Seventeen Deacons Set for Summer League Action
6/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 9, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Seventeen Demon Deacon baseball players will participate in nine different summer collegiate leagues across the country in 2008.
Four Deacons are set to compete in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League. Since 1998, 46 Demon Deacons have played on the Cape, which is widely regarded as the premier summer collegiate league in the country.
Dustin Hood, Mike Murray, Phil Negus and Evan Ocheltree will all be competing in the Cape Cod League this summer. Murray, a junior catcher, and Negus, a junior righthander, will be teammates (and battery mates) on the Bourne Braves. Negus will be returning to his old stomping grounds as he is a native of nearby Milford, Mass. Both players will be making their Cape Cod debut.
Hood will also be making his Cape League debut after turning in a successful 2008 campaign for the Deacons. The senior infielder is set to play for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, becoming the first Deacon to suit up for Y-D since Justin Keadle in 2004. The Y-D Red Sox have claimed each of the past two Cape Cod League titles and three of the past four since 2004.
Ocheltree will be making his third summer trip to the Cape, this time for the Chatham A's. The senior outfielder has played each of the last two summers with the Falmouth Commodores. Chatham has been a summer haven for some of the most successful players in Wake Forest baseball history, including Jon Palmieri and Mike MacDougal in 1998, Ryan Braun and Dave Bush in 2000, Jamie D'Antona in 2002 and most recently Allan Dykstra in 2006 and 2007.
A trio of sophomores will spend their summer playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Righthander Ryan McGrath and outfielders Steven Brooks and Ryan Semeniuk will play in the NECBL. McGrath is set to take the mound for the Manchester Silkworms. Brooks will roam the outfield for the Sanford Mainers, while Semeniuk will do the same for the North Adams Steeplecats. Semeniuk will look to turn in another successful summer campaign after being named a Valley League All-Star in 2007.
Sophomore catcher Ian Tomkins will be the lone Deacon representative in the Northwoods League. Tomkins will suit up for the Rochester Honkers in Rochester, Minn.
Two Deacons will play in the nearby Coastal Plain League. Senior righthander Brad Kledzik and sophomore lefty Eli Robins will stay in North Carolina for the summer. Kledzik will pitch for the Gastonia Grizzlies, while Robins will pitch for the Asheboro Copperheads.
Junior Alex Wiesner will be returning to his home state of Virginia as he plays his summer ball in the Valley Baseball League. The lefty Wiesner will suit up for the Luray Wranglers.
Sophomore Ryan Bouton will head south to the Florida Collegiate Summer League. The utilityman-turned-righthanded pitcher is set to play for the Clermont Mavericks.
Junior Joel Ernst will be returning to his home state of Ohio to play in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League for the second straight year. After pitching for the Stark County Terriers in 2007, the righthander Ernst will play for the Cincinnati Steam in 2008. Ernst is a native of Cincinnati suburb Loveland, Ohio.
Three Demon Deacons will be staying in town to play their summer ball. Senior infielder Tyler Smith, sophomore righthander Brandon Johnson and sophomore outfielder Ryan Lloyd will compete for the Kernersville Bulldogs of the Carolina-Virginia Collegiate League. The Bulldogs were league champions for four consecutive seasons from 2003-2006.
Sophomore Ryan Burke will participate in the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League. A lefthander, Burke will play for the Alexandria Aces in Alexandria, Va.
Cape Cod Baseball League
Dustin Hood - Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox
Mike Murray - Bourne Braves
Phil Negus - Bourne Braves
Evan Ocheltree - Chatham A's
Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League
Ryan Burke - Alexandria Aces
Carolina-Virginia Collegiate League
Brandon Johnson - Kernersville Bulldogs
Ryan Lloyd - Kernersville Bulldogs
Tyler Smith - Kernersville Bulldogs
Coastal Plain League
Brad Kledzik - Gastonia Grizzlies
Eli Robins - Asheboro Copperheads
Florida Collegiate Summer League
Ryan Bouton - Clermont Mavericks
Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League
Joel Ernst - Cincinnati Steam
New England Collegiate Baseball League
Steven Brooks - Sanford Mainers
Ryan McGrath - Manchester Silkworms
Ryan Semeniuk - North Adams Steeplecats
