(Pictured: Yamil Pagan, Alabama State University)

Beginning of College Baseball Season Brings Results From Across The Map

By: Cooper Perkins

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – With opening weekend in the books, the current members of the Rafters 2016 roster began the spring with series scattered across multiple states. This past weekend saw multiple future members of the Rafters burst out of the starting blocks.

In Arizona, Grand Canyon pitcher Jake Repavich dazzled in his season debut for the Lopes on Saturday in the back half of a double header. The sophomore stifled the Gonzaga lineup all evening on his way to seven innings of shutout ball, surrendering just three hits and a walk, while striking out four and picking up the win. Making his first appearance in nearly a calendar year after redshirting in 2015, fellow Lope starter Ethan Evanko struggled in the afternoon cap of Saturday’s action as he was tagged with the loss after lasting just two-thirds of an inning in which he surrendered six runs. Grand Canyon split their four-game series with Gonzaga.

A few states to the east, catcher Joey Morgan and the University of Washington got the ball rolling in the Lone Star state against the Big-12 Conference’s Baylor Bears. Morgan was his usual self behind the plate as he handled a stellar pitching staff that surrendered just 11 earned runs all weekend. While the Huskies took two of three in the weekend series, Morgan found himself off to a slow start offensively as he registered just a single hit in eight at-bats, but scored three runs and was hit by pitches twice.  

In the southern part of the state, freshly signed pitcher Chris Cooper and the Texas A&M University Corpus Christi Islanders took two of three from visiting Chicago State. Cooper made his longest career appearance as he tossed four innings in relief on opening night and limited the Cougars to a pair of runs while striking out two on Friday evening. Closing out the action in Texas, pitcher Jay Peters and UW Milwaukee traveled to Lubbock to take on #25 Texas Tech and managed to steal one of four from the Red Raiders. Peters made a stellar season debut on Saturday, leading the Panthers to their only win of the weekend by allowing just one earned run over five innings while striking out three in a no-decision.

Paying a visit to cajun country, Alabama State teammates Yamil Pagan and Joseph Estrada saw their Hornet squad fall victim to a sweep at the hands of Northwestern State in Louisiana. Pagan started all three contests and smacked his first home run of the season. The sophomore infielder also led the team with three RBI on the weekend. Estrada performed well against the Devils as he also appeared in all three games and earned one start. For the series, the Puerto Rico native reached base three times in five plate appearances, doubled once, and scored a run.

Pitcher Jon Jaeger, a 2015 Rafter, and his NAIA Sterling College teammates played host to Concordia University for a four-game series that saw them go undefeated on the weekend and run their season record to 10-0. Jaeger fired a masterful six innings of shutout baseball and struck out six in route to earning his third win in as many starts. The performance dropped his season ERA to 3.21 and lifted Jaeger to 15 strikeouts against just two walks.

With a stern test against the #2 ranked Louisville Cardinals on the opening slate for SIU-Edwardsville, 2015 Rafter Dustin Woodcock and company made the trip to Kentucky this past weekend. Woodcock put together an impressive outing on Friday when he singled and walked in three at-bats against the 35th overall pick of the 2015 MLB First Year Player Draft, Kyle Funkhouser. At the end of the weekend, the Cougars returned to Illinois victims of a three-game sweep in which Woodcock registered two hits and a walk.

On the East Coast, University of Virginia teammates Jon Meola and Doak Dozier traveled to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a three-game tournament that saw the nationally ranked Cavs finish 2-1. Dozier made his first collegiate start on Saturday against Appalachian State and finished with a single hit in five at-bats. Meola will continue to eagerly await his collegiate debut as the true freshman did not see any action opening weekend for but will continue to compete for playing time in the coming weeks.

The Sunshine State played host to a trio of 2016 Rafters as both Canisius College and Bethune-Cookman traveled to Florida for opening weekend. In a four-game series against #15 Michigan, Canisius was unable to scrape out their first win of the season. Pitching in a starting role, Josh Shepley found the Wolverine lineup to be a tough riddle to solve as he was tagged for the loss. Shelley pitched 4.2 innings for the Griffins and struck out four, but gave up six runs on Saturday. Like his teammate, infielder Jake Lumley was held in check by the nationally ranked Wolverines and mustered only a hit and two walks in the four-game series. Just down the street from Sunday’s Daytona 500, shortstop Demitrius Sims and Bethune-Cookman squared off against Murray State and took two of three from the visiting Racers. Sims started all three contests and recorded a pair of hits, a walk, and a run scored to open the season.

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The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2016, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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, more than 140 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website.  For more information, visit www.raftersbaseball.com.