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Compiled by Allan Simpson (PG Crosschecker) / Andrew Hartwell (College Summer Ball Blogspot)
With All-Star Games scheduled this week in the Cape Cod (Thursday at Boston’s Fenway Park), Coastal Plain (Tuesday in Wilmington, N.C.) and Northwoods Leagues (Tuesday in Thunder Bay, Ontario), the spotlight will be on three of the nation’s top summer college leagues.
Appropriately, those leagues dominate the weekly ranking of the nation’s Top 25 summer league teams. A total of 11 teams from those three leagues alone (including six from the powerful Cape Cod League) are ranked, with the CPL’s Forest City Owls occupying the No. 1 spot and the Cape’s Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox holding steady at No. 2. The West Coast League’s Corvallis Knights and California Collegiate League’s Santa Barbara Foresters continue to occupy the Nos. 3-4 spots.
Forest City and Y-D will have ample opportunity to showcase their elite prospects in all-star games that will be heavily attended by the scouting community. The Owls (38-6), No. 1 for the fourth straight week, have eight players in the Coastal Plain League All-Star Game, while Y-D, which has begun to separate itself from other teams in the nation’s premier summer league, has seven players in the Cape All-Star Game.
Meanwhile, Corvallis and Santa Barbara are hot on the heels of those two clubs. The Knights have won 29 of their last 31 games to pull ahead in the WCL, while the Foresters, the defending National Baseball Congress World Series champion, is dominating their competition in California while gearing up for another national championship run.
We’ll rank the top 25 summer college league teams every Tuesday or Wednesday from 20-plus leagues around the country, and here’s our take on the top teams in Week Six (last week’s ranking noted in parentheses).
| 1. |
Forest City (N.C.) Owls (1) |
Coastal Plain |
38-6 |
| CPL all-stars Spencer Patton (SIU-Edwardsville), Ryan Arrowood (Appalachian State) are 15-0, 1.72 between them. |
| 2. |
Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (2) |
Cape Cod |
20-12-1 |
| Y-D's 6-foot-6 all-star LHP Chris Sale (4-2, 1.34, 47 SO), a projected 2010 first-rounder, tops Cape in wins, whiffs. |
| 3. |
Corvallis (Ore.) Knights (3) |
West Coast |
34-6 |
| Knights have 2.01 ERA, getting mileage from UC Riverside RHPs Matt Andriese/Dustin Emmons, a combined 9-0. |
| 4. |
Santa Barbara Foresters (4) |
California Collegiate |
28-8 |
| San Diego RHP A.J. Griffin (4-0, 0.87) and Wichita State RHP Tim Kelley (5-0, 0.75) are proven college pitchers. |
| 5. |
Newport (R.I.) Gulls (7) |
New England |
22-9 |
| Washington 1B Troy Scott (.304-5-19) and Washington State RHP Chad Arnold (2-1, 2.70) spark surging Gulls. |
| 6. |
Orleans Firebirds (5) |
Cape Cod |
17-14-1 |
| UCLA LHP Rob Rasmussen (3-0, 1.48), Cal State Fullerton OF Gary Brown (.365-2-12) are East all-star starters. |
| 7. |
Vienna (Va.) Senators (6) |
Clark Griffith |
25-8 |
| Tulane freshman 1B Jamie Bruno (.327-8-36) leads league in homers, RBIs, quickly emerging as circuit's best talent. |
| 8. |
Mankato (Minn.) Moondogs (13) |
Northwoods |
32-18 |
| Moondogs are top dog in tightly-packed NWL race; Washington State RHP James Wise (5-0, 1.62) having big year. |
| 9. |
Wareham Gatemen (NR) |
Cape Cod |
15-12-4 |
| Two freshmen arms, Vanderbilt RHP Jack Armstrong and Duke LHP Eric Pfisterer, are 3-0 and Cape all-stars. |
| 10. |
Cotuit Kettleers (NR) |
Cape Cod |
15-13-4 |
| N.C. State RHP Jake Buchanan (2-1, 0.50), Tennessee-bound LHP Chad Bell (3-1, 1.10) have been mound stalwarts. |
| |
| 11. |
La Crosse (Wis.) Loggers (9) |
Northwoods |
31-19 |
| 12. |
San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Blues (12) |
Independent |
33-9 |
| 13. |
Outer Banks (N.C.) Daredevils (8) |
Coastal Plain |
27-15 |
| 14. |
Mat-Su Miners (17) |
Alaska |
23-13 |
| 15. |
Bethesda (Md.) Big Train (16) |
Cal Ripken Sr. |
28-10 |
| 16. |
Lima (Ohio) Locos (21) |
Great Lakes |
20-6 |
| 17. |
Chatham Anglers (10) |
Cape Cod |
17-14 |
| 18. |
Rochester (Minn.) Honkers (14) |
Northwoods |
30-19 |
| 19. |
Glens Falls Eagles (18) |
New York Collegiate |
25-8 |
| 20. |
Jersey Pilots (19) |
Atlantic Collegiate |
22-9 |
| 21. |
El Dorado (Kan.) Broncos (22) |
Jayhawk |
30-8 |
| 22. |
DeLand Suns (15) |
Florida Collegiate |
21-10 |
| 23. |
Bourne Braves (11) |
Cape Cod |
15-13-2 |
| 24. |
Victoria Generals (20) |
Texas Collegiate |
21-12 |
| 25. |
Carney (Va.) Pirates (NR) |
Clark Griffith |
26-9 |
UNDER CONSIDERATION: Anchorage Bucs/Alaska League (25-16); Youse’s Maryland Orioles/Cal Ripken Sr. League (26-10); Wilson Tobs/Coastal Plain League (26-16); East Alabama Big Train/Great South League (26-4); Keene Swamp Bats/New England Collegiate League (20-12); Quincy Gems/Prospect League (24-12); Front Royal Cardinals/Valley League (21-13); Winchester Royals/Valley League (19-15).
www.collegesummerball.blogspot.com/
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