News Release Date:
Thursday, June 2, 2011
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| Whitman's Jake Nelson sets summer sights on Hawaii |
WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- A total of 15 players from a young Whitman College baseball team are sharpening their diamond skills this summer on teams from Hawaii to Maine.
"To have two-thirds of its roster playing in collegiate summer baseball leagues is a great situation for any baseball program," Whitman coach Jared Holowaty says.
"This is something that benefits our players and our program in a big way.
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| Jared Holowaty |
"These young men will have experiences this summer that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. I am extremely happy that our guys have chosen to spend their summer playing baseball and representing Whitman College all across the country."
Aaron Cohen (Juneau, Alaska), who capped his freshman season in May with All-Northwest Conference Honorable Mention recognition, is headed to Maine to play in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), a 12-team circuit spread across six states.
Cohen, a pitcher-outfielder, will play for the Sanford Mainers and manager Aaron Izaryk, who was part of the coaching staff at the University of Maine earlier this decade with Holowaty and current Whitman pitching coach Mark Michaud.
Teams in the NECBL play 42 games over a two-month season, starting in early June. Sanford plays its home games in historic Goodall Park, where Babe Ruth hit his last home run as a Boston Red Sox player.
Players in the NECBL must be enrolled in an NCAA university or college. They also must have completed one college season and have at least one year of college eligibility remaining.
NECBL alumni include a long list of Major League players, including four-time Minnesota Twins All-Star Joe Nathan, Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Andre Ethier, and two-time Oakland Athletics All-Star Andrew Bailey, the 2009 Rookie of the Year.
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| Aaron Cohen makes diving outfield catch |
While Cohen heads east this summer, Whitman pitchers Jake Nelson (Kennewick, Wash.) and Justin Weeks (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.) head west to play in the Hawaiian Collegiate Baseball League (HCBL).
Both Nelson, a senior this fall, and Weeks, who will be a junior, tossed complete-game victories for Whitman this spring.
Comprised of six teams on the island of Oahu, the HCBL attracts NCAA players (Divisions I, II, III) from across the country. A draft divides players among the teams in early June.
The HCBL season, which includes a pro scout day and all-star game, spans two months with all players being housed at the University of Hawaii. Whitman's Erik Korsmo (Clyde Hill, Wash.), who graduated earlier this month, played in the HCBL last summer.
Jimmy Madden (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Whitman's freshman catcher this past season, is spending his summer with the Inland Empire Aces in the Southern California Collegiate Baseball League.
Pitcher Tristan Gavin (Santa Cruz, Calif.), coming off his freshman season, has a roster spot with the San Francisco Seagulls, a college/semi-pro team and member of the Pacific West Baseball League.
The Seagulls also have games slated against such independent teams as the Nevada Bighorns, which will be home this summer for shortstop Cam Young (Wenatchee, Wash.), who earned All-NWC Honorable Mention recognition this spring, and outfielder Kyle Moyes (Henderson, Nev.). Young and Moyes were also part of last year's large freshman class.
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| Shortstop Cam Young applies on-the-money tag |
Infielders Casey Minnick (Portland, Ore.) and Chris Andrews (Medina, Wash.), along with catcher Jonny Lari (Eugene, Ore.) are playing for the West Coast League's Portland team. All three just finished their freshman seasons at Whitman.
Infielder Chris Konolige, who came to Whitman from Devon, Penn., follows up his freshman season by playing this summer for Concord in Pennsylvania's Delaware County League, which was established in 1908 and is the oldest semi-pro league in America.
Dakota Matherly (Park City, Utah) and Sterling Spilinek (Douglas, Wyo.), two pitchers coming off their first college seasons, will also play summer ball near their hometowns. Matherly will play for Utah Select Baseball while Spilinek is on the roster of the Cheyenne Grizzlies of the Mountain Collegiate Baseball League.
Outfielder Kyle Buckham (Bellingham, Wash.), another sophomore-to-be, will play this summer for Bellingham's American Legion team.
To prep for his junior year, pitcher Tyler Grisdale (Clyde Hill, Wash.) will spend his summer with one of the Puget Sound Collegiate League (PSCL) teams. Infielder Jay Richards, who capped his senior season this spring with All-NWC Honorable Mention recognition, played for one of the PSCL teams last summer.
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| The dugout celebrates as Jimmy Madden scores winning run in a season-ending victory. |
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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
holden@whitman.edu; (509) 527-5902
