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BY TIM BEST
Special to PSN
Summer officially starts on Wednesday, but Seton Hall's "boys of summer" have already gotten a head start to their summers in collegiate baseball leagues all over the country. Here is an update on how the Pirates' returning players for the 2018 season have been doing so far.
In the NECBL, the Upper Valley Nighthawks are currently in first place in their division by a game and a half. Shortstop Al Molina has been a major factor during their eight-game win streak, especially as of late. The rising senior had three hits in five at-bats in a doubleheader sweep of the Danbury Westerners on Saturday and got his first RBI of the summer on Sunday in a 10-7 win over the New Bedford Bay Sox. In the other division, the Ocean State Waves have been leading the way with a 6-1 record entering Monday. In a 5-4 win in extra innings over the Plymouth Pilgrims on Thursday, Mike Alescio hit a solo home run that put his team up for good. Also in that game, outfielder Liam McArthur hit two doubles. The rising junior is currently hitting .250 in four games played, but has a .400 on-base percentage. Andrew Politi was the starting pitcher that night, giving up just one earned run over five innings of work. Outfielder Ryan Ramiz returned to the Mystic Schooners over the weekend and is already making a strong impact. In just two games, he's hitting .333 and looking to establish himself as a consistent presence in the middle of the order, a switch-up from leading off for the Pirates. Finally, freshman pitcher Ricky DeVito is looking to build off his stellar rookie campaign for the Vermont Mountaineers. Coming off a rough outing against Upper Valley earlier in the week, he bounced back with three scoreless frames in a 5-1 win on Father's Day over Danbury.
In the ACBL, incoming freshman third baseman Casey Dana (younger brother of Cullen) is off to a red-hot start for the North Jersey Eagles, hitting .600 with a home run and five RBIs in just four games played. Outfielder Tyler Shedler-McAvoy is also doing well out of the gates. In eight games, he leads the team with six RBIs and also has a home run to his name. On the mound, Corey Sawyer has already pitched nine innings and yielded just one earned run, striking out 15 hitters in the process. Rob Dadona is back with the Staten Island Tide, his hometown team, for a second straight summer. He's currently hitting .277 with a home run and four RBIs in 11 games. His highlight game came on June 11 when he went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer in a 14-6 win over the Trenton Generals.
In a shortened game on June 6, Noah Thompson earned the win in an 11-4 victory for the Gastonia Grizzlies of the Coastal Plains League. The rising sophomore gave up just one unearned run over four innings. Just three days before, Billy Layne Jr. was the winning pitcher in an 8-5 win over the Savannah Bananas. The rising junior went 6.1 innings and allowed two runs, both of which were unearned.
That's all for this week. Stay tuned as summer baseball season continues to heat up!
http://www.shupirates.com/news/2017/6/20/summer-baseball-update-june-20.aspx
