July 9, 2003
Many members of the Notre Dame baseball program have completed their first month of summer ball, playing in some of the nation’s top wooden-bat leagues. Some of the more noteworthy early-summer performances have included Matt Macri’s five home runs with the Brewster Whitecaps (leading the prestigious Cape Cod League), Craig Cooper’s .390 batting average with the Hays (Kan.) Larks, Ryan Doherty’s six shutout relief outings with the Delaware (Ohio) Cows – earning him a spot in the Great Lakes League all-star game – and Matt Bransfield’s impressive start with the Colorado Sox (.397, with league-leading 7 HR and 29 RBI).
Rising junior righthander John Axford recently completed a stretch training and international competition with the Canadian National Team and was set to report to the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod League (he originally was slated to return to the CCL’s Hyannis Mets, where he played in 2002 before being transferred to the Cotuit roster).
Two other Irish players – Cody Rizzo (foot) and Brennan Grogan (leg) – have returned home due to injuries.
Macri and his Brewster teammates will be featured on four upcoming College Sports Television broadcasts (DirectTV channel 610, see www.cstv.com): July 7 at Orleans, July 18 vs. Harwich, July 21 vs. Chatham and July 25 vs. Bourne.
The popular Summer Baseball Diaries also are set to return to www.und.com, with rising senior catcher Javi Sanchez providing the first entry later this week as he reports from the Madison Mallards of the Northwest League. Several other Irish players will provide diary entries throughout June and into early August (a tentative schedule will be posted with the upcoming Sanchez entry).
Here’s an update of the ND players’ summer stats (as available on team websites, on July 7; years refer to 2004 status):
- John Axford (Jr., RHP; Cotuit Kettleers; Cape Cod League) – was set to join Cotuit after spending stretch of training and competition with Canadian National Team … Cotuit was 5th in CCL western division (9-12).
- Matt Macri (Jr., SS; Brewster Whitecaps, Cape Cod League) – batting .169 (10- for-59) on Brewster squad that owns .205 team batting avg., with league-leading 5 home runs (the rest of his team has totaled 1 HR) … 9 RBI, 7 runs, 15 walks, 19 strikeouts, 3-of-4 on stolen bases and 6 errors … Brewster was 5th in CCL eastern division (8-12).
- Chris Niesel (Jr., RHP; Falmouth Commodores, Cape Cod League) – had rocky start after four strong relief outings that produced a win and three saves … owns 8.31 ERA and 1-1 record, plus 10 strikeouts, 4 walks and 7 hits allowed in 8.2 innings … Falmouth was 4th in CCL western division (8-10-1).
- Craig Cooper (So., OF; Hays Larks, Jayhawk League) – was batting .390 (30-for- 77) with 24 RBI and 2 home runs for team that is leading the league at 14-3 (23-4 overall) … also has hit 4 triples and 3 doubles, with 19 runs, a .610 slugging pct., 7 BB, 2 hit-by-pitch, 14 Ks, a .443 on-base pct., 2 sac. flies, 12-of-13 on SBs and 3 Es.
- Cody Rizzo (So., OF/C; Hays Larks, Jayhawk League) – has seen his summer season ended due to foot injury, after batting 4-for-23 (.174) … 4 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, BB, 2 HBP, 4 Ks, 1-1 SB.
- Ryan Doherty (So., RHP; Delaware Cows, Great Lakes League) – just earned GLL pitcher-of-the-week honors (8 Ks, 1 H in 6 IP, with 2 saves) and spot in GLL all- star game … has yet to allow a run in 13.2 innings spanning 6 relief stints, with a 6-to-1 K-to-walk ratio (18/3) and just 4 hits allowed, plus 1 wild pitch … team is 3rd in the GLL (15-9).
- Greg Lopez (So., IF; Delaware Cows, Great Lakes League) – batting .269 (24-for- 52) with 10 R, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 7 Ks, 1-1 SB, 3 HBP, .367 OB, .308 slugging … also 1 shutout IP.
- Brennan Grogan (So., OF; Delaware Cows, Great Lakes League) – saw his summer season ended due to leg injury, after batting 2-for-7 (4 Ks, 2-2 SB, sac. bunt).
- Tyler Jones (Jr., RHP; Madison Mallards, Northwoods League) – owns 6.94 ERA and 0-1 record in 5 GP/2 GS … 9 Ks, 3 BB, 15 H (.333 opp. avg., 1 HR), 1 WP in 11.2 IP … team won league’s 1st-half title (23-11).
- Javi Sanchez (Sr., C; Madison Mallards, Northwoods League) – batting .256 (21- for-82) on Mallards squad that owns a .254 team batting avg. … 5 R, 2B, 13 RBI, 7 BB, 14 Ks, 7-8 SB, .208 slugging, .323 on-base, 4 Es.
- Joe Thaman (Sr., 1B; Madison Mallards, Northwoods League) – batting .172 (10- for-58) … 10 R, 2 2B, 7 RBI, 8 BB, 13 Ks, 4-4 SB, .207 slugging, .284 on-base, 4 Es.
- Tom Thornton (So., LHP; Newport Gulls, New England League) – owns 2.96 ERA and 1-0 record in 5 GP/4 GS (2 complete games) … 23 Ks, 13 BB and 21 H (.219, HR) in 27.1 IP … 1 WP, 1 HB … team is 4th in the league (11-7).
- Martin Vergara (Jr., RHP; Sanford Mainers, New England League) – owns 1.80 ERA and 1-0 record in 6 GP … 6 Ks, 4 BB, 7 H (.194) in 10 IP … team is 1st in the league (15-4).
- Scott Bickford (Jr., LHP; Waynesboro Generals; Shenendoah Valley League) – owns 4.70 ERA and 0-0 record in 7.2 IP (4 Ks, 3 BB, 10 H/.323, HR, 2 WP) … team is 3rd in league’s south division (8-12).
- Matt Edwards (Jr., 3B/1B; Waynesboro Generals; Shenandoah Valley League) – batting .094 (3-for-32), R, 3 BB, HBP, 14 Ks, 2 Es.
- Matt Bransfield (So., IF; Colorado Sox, Rocky Mountain League) – batting .397 (8th in league) while posting league-leading totals in home runs (7) and RBI (29), plus 22 hits … opened season with cross-league game vs. Hays Larks and his ND classmates Cooper and Rizzo.
- Alex Nettey (So., OF; Bluff City Bombers, Chicago League) – batting .196 (9-for- 46) on squad that owns .235 team batting avg. … 7 R, 3 RBI, 5 BB, 2 HBP, 8 Ks, 3- 3 SB, 0 Es.
Here are website links for the ND players’ summer-league teams:
http://www.capecodbaseball.org
http://www.brewsterwhitecaps.com
http://www.mallardsbaseball.com
http://www.sanfordmainers.com/