked him as one of the top-100 prospects in the country coming out of Bourne HS. As a freshman for the Black Bears, Bilodeau went 1-7 with a 4.28 ERA while the opposition hit .298 off him. In 18.2 innings over 12 relief appearances for the Gatemen, was 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA.

Steve Perakslis (Wareham / Maine). 6′1″; 185 lbs. Freshman RHP from Abington. Played for his father, Steve Sr., as Abington HS won the 2009 Division 3 state championship. Perakslis played shortstop when he wasn’t pitching. As a senior, he went 10-0 with a 0.26 ERA while striking out 95 in 62 innings. Was a major contributor offensively for the Green Wave with a .522 avg. and 5 homeruns. South Shore League All Star. Boston Globe and Patriot Ledger All-Scholastic. Very aggressive pitcher with a fastball in the low 90’s, curveball and slider.

Joe Flynn (Wareham / Franklin Pierce). 6′1″; 210 lbs. RHP from Plymouth who was a four-year starter at Plymouth North HS. Boston Globe Player of the Year as a junior and senior. As a junior in 2008, helped lead his team to the Division 2 state championship. Compiled a 10-2 record with a 0.68 ERA and 141 strikeouts last year. Playing shortstop when not on the mound, Flynn batted .385 with 6 homeruns and 28 RBI to help bring the Blue Eagles back to the state championship game. Pitched brilliantly in the state final, allowing only one earned run and two hits while striking out 13 as Auburn beat Plymouth North, 2-1. Career record of 33-4 in high school. Has been a close friend with soon-to-be Gatemen teammate Steve Perakslis for many years.

In addition to those six players, Spencer’s Kevin Mortimer (Trinity College) has been offered a temp contract to play for Falmouth this year. Mortimer was the bullpen catcher for the Commodores in 2009 who was activated for the last three games of the season. Mortimer made the most of his limited opportunity, going 1 for 3 while throwing out a potential base stealer. Mortimer batted .372 while playing in 21 games as a freshman at Trinity last year.

If anyone knows of more Massachusetts players who will be playing on the Cape this year, please let us know.