July 29, 2005
Notre Dame rising junior catcher Sean Gaston – currently the leading hitter on the Cotuit Kettleers – has been named a starter for the 43rd annual Cape Cod League All-Star Game, placing him among the top players in the nation’s premier wood-bat college summer league. The game will be held on Saturday, July 30, at McKeon Park in Hyannis, Mass. First pitch is slated for 3:05 EDT and the game will be televised live by CSTV (check www.cstv.com for rebroadcasts).
Gaston was one of five Cotuit Kettleers named to the all-star team and was slotted as the starter in right field, despite playing all summer behind the plate. Cotuit lost two catchers to Team USA at the start of the summer but Gaston has stepped in to lead the Kettleers with a .309 batting average (the team as a whole is hitting at just a .243 clip). The lefthanded hitter also ranks 2nd on the team in sacrifice bunts (5), 3rd in hits (30-for-97) and on-base pct. (.343), 4th in runs scored (12), 5th in doubles (3) and 6th in RBI (9). His other stats include a pair of walks, a triple, 3 hit-by-pitch and 14 Ks in 27 games (with 23 starts, all at catcher).
Gaston’s .309 batting avg. nearly places him among the CCL’s top-10 batting leaders, as .312 is the current cutoff for 10th place.
Other West Division starters from Cotuit include three infielder starters – University of Arizona teammates Jason Donald (SS) and Brad Boyer (2B) and 3B Bryan Harris (LSU/Cal State Fullerton) – plus reserve pitcher Chris Toneguzzi (Purdue). UNC’s Daniel Bard – who lost to Notre Dame in the 2005 NCAAs – will be the starting pitcher for the West and will delivers pitchers to Falmouth catcher Jon Still, currently a teammate of Irish RHP Dan Kapala.
Still (.320) and Gaston give the West two of the CCL’s top batting leaders, with the coaches electing both players to the starting lineup and thus placing Gaston in right field.
Other familiar names on the West all-star roster include two Falmouth pitchers: UConn’s Tim Norton and Brett Sinkbeil of Southwest Missouri State (SMS lost a pair of games to ND at the ’05 Alamo City Irish Baseball Classic).
Three members of the East all-stars were on teams that faced Notre Dame in 2005: starting leftfielder Baron Frost (USC) and two of his Chatham teammates, UNC pitchers Robert Woodard (who also started vs. the Irish in the NCAAs) and Andrew Miller.
A glance at the Cotuit stats reveals that another BIG EAST player – West Virginia DH/IB Stan Posluszny (the ’03 BIG EAST rookie of the year) – apparently joined the team after the start of the summer season.
Here are the complete Cape Cod League All-Star rosters:
West Division All-Stars
C Jon Still (Falmouth; N.C. State)
1B Andy D’Alessio (Hyannis; Clemson)
2B Brad Boyer (Cotuit; Arizona)
3B Bryan Harris (Cotuit; Cal State Fullerton)
SS Jason Donald (Cotuit; Arizona)
LF Mark Hamilton (Falmouth; Tulane)
CF Lance Salsgiver (Wareham; Harvard)
RF Sean Gaston (Cotuit; Notre Dame)
DH Brad Lincoln (Bourne; Houston)
P Daniel Bard (Wareham; UNC)
West Division Reserve All-Stars
C Joel Collins (Wareham; South Alabama)
IF Whit Robbins (Wareham; Georgia Tech)
IF Matt Antonelli (Falmouth; Wake Forest)
P Chris Toneguzzi (Cotuit; Purdue)
P Justin Masterson (Wareham; Bethel College)
P John Lalor (Wareham; Mississippi State)
P Wade LeBlanc (Wareham; Alabama)
P Forrest Cory III (Bourne; William & Mary)
P Gib Hobson (Bourne; NC State)
P Brad Lincoln (Bourne; Houston)
P Brett Sinkbeil (Falmouth; SW Missouri)
P Tim Norton (Falmouth; UConn)
P Dallas Buck (Falmouth; Oregon State)
Baseball Factory Home Run Hitting Contest
West Division
Justin Tellam (Hyannis; UNLV)
Brad Boyer (Cotuit; Arizona)
Josh Copeland (Wareham; Alabama)
Field Manager : Jeff Trundy (Falmouth)
Assisted by Coaches: Harvey Shapiro (Bourne), Mike Roberts (Cotuit) Greg King (Hyannis) and John Brickley (Wareham)
East Division All Stars Pos Name Team School
C Danny Lehmann (Y-D; Rice)
1B Aaron Bates (Brewster; NC State)
2B Evan Longoria (Chatham; Long Beach State)
3B Chris Coghlan (Chatham; Mississippi)
SS Manny Burriss (Orleans; Kent State)
LF Baron Frost (Chatham; USC)
CF Colin Curtis (Orleans; Arizona State)
RF Alex Presley (Chatham; Mississippi)
DH Jeff Kindel (Y-D; Georgia Tech)
P Jared Hughes (Chatham; Long Beach State)
East Division Reserve All Stars Pos Name Team School
C Jordan Abruzzo (Y-D; San Diego)
IF Chris Errecart (Y-D; California)
OF Scott Sizemore (Harwich; VCU)
OF Chris Emanuele (Harwich; Northeastern)
P Tim Gustafson (Y-D; Georgia Tech)
P Andrew Miller (Chatham; UNC)
P Robert Woodard (Chatham; UNC
P P.J. Walters (Brewster; South Alabama)
P Steven Wright (Orleans; Hawaii)
P Brad Meyers (Orleans; LoyolaMarymount)
P Derrick Lutz (Chatham; George Washington)
P Tim Lincecum (Harwich; Washington)
P Brandon Morrow (Y-D; California)
Baseball Factory Home Run Hitting Contest
East Division
Josh Morris (Chatham; Georgia)
Aaron Bates (Brewster; NC State)
Chad Flack (Harwich; UNC)
Field Manager : Scott Pickler (Y-D)
Assisted by Coaches:Bob Macaluso (Brewster), John Schiffner (Chatham) Steve Englert (Harwich) and Kelly Nicholson (Orleans)