Nineteen Diamond Dawgs Set To Play Summer Ball
May 19, 2015 | Baseball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – With the 2015 season in the rearview mirror, 19 returning Mississippi State baseball players will look to improve their skills in preparation for next spring as they travel the country and compete in various collegiate summer leagues.
Head coach John Cohen will send eight Diamond Dawgs to the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League, the most during his seven-season tenure in Starkville. The CCBL has been considered the premier amateur baseball summer league since its inception in 1885, with 276 former players playing in Major League Baseball alone last season. This past June during the MLB Draft, 214 CCBL alumni were chosen, including four former Bulldogs (Jacob Lindgren, Jonathan Holder, Brandon Woodruff and Brett Pirtle).
All eight playing in the CCBL were sophomores on the 2015 MSU squad. Pitcher Austin Sexton returns to the Cotuit Kettleers for a second straight summer and will be teammates with southpaw Daniel Brown. Vance Tatum and Dakota Hudson will pitch for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks, while outfielder Jacob Robson will represent the Brewster Whitecaps. Catcher Gavin Collins goes from playing for the Bourne Braves last summer to joining Zac Houston on Wareham Gateman this season. The Braves lose Collins but add slugger Reid Humphreys to the roster.
Next door to the CCBL, Brent Rooker returns to the Plymouth Pilgrims for a second straight season. The outfielder will be joined by redshirt freshman righty Aaron Dominguez as they compete in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
South of New England, outfielder Cody Brown rejoins the Bethesda Big Train, where he earned second-team all-league honors and was a Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League All-Star last summer. Brown will be teammates with right hander Logan Elliot. The Big Train is the same team former Bulldog All-American Hunter Renfroe played on when he was named MVP of the league in 2012, the summer before his breakout All-America campaign in Starkville.
In the Midwest, infielder Luke Reynolds will look to continue his hot-hitting ways for the Lima Locos of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. Reynolds will team with redshirt freshman first baseman/right-handed pitcher Cole Gordon. Bulldogs playing for Lima is nothing new, as Sexton was named Baseball America's No. 2 prospect in the GLSCL last summer as a member of the Locos.
On the West Coast, infielder John Holland and outfielder Mike Smith will participate in the California Collegiate League as members of the Santa Barbara Foresters. Last summer, outgoing seniors Jake Vickerson and Cody Walker led the Foresters to their fifth National Baseball Congress World Series title.
Other Bulldogs competing this summer include All-SEC freshman shortstop Ryan Gridley for the Waynesboro Generals of the Valley Baseball League, as well as Josh Lovelady for the Elmira Pioneers of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.
For constant updates on the 18 Bulldogs playing summer ball, follow the team on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateBB." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."
Mississippi State Baseball Players In Collegiate Summer Leagues
|
PLAYER |
POS. |
LEAGUE |
TEAM |
|
OPENING DAY |
|
OF |
June 2 |
||||
|
LHP |
June 9 |
||||
|
C |
June 9 |
||||
|
RHP |
June 4 |
||||
|
RHP |
June 2 |
||||
|
1B/RHP |
June 4 |
||||
|
INF |
June 5 |
||||
|
INF |
May 30 |
||||
|
RHP |
June 9 |
||||
|
RHP |
June 9 |
||||
|
OF |
June 9 |
||||
|
C |
June 2 |
||||
|
INF |
June 4 |
||||
|
OF |
June 9 |
||||
|
OF |
June 4 |
||||
|
RHP |
June 9 |
||||
|
OF |
May 30 |
||||
|
INF |
June 1 |
||||
|
LHP |
June 9 |
