North Carolina State University Athletics
Eight Baseball Players Still In Summer League
8/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. Eight NC State players were still active in their respective summer league playoffs Wednesday, including second baseman Dallas Poulk and pitchers Alex Sogard and Sam Brown with the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod League.
In addition, third baseman Drew Martin and pitchers Travis High and Kyle Rutter were in action for the Madison Mallards in the Northwoods League playoffs. Rising senior reliever Joey Cutler was still pitching for the Santa Barbara Forresters of the California Collegiate League. Santa Barbara won the CCCL title and was the last unbeaten team in the National Baseball Congress World Series, taking place in Wichita, Kansas.
Cotuit won the CCBL’s West Division playoff Tuesday with a 3-2 victory over Falmouth, taking the series two games to one. Cotuit will take on Harwich in a best-of-3 series for the Cape League championship beginning Wednesday.
Poulk batted .259 with nine doubles and 16 RBIs in the regular season for the Kettleers. He was second on the team with 22 runs scored. Brown made 13 appearances, all in relief, and was 0-0 with one save and a 3.33 ERA. Brown allowed 24 hits in 24 1/3 innings. He walked five and struck out 30. Sogard made nine appearances for Cotuit, including one start. He was 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA. He worked 19 innings and allowed 26 hits, walked seven and struck out 13.
Also in the Cape League, Marcus Jones’s Hyannis Mets team finished the season with a 22-22 record and missed the playoffs. Jones, a rising senior who joined the Mets a few weeks into the season, finished the summer with a .228 average in 30 games. He hit four doubles and one home run, and drove in 12 runs.
Jones, Sogard and Brown all were facing decisions regarding professional baseball. Jones, a rising senior, was the Washington Nationals’ 11th-round draft pick. Brown was taken in the 18th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Sogard went to the D’backs in the 26th round. They have until Friday, August 15, to sign with the Nats or Diamondbacks.
Madison began first-round action in the Northwoods League playoffs on Tuesday, defeating Wisconsin Woodchucks 4-1. Game two of the best-of-3 South Divisional series is scheduled for Wednesday in Madison. Game three, if necessary, will be Thursday. The championship series is scheduled to begin Friday with the Madison-Wisconsin winner taking on the winner of the North Divisional series between Thunder Bay and Mankato.
Through games of August 11, Martin had played in 48 of 68 games for the Mallards, batting .232 with three doubles, one triple, one home run and 16 RBIs. He was five of six in stolen-base attempts.
On the mound, High was 1-2 with one save and a 4.05 ERA. Rutter was 0-2 with a 7.53 ERA.
Cutler helped lead Santa Barbara to a 19-11 regular-season record, good for first place in the CCCL. He led the league in saves with nine, and was named the league's 14th best prospect in a vote of league managers. Santa Barbara overcame five-run deficits in two of its first three NBC games.
California: Also on the West Coast, rising senior first baseman spent the summer in San Jose, Calif., playing with the Maxim Yankees. Ferguson saw action in 14 games and batted .286 with two doubles, three home runs and 13 RBIs. Maxim, a semipro team that plays teams from several California summer leagues, including the CCCL, won the 2008 Best of the West Invitational Tournament, and Ferguson was named to the all-tournament team.
Coastal Plain League: Two other NC State players, rising sophomore infielder Dusty Quattlebaum and rising junior outfielder Wade Moore, were involved in postseason play this summer. Quattlebaum and the Outer Banks Daredevils secured the seven seed in the CPL playoffs, but were bounced by Edenton, 4-1 on August 8.
Quattlebaum, who played sparingly for the Wolfpack this spring while coming off of shoulder surgery, had a strong summer, batting .266 with 13 doubles, one triple, one home run and 33 RBIs. He led the Daredevils in doubles and RBIs.
At Forest City, Moore finished the summer batting .277 with eight doubles, one home run, 11 RBIs, 38 runs scored and 15 stolen bases in 17 attempts. He also drew 27 walks in 222 plate appearances for a .382 on-base percentage.
Moore and Quattlebaum both played on the CPL All-Star Game in Asheboro on July 22.
NC State’s third player in the Coastal Plain League, rising sophomore catcher Chris Schaeffer, saw part-time action with the Fayetteville Swampdogs, batting .234 in 27 games, 19 of them starts.
NYCBL: The summer was important for a pair of transfers who saw only limited action for NC State in 2008 but could assume more prominent roles in ’09. Rising senior outfielder Domonique Rodgers, a transfer from Sacramento City (Calif.) Junior College, and Jason Zinser, a rising senior righthander from UCLA, spent most of the summer with the Saratoga Phillies of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. Rodgers played 20 games, all starts, and batted .239 with five doubles and eight RBIs.
Zinser made 10 appearances, including three starts, and finished with a 1-3 record and a 4.05 ERA. He worked 26 2/3 innings and struck out 43, an average of 14.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Zinser allowed 20 hits and 19 walks.
Season Tickets: Fans may purchase season tickets for the 2009 NC State baseball season by calling the ticket office at 865-1510 or by logging onto GoPack.com.
