The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Summer catch: Longhorns in summer baseball leagues
08.29.2006 | Baseball
It was a busy summer for Texas Baseball as 26 current Longhorns stayed active with summer action throughout the country. Twenty-five players participated in collegiate summer leagues, while Preston Clark spent the summer touring with the U.S. National Baseball Team.
Clark appeared in 26 games for Team USA, including 17 starts. He ranked sixth on the squad with a .263 batting average, logging 12 runs and nine RBI. Clark helped the Red, White and Blue to a 27-2-1 record over the summer. Team USA captured its second consecutive International University Sports Federation (FISU) World Championship, posting an 18-9 win over Chinese Taipei in Havana, Cuba on August 15. Clark went 2-for-5 with two runs scored in the championship game triumph.
Five Longhorns participated in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) in Massachusetts, including Riley Boening and Bradley Suttle with the Wareham Gatemen, Kyle Russell with the Cotuit Kettleers, Kyle Walker with the Bourne Braves and Austin Wood with the Hyannis Mets.
Boening made 10 starts for Wareham. He posed a 4-3 mark with a 2.53 ERA. Boening fanned 46 batters and issued 17 walks in 57.0 innings of work. In game two of the CCBL Semifinal Series, Boening pitched a complete-game shutout, fanning 14 batters, while yielding just four hits to propel the Gatemen to the championship series. Suttle appeared in 41 games with 31 runs and 18 RBI on the season. He posted 10 doubles and five home runs.
Russell made 33 appearances for Cotuit, tallying 14 runs and 18 RBI on the season. He added eight doubles and three home runs.
Walker was on the mound for nine games for Bourne, including five starts. He logged a 1-3 mark with a 6.16 ERA.
Wood pitched in seven games for Hyannis, including six starts. He notched a 0-1 record with a 5.32 ERA.
Another Longhorn headed to the East Coast as Hunter Harris played in the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League in Maryland. Harris pitched in eight games, with six starts on the season. He logged a 3-1 record with a 1.59 ERA. He registered 42 strikeouts, yielding 14 walks in 39.1 innings of work. Harris ranked fourth in the league in earned run average. He was selected to play in the league all-star game, but did not make an appearance.
On the other coast, four Longhorns, including Drew Bishop, Nick Peoples, Clay Van Hook and Chance Wheeless suited up for the Santa Barbara Foresters of the California Collegiate League. The foursome led Santa Barbara to a 25-11 record and the league title. The squad advanced to win the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series in Wichita, Kan.
Bishop pitched in 13 games for Santa Barbara, including six starts. He ended the summer with a 5-0 mark and a team-leading 1.08 ERA. Bishop fanned 42 batters and yielded 22 walks in 41.2 innings of work. At the plate, Peoples played in 25 games with 20 starts. He logged a .320 batting averaged with 13 runs scored and 17 RBI. Van Hook made 34 appearances with 18 starts. He tallied a .293 batting average with 21 runs and eight stolen bases. Wheeless played in 18 games with 16 starts. He logged seven runs, two doubles, two triples and four stolen bases on the season.
At the NBC World Series, Peoples played in all seven games for the Foresters, posting a .429 batting average and 10 RBI. In the championship game, he went 2-of-3 with a three-run home run in Santa Barbara's 8-7 win over Derby (Kan.) Twins.
Chais Fuller made the longest journey from Austin as he played for the Anchorage Bucs of the Alaska Baseball League. Fuller ranked second on the squad in games played as he started all but one of the Bucs 34 games. He ended the season with 10 runs, 13 RBI and four stolen bases to help lead Anchorage to a 20-14 mark.
Jordan Danks, Alex Posey, Andy Reese and Keith Shinaberry all traveled to Nebraska to play for the Beatrice Bruins of the Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas Baseball League (M.I.N.K. League). Danks led the Bruins with a .394 batting average. He finished the summer with 34 runs, 32 RBI, eight doubles, one triple, seven home runs and 11 stolen bases. Shinaberry made 11 appearances with six starts. He posted a 4-3 record with a 3.31 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 49.0 innings. Reese made six relief appearances with a 1-1 record in 2.08 ERA. He amassed 10 strikeouts, allowing just four hits and four walks in 8.2 innings of work. Posey pitched in 14 games, with three starts. He logged a 1-0 mark and a 4.09 ERA in 33.0 innings. Newcomer Travis Tucker, a transfer from McLennan Community College, was also on the Bruins' roster. In 43 games, Tucker tallied a .274 batting average along with a team-high 46 runs and 22 stolen bases.
Closer to home, eight Longhorns spangled the rosters of teams in the Texas Collegiate League (TCL). Randy Boone highlighted the UT contingent as he was tabbed the TCL Pitcher of the Year and was also christened the TCL D-Bat Pitcher of the Month for June and a TCL All-League performer. Boone finished the season with a 6-0 record and 1.13 ERA to lead the pitching staff of the Coppell Copperheads. His ERA ranked second behind only Kurt Pessa of Denton. Boone struck out 65 batters in 58 innings and yielded just 31 hits and 10 total runs (seven earned).
Boone and fellow UT pitchers Adrian Alaniz and Joseph Krebs helped lead Coppell to a 31-17 record and Tris Speaker Division regular-season title. Krebs posted a 5-0 record with a 1.82 ERA in eight starts. He notched 52 strikeouts in 54.1 innings and allowed an opponent batting average of just .190. Alaniz went 3-1 with a 2.72 ERA in his six starts. He logged 40 strikeouts in 36.1 innings. Longhorn newcomer James Russell also played for the Copperheads. Russell, a transfer from Navarro College, pitched in 10 games, including eight starts. He logged a 4-3 record with a 3.35 ERA. He logged 46 strikeouts in 51.0 innings.
Kenn Kasparek made two starts for the TCL Champion McKinney Marshals. Kasparek had two no-decisions, logging a 2.70 ERA with nine strikeouts and a .189 opponents' batting average in 10.0 innings.
Brett Lewis and Juston Street each dressed for the TCL Runner-Up Denton Outlaws. Lewis saw limited action, appearing in six games. Street made 20 relief appearances. He logged a 1-3 record with a 4.23 ERA. He recorded 18 strikeouts in 27.2 innings.
Jeff Boes appeared in 42 games for the Plano Blue Sox. Boes wrapped up the summer with 15 runs, five doubles and 11 RBI.
Todd Gilfillan rounded out the Longhorns' summer baseball league participants. He played in 22 games for the Weatherford Wranglers. Gilfillan tallied four runs, two doubles, five RBI and five stolen bases on the year.
