Kalamazoo, MI – The Growlers have signed a pair of freshman teammates from the University of Virginia. Infeilder Griffin O’Ferrall and catcher/utility player Ethan Anderson will be in Kalamazoo this summer. UVA currently ranks in the in the Top 25 in the college baseball rankings and have gotten off to a hot start this spring. This is the second summer in a row where the Growlers will have multiple UVA players on the team. Last summer, Jake Gelof and Alex Tappen represented the Cavaliers in Kalamazoo.

Griff O’Ferrall is a native of Richmond, Virginia, was the 2020-2021 Gatorade player of the year in his home state and will start his NCAA career this spring at the University of Virginia. Before joining the Cavaliers this year, O’Ferrall spent last summer in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League with the Auburn Doubledays. Over 42 games with Auburn, Griff hit for a .404 batting average, doubled 12 times, stole 29 bases, and racked up 27 RBI. O’Ferrall was rewarded for his impressive performance last summer when he was named player of the season in the PGCBL. O’Ferrall joins the UVA program after their impressive run to the college baseball world series last summer and will come to Kalamazoo off the back of what is sure to be another excellent season for the Cavs.

Ethan Anderson is a Virginia Beach native and was ranked as the number one catcher and number four player overall in his high school recruiting class of 2021. After graduating high school in just three years, the 6’2” backstop spent the summer of 2021 with the Vermont Lake Monsters of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League based in the northeast. In 29 games with Vermont, Anderson hit for a .427 average with 5 home runs and 32 RBI in just 96 at-bats. The switch hitting Anderson also slugged .667 and reached base on well over half of his plate appearances with the Lake Monsters.  Anderson wrapped up the FCBL season by claiming the league title with his team and will be a massive addition to the Growlers in 2022 with his explosive bat and stout defense behind the plate. 

As of March 24th, Anderson has appeared in 17 games and O’Ferrall has appeared in all 21 games for UVA. Anderson has posted a .309 batting average with 3 home runs and 15 RBIs, while O’Ferrall has hit .338 with one home run and 16 RBIs. Both are expected to be big bats in the Growlers lineup this summer. The Growlers open the season in Kenosha on May 31st, with the home opener on June 1st against Battle Creek.

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The Kalamazoo Growlers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27^th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 250 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.growlersbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Growlers as your favorite team.