June 8, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Just a week after the end of an exciting 2015 season, 14 members of the University of Notre Dame baseball team are set for the summer ball campaign, which will take the Irish players around the country for the next two months.
Highlighting the group are rising juniors Cavan Biggio, Ryan Lidge, Ryan Smoyer and Scott Tully, who are all making the trek to New England to play in the ultra-competitive Cape Cod League, which is nationally known as the premier summer collegiate baseball league.
Biggio, Lidge and Tully are going to play for the Harwich Mariners, while Smoyer will compete for the Bourne Braves.
Biggio and Tully are making their second appearances with Harwich, while Lidge and Smoyer both are heading to “the Cape” for the first time after outstanding summers in 2014 in the elite Northwoods League. Smoyer was named the league’s co-pitcher of the year and the No. 1 prospect, and Lidge was tabbed as the No. 1 defensive catcher prospect and the No. 70 overall prospect.
The league schedule gets started Tuesday night (June 9). Harwich and Bourne play each other four times during the league’s regular season. Playoffs start in early August.
In the Northwoods League, rising junior Kyle Fiala is set to play with the Lakeshore Chinooks, while rising seniors Kyle Richardson and Ricky Sanchez will suit up for the Alexandria Blue Anchors.
Fiala makes the venture to the Northwoods League — annually ranked as one of the best summer leagues in the country — after a big 2014 summer league season where he was ranked the No. 5 prospect (No. 1 infielder) in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League by Baseball America.
Lakeshore and Alexandria are not scheduled to play each other during the regular season, as the two squads are in different divisions within the Northwoods League.
Rising sophomore Charlie Vorsheck is spending his first summer ball season playing for the New Bedford Bay Sox of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
Fellow rising sophomore Jake Shepski is set to spend his first summer playing for the Lake Erie Monarchs of the Great Lakes League, while RHP Evy Ruibal will do the same with the Amsterdam Mohawks of the Perfect Game League.
A trio of Irish seniors (Joey Cresta, Zak Kutsulis & Nick McCarty) are set to head south for the Acadiana Cane Cutters of the Texas Collegiate League.
Lastly, rising senior James Nevant makes his return to a team he played with in 2013 — the Seacoast Mavericks of the Futures League.
Follow Irish baseball on Twitter (@NDBaseball) for updates throughout the summer. Also follow each league and team through their official websites listed below.Â
Harwich Mariners
Cavan Biggio
Ryan Lidge
Scott Tully
Alexandria Blue Anchors
Kyle Richardson
Ricky Sanchez
New England Collegiate Baseball League
New Bedford Bay Sox
Charlie Vorsheck
Acadiana Cane Cutters
Joey Cresta
Zak Kutsulis
Nick McCarty
Seacoast Mavericks
James Nevant
–Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
–ND–