Brett Lilley - shown starting a double play in the 2006 NCAA opener vs. the College of Charleston - currently is playing in the prestigious Cape Cod League with the Cotuit Kettleers (photo by Pete LaFleur).

Popular Summer Baseball Diaries Set To Make Return, Starting July 16

July 10, 2006

The arrival of the Major League All-Star break typically signifies the midpoint of the summer and several Notre Dame baseball players again have been active in some of the nation’s top wood-bat collegiate summer leagues. The popular Summer Baseball Diaries will be returning to und.com for a fifth straight year, starting this weekend with Mike Dury’s report from the Grand Lake Mariners of the Great Lakes League. A tentative schedule of the six diaries is included below and the diary entries will be posted, typically on every Thursday and Sunday, on und.com. They then will be archived via the Summer Baseball Diaries logo on the baseball page at und.com (the 2002, ’03, ’04 and ’05 Summer Diaries also are archived at this location, which is http://und.collegesports.com/genrel/basebl-summerdiaries.html).

The diary schedule follows below, as do links for the respective summer team websites. Also check back to und.com later later in the summer for a complete update on ND’s summer-league players, a look at the former ND players currently active in professional baseball, and an update on Notre Dame’s signees who will be starting their freshman seasons with the Irish in the fall of 2006.

Notre Dame Baseball 2006 Summer Diaries (tentative schedule)

Sun., July 16 – Mike Dury (Grand Lake Mariners; Great Lakes League)

Thur., July 20 – Brett Lilley (Cotuit Kettleers; Cape Cod League)

Sun., July 23 – Kyle Weiland (Delaware Cows; Great Lakes League/also Team USA trials)

Thur., July 27 – Wade Korpi (Staunton Braves; Valley League)

Sun., July 30 – Jess Stewart (Wilson Togs; Coastal Plains League)

Thur., Aug. 3 – Jeremy Barnes (Delaware Cows; Great Lakes League)

Note: Several veteran ND players (namely Sean Gaston, Ross Brezovsky and Danny Dressman) filed diary entries in the summer of 2005 and have returned to the same teams – they still might make submissions to the diary schedule this summer (time permitting) and some of the other ND players also may be added to the diary schedule for the 2006 summer. A potential bonus offering could be a special pro baseball diary from the recently-graduated Tom Thornton, whose submissions as part of the 2003 and ’04 Summer Baseball Diaries remain Hall-of-Fame material.

Here are the team websites and a complete listing of the collegiate summer-league teams for players who were on Notre Dame’s 2006 roster (note that this listing of summer-league teams was available throughout the 2006 season in the ND weekly notes):

http://www.capecodbaseball.org
http://www.kettleers.org
http://www.delawarecows.com
http://larks.hdnews.net
http://www.grandlakemariners.org
http://www.mallardsbaseball.com
http://www.stauntonbraves.com
http://www.wilsontobs.com
http://www.matsuminers.org
http://www.glacierpilots.com
http://www.dupagedragons.com
http://www.floridaleague.com/zephyrhills.html
http://www.mohawksbaseball.com

Sean Gaston – Cotuit Kettleers (Cape Cod League)
Brett Lilley – Cotuit Kettleers (Cape Cod League)
Jeff Manship – Delaware (OH) Cows (Great Lakes League)
Jeremy Barnes – Delaware (OH) Cows (Great Lakes League)
Kyle Weiland – Delaware (OH) Cows (Great Lakes League)
Ross Brezovsky – Hays (KS) Larks (Jayhawk League)
Sam Elam – Hays (KS) Larks (Jayhawk League)
Mike Dury – Grand Lake Mariners (Great Lakes League; Cold Water, OH)
Danny Dressman – Madison (WI) Mallards (Northwoods League)
Wade Korpi – Staunton (VA) Braves (Valley League)
Jess Stewart – Wilson (NC) Tobs (Coastal Plains League)
David Gruener – Mat-Su Miners (Alaska League)
David Phelps – Mat-Su Miners (Alaska League)
Joey Williamson – Anchorage Glacier Pilots (Alaska League)
Brett Graffy – DuPage County Dragons (Central Illinois Collegiate League)
Eddy Mendiola – Altamonte Springs Snappers (Florida League)
Ryan Connolly – Amsterdam Mohawks (New York League)

Note: Two of ND’s veteran players (Dan Kapala and Tony Langford) are not competing in 2006 summer leagues as they complete their injury rehabilitation.