North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Baseball Summer Notebook
6/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Wolfpack Sends 14 Players To Summer Baseball Leagues: NC State will be well-represented in the three major East Coast collegiate summer leagues during the summer of 2000. Six Wolfpack players began play in the Coastal Plain League on June 1, and six others will begin play in the Cape Cod League this evening (June 13). In addition, two Wolfpack players began play in the Shenandoah Valley League on June 9.
The Cape Cod League is considered the best of all the collegiate summer leagues, and NC State has sent numerous players and coaches there over the years. Outfielder Brian Wright, the Wolfpack's offensive leader this spring and a rising junior, is making his second appearance in the Cape League, playing this summer for Cotuit. He played last summer at Harwich. Wright, who batted .366 with 17 doubles, 12 home runs and 52 RBIs, was a first-team All-ACC selection after leading the Wolfpack in nine offensive categories this past season. Joining Wright in Cotuit is rising junior righthander Ryan Combs, who went 5-5 with a 4.32 ERA for the Pack this past spring.
NC State has a pair of players at Yarmouth-Dennis this summer. Rising junior lefthander Dan D'Amato (5-6, 5.19 with the Wolfpack this spring) went 3-1 with a save and a 2.72 ERA at Y-D last summer and was the team's best pitcher by the end of the summer. Rising sophomore righthander Daniel Caldwell also is at Yarmouth-Dennis. Caldwell went 2-2 with a 5.79 ERA as a freshman for NC State this spring, but was the Wolfpack's most effective starter over the second half of the season, As a starter for the Pack, Caldwell went 1-2, but with a 4.22 ERA. He walked 12 and struck out 27 in 32 innings.
Rising junior righthander Mike Sollie is pitching at Brewster this summer. Sollie was 4-5 with a 3.82 ERA for the Wolfpack this spring. Rising sophomore lefthander and first baseman Mike Prochaska is at Wareham, and ironically is playing for former North Carolina head coach Mike Roberts, who returns to Wareham as head coach for the first time since the summer of 1985. Prochaska batted .350 with 15 doubles and 37 RBIs for the Wolfpack, and went 4-4 with a 5.67 ERA on the mound.
One other NC State player, rising senior righthanded pitcher Corey Mattison, is currently playing with Wareham as a part-time player. Cape League teams often sign players to part-time contracts while waiting for players under contract to finish play in the College World Series or at the Team USA Trials. Mattison, who pitched at Harwich last summer, was 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA for NC State this past spring.
You can follow the Cape League, including up-to-date statistics and game results, via its official website at www.capecodbaseball.org, and read about the league in The Cape Cod Times at www.capecodonline.com.
In the Coastal Plain League, three NC State players are at Durham -- rising sophomore first baseman Adam Ennis, rising senior righthander Jason Blanton and rising junior lefty Kyle Stephenson. Ennis, who emerged offensively at the end of the season, batted .241 with a home run and four RBIs in very limited action. Blanton went 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA and turned in the Pack's most dominating pitching performance of the summer when he shut down UNC-Wilmington on one hit over six innings on March 29. Stephenson had no record and a 7.11 ERA for NC State this spring.
Rising sophomore third baseman Jeremy Dutton is playing for Asheboro. Dutton batted .260 with 11 doubles and 29 RBIs as a freshman this spring. Rising senior righthander Josh Miller currently is pitching for Peninsula of the CPL. Miller went 5-1 with a pair of saves and a 2.35 ERA in 27 appearances this season. He struck out 27 and walked just one batter in 38 1/3 innings. Ironically, the one man Miller walked in 2000, Miami's Kris Clute, is a teammate at Peninsula.
Finally, rising junior outfielder Jamey Shearin is playing at Wilson. Shearin, who played very sparingly until the end of the season for the Wolfpack, finished with a .194 average, but clubbed three home runs, one in each of his last three games, and drove in 12 runs.
The Coastal Plain League's website, with updated stats and game box scores, is at www.coastalplain.com.
A pair of NC State rising sophomores are playng this summer in the Shenandoah Valley League. Outfielder John Whitley is at New Market, and righthanded pitcher Derek McKee is at Harrisonburg. Whitley batted .309 in part-time action for the Pack this past spring, while McKee went 0-1 with a 6.55 ERA.
The Valley League also has a website with stats, box scores, etc. Its address is www.valleyleaguebaseball.com.
Mooney Signs With Red Sox: Major League Baseball's annual First-Year Player Draft came and went this June with no NC State players being taken, but only because of a loophole in the draft rules. Senior catcher Dan Mooney signed with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent the week before the draft thanks to a little-known rule that applies to fifth-year seniors.
The rule allows fifth-year seniors to sign as free agents during a five-day window the week prior to the draft. Mooney played at Brevard (Fla.) Community College for two years (1996 and '97), and then went to the University of Florida for a year (1998) and redshirted before playing for the Wolfpack the last two seasons, which were his fourth and fifth years in college.
The fifth-year senior rule is a blessing for players like Mooney, who would have had no leverage with a major league team in the draft. Seniors typically are given low-ball take-it-or-leave-it offers by the teams that draft them, and at age 23, Mooney could have been offered as little as $1,000, possibly less. Instead, he signed with the Red Sox for $25,000 plus money for his last two semesters of college. Red Sox officials said that Mooney probably would have been drafted somewhere between the fifth and eighth rounds of the draft.
Mooney has reported to Boston's affiliate at Lowell of the short-season Class A New York-Penn League, which will begin play on June 20.
Barkett Released By Rangers, Signs With Braves: Former Wolfpack first baseman Andy Barkett (1992-95) was released by the Texas Rangers in late April. Barkett had been with the Rangers since late in the summer of 1995 and spent the last two minor league seasons with their Triple-A club at Oklahoma City of the Pacific Coast League.
It didn't take Barkett long to land on his feet. He signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves in early May and reported to their Triple-A club at Richmond of the International League. In his first at-bat for the Braves, Barkett singled off Cleveland Indians righthander Bartolo Colon, who was making an injury rehab appearance for Buffalo.
While playing for a bad Richmond team (17-45 through games of June 12), Barkett was hitting .231 with five doubles, one home run and nine RBIs in 108 at-bats.
Sergio Moves To CF, Gets Promotion To Triple-A: Former Wolfpack second baseman and center fielder Tom Sergio (1994-97), now in his fourth season with the Texas Rangers organization, has moved back to the outfield and has moved up to the top rung of the Rangers' minor league ladder.
Sergio, who batted .291 as the second baseman at Double-A Tulsa a year ago, moved back to center field in spring training because of a logjam at second base in the organization. He began the year back at Tulsa, but was there only a few short weeks before moving up to Triple-A Oklahoma City, his first action at that level. Through games of June 12, Serio was hitting .324 in 37 games for the Redhawks.
Ward Makes Midwest League All-Star Team: Former Wolfpack second baseman Brian Ward (1998-99), NC State's all-time batting leader, continues to swing the bat with authority at the professional level. A 12th-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres a year ago, Ward had a great first season, batting .317 with 23 doubles, seven home runs and 60 RBIs in 68 games at Idaho Falls of the Rookie-level Pioneer League.
This season, Ward has moved up to Class A Fort Wayne of the Midwest League, but little else has changed. Through games of June 12, Ward was hitting .318 with 10 doubles, three home runs and 22 RBIs in 52 games, and was recently voted to play in the Midwest League All-Star Game.
