North Carolina State University Athletics
Gianis Starts Hot In NECBL, Maynard Heats Up Cape Cod
7/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
July 8, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. -
(Note: This is the second of periodic reports on current NC State players in summer baseball. All stats are through games of July 7.)
RALEIGH, N.C. -- John Gianis signed with Hyannis of the Cape Cod League in early June as a temporary player, meaning he was holding a spot on the Harbor Hawks roster for someone still playing in the NCAA Tournament or working out with Team USA.
That nameless player showed up on Cape Cod shortly after June 27, which was the date when Gianis played his last game in a Hyannis uniform. Released from his contract with Hyannis with just three Cape League hits to his credit, Gianis signed on with Danbury of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. After five games with the Westerners, the Cape League's loss is clearly Danbury's gain.
Gianis played his first game for the Westerners on July 3 and went 3-for-5 in a 6-5 win over New Bedford. He's hit safely in all five games he's played in, including a 4-for-5 performance with a homer and three RBIs on July 6 at Keene. He went 3-for-6 with a pair of RBIs on July 7 in a doubleheader split vs. North Adams. A rising junior for the Wolfpack, Gianis is playing center field and batting leadoff for Danbury, and is batting .524 (11-for-21) with six RBIs in five games. He has struck out just once in 21 plate appearances.
Maynard Turns It On For Mariners
Back on Cape Cod, rising junior catcher Pratt Maynard has finally heated up after a rocky start with the Harwich Mariners. Maynard has hit safely in five of his last six games, going 8-for-16 with a homer and six RBIs in those six games.
The Cape League is often a humbling experience for hitters. The combination of wood bats, an abundance of top-level college pitchers and often-difficult playing conditions (substandard lights or games starting at dusk) usually leads to a league-wide batting average in the .240 range. Maynard got his season in Harwich off to something of a flying standstill, batting .242 (8-for-33) with no extra-base hits in his first 13 games for the Mariners.
Following his recent hot streak, Maynard finds himself hitting .304 (14-for-46) with two doubles, a home run and a team-leading 10 RBIs. He leads the Cape League with 18 walks (no surprise to NC State fans; Maynard led the ACC with a school-record 64 walks in 2010) and is 10th in the league with a .492 on-base percentage.
Also in the Cape League, rising senior righthander Rob Chamra is 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA in six appearances for Falmouth. He has worked 16 innings and allowed nine hits and five walks while striking out nine.
Riggins Still Raking In The Northwoods League
As noted a week ago in this space, rising junior first baseman Harold Riggins ended the 2010 college season on fire and picked right up where he left off once he reported to Madison of the Northwoods League. Well, it's seven days later and Riggins is still mashing NWL pitching.
Riggins batted .333 (9-for-27) with a double, two homers and four RBIs in seven games for the Mallards this past week. He snapped a 10-game hitting streak (15-for-34) July 3 vs. Green Bay, went hitless again the next night, and then went 6-for-14 with two homers and four RBIs the last three nights. A sign of the growing respect he has gained from opposing pitchers and coaches would be the five walks he received in those seven games.
Despite missing the first 15 games of the Northwoods League schedule, Riggins is hitting .356 and is tied for Madison's team lead with five home runs. The NWL league leader in homers has six. Riggins' 15 RBIs are three shy of team honors for the Mallards.
Rising senior lefthander Nick Rice also is with Madison this summer, and after six appearacnes Rice is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA. He has allowed seven hits in 8 2/3 innings.
Diaz Turns It On For Outer Banks
Chris Diaz, a rising sophomore shortstop for the Wolfpack, has quietly pieced together an eight-game hitting streak for the Outer Banks Daredevils of the Coastal Plain League. Diaz is hitting .364 (12-for-33) with three doubles and eight RBIs during the streak, which has lifted his average to .239 after a frigid start to the summer.
Also playing at Outer Banks, rising junior righthander Vance Williams is 2-2 with a 2.60 ERA in seven appearances. Williams has made one start and has worked 17 1/3 innings, allowing 13 hits, walking six and striking out 15. Opposing hitters are flailing to a .197 batting average against Williams, who allowed just one earned run on five hits in five innings July 6 vs. Wilson. That was his first start of the summer.
At Morehead City, rising senior catcher Chris Schaeffer has hit safely in five of his last six games, hitting .304 (7-for-23) during that time. Schaeffer is batting .269 with a homer and 14 RBIs in 16 games for the Marlins.
At the other end of the state, outfielder Terran Senay and catcher Danny Canela, both rising sophomores, are playing for the Forest City Owls, who have made a reputation for themselves as a league power in their brief three-year stint in the CPL. At 23-13 overall, the Owls are among the top teams in the CPL once again in 2010, having won the first-half pennant in the league's West Division. Senay and Canela have played a part in the team's success.
Senay has played in 19 games, started 17, and is hitting .293 with six doubles and seven RBIs. Canela has played in 22 games and started 18. He is hitting .243 with seven doubles, a home run and five RBIs. Canela has hit safely in his last three games, collecting five hits -- two of them doubles -- in 13 at-bats in that span.
Following are the summer assignments for NC State players in 2010:
Cape Cod League (http://www.capecodbaseball.org)
Andrew Ciencin - Harwich Mariners
Pratt Maynard - Harwich Mariners
Rob Chamra - Falmouth Commodores
Coastal Plain League (http://www.coastalplain.com)
Danny Canela - Forest City Owls
Terran Senay - Forest City Owls
Anthony Tzamtzis - Forest City Owls (current on disabled list)
Chris Diaz - Outer Banks Daredevils
Vance Williams - Outer Banks Daredevils
Chris Schaeffer - Morehead City Marlins
Ethan Ogburn - Thomasville Hi-Toms
Northwoods League (http://www.northwoodsleague.com)
Harold Riggins - Madison Mallards
Nick Rice - Madison Mallards
Valley League (http://www.valleyleaguebaseball.com)
Grant Sasser - Haymarket Senators
New England Collegiate Baseball League (http://www.necbl.com)
John Gianis - Danbury Westerners
Texas Collegiate League (http://www.texascollegiateleague.com)
Nate King - McKinney Marshalls
Mike Clark - McKinney Marshalls
Alaska Baseball League (John Gianis signed with Hyannis of the Cape Cod League in early June as a temporary player, meaning he was holding a spot on the Harbor Hawks roster for someone still playing in the NCAA Tournament or working out with Team USA.">http://www.alaskabaseballleague.org)
Ryan Mathews - AIA Fire
