MORE COVERAGE: 2011 Summer Collegiate Player of the Year -- Utah's Shaun Cooper
Summer
college baseball can be viewed in one of two ways: as an extension of
the recent spring college season or a preview of the forthcoming
college year.
The
list of top performers this summer from the nation’s growing
expanse of summer college leagues and teams includes both a number of
players who predictably performed at a high level, based on their
performance in the 2011 college season, and numerous others who are
expected to see a significant breakthrough in 2012 because of the way
they performed in summer-league competition.
In
the coming days, Perfect Game will take a look at the top prospects
this summer in some 25 leagues. The players we’ll highlight will be
evaluated on the basis of their upside potential, or their projected
worth as professional-level prospects. We’ll highlight those
position players with the best combination of raw tools and pitchers
with the best raw stuff.
For
the purposes of this exercise, we’ll highlight those players that
simply performed the best this summer in summer competition, with
only passing consideration given to their future potential worth. In
other words, our focus here is on those players who compiled the best
stats, although we’ve given priority to those players who assembled
them in the most competitive summer leagues.
We’ve
selected a three-tier All-America team, and appropriately the Cape
Cod League has the most selections (9), though is followed closely by
the Coastal Plain, New England Collegiate and Northwoods leagues.
Led
by our summer player of the year Shaun Cooper
(Mankato/Northwoods), here’s our take on the top performers of the
2011 summer season:
CATCHERS
1.
ANDREW KNAPP, La Crosse/Northwoods (California)
Rising
sophomore became rare switch-hitting catcher to top league in
hitting; batted .400-5-33
2.
HUNTER RENFROE, Bethesda/Cal Ripken (Mississippi State)
A
prospect as both a catcher and pitcher, he hit .305-8-30, topped
league in HRs, has a cannon behind plate
3.
RONNIE FREEMAN (Kennesaw State), TOM MURPHY (Buffalo); Holyoke/New
England
Blue
Sox catching tandem starred in NECBL and for Team USA; Freeman, the
better receiver and better all-around hitter, batted .373-5-25;
Murphy has the better power and arm of the two, and hit .291-9-25
FIRST
BASEMEN
1.
CHASE McDONALD, Morehead City/Coastal Plain (East Carolina)
Massive
first sacker nearly won triple crown; topped CPL in batting (.403),
RBIs (51), second in HRs (13)
2.
CHRIS SERRITELLA, Quincy/Prospect (Southern Illinois)
Missed
first 17 games of season, but still led league with 16 HRs, 60 RBIs,
hit .361; league player of year
3.
TIM KIENE, Newport/New England (Maryland)
Rising
Maryland sophomore hit .326-10-31 for Gulls, flashed some of best raw
power as NECBL all-star
SECOND
BASEMEN
1.
JOE WENDLE, Edenton/Coastal Plain (West Chester, Pa.)
Sparkplug
on Steamers gallant run to No. 1 team ranking; hit .377-4-39, led CPL
in runs (46), hits (81)
2.
ERIC GRABE, Fayetteville/Coastal Plain (Tampa)
Solid
all-around player and offensive sparkplug, hit .355-2-23 with 15 SBs
in third season for Swampdogs
3.
CHRIS BOSTICK, Webster/New York (SIGNED/Athletics)
Local
prep talent tore up NYCBL; second in all triple-crown categories:
batting (.412), HRs (5), RBIs (32)
THIRD
BASEMEN
1.
STEPHEN PISCOTTY, Yarmouth-Dennis/Cape Cod (Stanford)
Consensus
best pure hitter on Cape shared league batting title at .349; also
slugged 3 HR, settled in at 3B
2.
PATRICK WISDOM, Kenai Peninsula/Alaska (St. Mary’s)
Top
power threat in Alaska hit .296-7-35 on season, topped league in
homers for second straight summer
3.
CAMERON PERKINS, Waterloo/Northwoods (Purdue)
Drove
balls to the gaps on a steady basis on way to hitting .344-10-46 with
19 2B; runs well, solid defender
SHORTSTOPS
1.
MIKE MILLER, Kenai Peninsula/Alaska (Cal Poly)
Alaska
bat champ flirted with .400 before settling at .359-1-21; topped NBC
World Series with 12 RBIs
2.
MATT DUFFY, Orleans/Cape Cod (Long Beach State)
Next
in long line of Long Beach State SS greats hit .346-1-16 on Cape,
just 3 points shy of a batting title
3.
JOE SCLAFANI, Morehead City/Coastal Plain (Dartmouth)
Solid,
dependable middle infielder finished third in CPL in batting at
.375-5-32 with 29-23 BB-SO ratio
OUTFIELDERS
First
Team
SHAUN
COOPER, Mankato/Northwoods (Utah)
PG
summer player of year tore up Northwoods with league-best 20 HRs, 61
RBIs, also stole 15 bags
VICTOR
ROACHE, Cotuit/Cape Cod (Georgia Southern)
On
Cape League triple crown pace with two weeks remaining, but dipped to
.316-6-28 with late slump
MAC
WILLIAMSON, Harrisonburg/Valley (Wake Forest)
Easily
top slugger in Valley League at .381-10-38, but season ended
prematurely when fouled ball off foot
Second
Team
TRAVIS
JANKOWSKI, Bourne/Cape Cod (Stony Brook)
Cape
Cod League MVP hit .329-0-22, topped circuit in runs (31), hits (57),
triples (7), second in steals (15)
ERICK
GAYLORD, Watertown/Perfect Game (Campbell)
Slugged
four homers in PGCBL game on way to league-highs of 10 HRs, 42 RBIs,
player-of-year honors
TYLER
HORAN, Danbury/New England (Virginia Tech)
Rising
Virginia Tech sophomore topped NECBL with 11 homers, 35 RBIs,
contributed .341 average
Third
Team
PETER
BARROWS, Nevada/MINK (Bridgeport/graduate)
MINK
League triple-crown winner at .404-8-44 went undrafted; signed deal
with independent Wichita
TED
BLACKMAN, Winter Park/Florida (Coastal Carolina)
Coastal
Carolina transfer topped Florida League with .425 average, also tops
in walks (37), steals (28)
JEFF
McVANEY, Santa Barbara/California (Texas State)
Hit
.412-2-21 in CCL season, topped circuit by wide margin in batting,
slugging, on-base percentage
DESIGNATED
HITTER
1.
DANE PHILLIPS, Chatham/Cape Cod (Arkansas)
Topped
Cape in batting (.349) and RBIs (34) in breakout offensive summer;
still settling in behind plate
2.
BRAD ZEBEDIS, Strasburg/Valley (Presbyterian)
Valley
League batting champion hit .420-5-36; spent summer at 1B, still
hopeful of catching career
3.
ADAM BARRY, Bethesda/Cal Ripken (Cal State Northridge)
Set
Cal Ripken League records for batting average (.414), hits (67) and
RBIs (43), topped league in 2B (14)
UTILITY
1.
KYLE RUCHIM, 2b-rhp, Glens Falls/Perfect Game (Northwestern)
Excelled
both at second base (.333-6-27) and as dominant closer (3-0, 2.05, 9
SV, 22 IP/43 SO) for Eagles
2.
CHRIS COSTANTINO, 3b-rhp, Laconia/New England (SIGNED/Cardinals)
Hit
.303-5-16 on season, but NECBL MVP went 3-3, 2.30 on mound with
no-hitter, league-high 72 K’s
3.
CODY DAVIS, of-rhp, Fayetteville/Coastal Plain (SIGNED/Nationals)
Signed
with Nationals as free agent after posting 1.17 ERA, 12 SV with 93-94
mph FB; also hit .280-1-23
STARTING
PITCHERS
First
Team
J.C.
AGUAYO, lhp, Conejo/California (Azusa Pacific, Calif.)
Easily
the dominant arm in CCL; posted 7-1, 1.78 record with 84 SO in 56 IP;
also hit .318-2-32 as OF
RYAN
EADES, rhp, Bourne/Cape Cod (Louisiana State)
Cape’s
pitcher of year went 3-0, 0.84 with excellent command of 4 pitches,
including 93-95 mph FB
OWEN
JONES, rhp, Wenatchee/West Coast (Portland)
Set
league record for wins for WCL’s best regular-season club; posted
7-1, 2.08 mark with 73 SO in 74 IP
BLAKE
SCHWARTZ, rhp, Mankato/Northwoods (Oklahoma City)
Northwoods’
top pitcher posted 6-1, 1.71 mark with 75 SO in 63 IP; transferring
to NAIA power as SR
Second
Team
MATT
BOWMAN, rhp, Bethesda/Cal Ripken (Princeton)
Ace
pitcher on nation’s No. 1-ranked summer club; went 5-2, 0.82 with 6
BB/31 H and 46 SO in 55 IP
MIKE
HEESCH, lhp, Gastonia/Coastal Plain (USC Beaufort)
6-6,
250-pound lefty won three games, tossed 23 scoreless IP in CPL
playoffs to finish season at 9-0, 2.08
DEXTER
SPITSNOGLE, rhp, Hayesville/Jayhawk (Nebraska)
Rising
Nebraska fifth-year senior went 7-0 for Heat and amazingly didn’t
give up an earned run all season
AARON
WEST, rhp, Humboldt/Far West (Washington)
Far
West League champions got huge mound effort (7-0, 0.17, 54 IP/83 SO)
from rising UW red-shirt JR
Third
Team
ANDY
HUNTER, rhp, Green Bay/Northwoods (Gonzaga)
Two-way
player dominated on mound for Green Bay with 5-2, 1.97 mark, plus 11
BB/68 SO in 59 IP
JACOB
LEE, rhp, Newport/New England (Arkansas State)
Undrafted
after disappointing college season, but bounced back with 4-0 record,
NECBL-best 0.39 ERA
JOSH
MALIN, rhp, Nevada/MINK (SIU Edwardsville/graduate)
Went
undrafted in June despite 7-2, 1.65 league mark (8 BB/70 SO), and 3
more wins at NBC World Series
DOMINICK
RUSCITTI, rhp, Newark/Perfect Game (Kutztown, Pa.)
PGCBL
pitcher of year had league-best 6 W, 1.82 ERA, won two more playoff
games for league champs
RELIEF
PITCHERS
First
Team
ANTHONY
BAZZANI, rhp, Alexandria/Northwoods (Eastern Kentucky)
Led
Alexandria to best regular-season record by going 4-2, 1.45 with 12
SV, 70 strikeouts in 50 IP
TREVOR
GOTT, rhp, Orleans/Cape Cod (Kentucky)
Cape’s
top closer dominated by throwing mostly 91-93 mph fastballs; tied for
league lead with 12 SV
Second
Team
DEREK
EPPS, rhp, Gastonia/Coastal Plain (Northwestern Oklahoma State)
Led
CPL with 13 SV while posting 0.74 ERA; fanned final two batters in
title-clinching game for Grizzlies
KONNOR
WADE, rhp, Wareham/Cape Cod (Arizona)
Cape
co-leader in saves (12) didn’t blow a save opportunity all season
until giving up 1-0 lead in playoffs
Third
Team
BRANDON
KUTER, rhp, Westhampton/Atlantic (George Mason)
6-7
righthander dominated in regular season with 0.40 ERA, 10 SV, 22
IP/36 SO, fastball peaked at 97
CHRIS
OVERMAN, rhp, Harwich/Cape Cod (North Carolina State)
Key
reliever all season for Cape Cod champs; not overpowering but had
perfect 0.00 ERA in 19 outings
_______________________________________________
SUMMER
LEAGUE PLAYER OF YEAR
Shaun
Cooper, of, Mankato/Northwoods (Utah)
TOP
RISING FRESHMAN
Jace
Fry, lhp, Corvallis/West Coast (Oregon State)
TOP
RISING SOPHOMORE
Ryan
Eades, rhp, Bourne/Cape Cod (Louisiana State)
TOP
RISING JUNIOR
Victor
Roache, of, Cotuit/Cape Cod (Georgia Southern)
TOP
RISING SENIOR
Shaun
Cooper, of, Mankato/Northwoods (Utah)
TOP
GRADUATING SENIOR
Peter
Barrows, of, Nevada/MINK (Bridgeport graduate)