June 21, 2011
WASHINGTON - While the NCAA baseball season is coming to a close this week with the College World Series being played, many college baseball players are in their first or second week of play in summer leagues throughout the country.
Georgetown players are no different, as more than 20 Hoyas are playing in nearly a dozen summer wood-bat leagues stretching from the Washington, D.C. area to New England and New York .
Junior Mike Garza (San Antonio, Texas/Douglas MacArthur) is playing for the Harwich (Mass.) Mariners in the famed Cape Cod League. Garza, who has been playing shortstop and second base for the Mariners, was among the team's top batters through 10 games with a .258 average as Harwich was 6-4 overall.
Four players are nearby Garza, playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL). Senior Rand Ravnaas (Fort Worth, Texas/All Saints' Episcopal), a 39th round pick in the Major League Baseball Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, is leading off and playing centerfield for the Newport (R.I.) Gulls.
Junior Justin Leeson (West Chester, Pa./Exton) and sophomore Corbin Blakey (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial) are both playing for the North Adams (Mass.) Steeplecats. Leeson has been playing centerfield, while Blakey has appeared at second base. Junior pitcher Charles Steinman (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Chaminade) has been starting for the Laconia (N.H.) Muskrats.
A few players have taken their game out West, with junior infielder Danny Poplawski (Bellevue, Wash./The Overlake School) and sophomore Jack VanderLinden (Dallas, Texas/Episcopal) playing in the West Coast Collegiate League, and junior Neal Dennison (Houston, Texas/Lamar) in the Alaska Collegiate League. Poplawski and VanderLinden are both playing for the Bellingham (Wash.) Bells in the WCL, while Dennison is playing for the Matsui Miners.
Several players are appearing on rosters locally in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, with sophomore pitcher Chris Casale (Potomac, Md./Gonzaga) on the roster for the Sliver Spring Thunderbolts, senior Bobby Kirby (Bel Air, Md./Loyola Blakefield) pitching for the Herndon (Va.) Braves and junior Thomas Polus (Crown Point, Ind./Andrean) pitching for the Alexandria Aces.
Three players are on rosters in the Perfect Game Collegiate League, an eight-team league in New York and New Jersey. Sophomore Justin Abbott (Raleigh, N.C./Millbrook) is playing for the Newark Pilots, while sophomore Steve Anderson (Albany, N.Y./Guilderland) and junior Paul Bello (Towaca, N.J./Delbarton) are playing for the Albany Dutchmen.
In the Coastal Plains League, four players dot the rosters of three different teams. Sophomore pitcher Alex Baker (Charlotte, N.C./Ardrey Kell) is playing for the Wilson (N.C.) Tobbs, while senior pitcher Will Harris (Winter Park, Fla./Trinity Prep) has been playing for the Peninsula (Va.) Pilots and junior James Heine (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) and senior Tommy Isaacs (Ponte Vedre Beach, Fla./Bolles) are on the roster for the Petersburg (Va.) Generals.
Junior Nick Geary (Miami, Fla./Ransom Everglades) and sophomore Patrick Camporini (Safety Harbor, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic) are playing for the Winter Haven Loggerheads in the Florida Collegiate League, sophomore Max Friedman (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill) is playing for the Rome Thuderbolts in the New York Collegiate League and sophomore Christian Venditti (Newtonville, Mass./St. Sebastian's Country Day) is playing for the JM Force in the Boston Park Baseball League.
