Several Lehigh baseball players are excelling against some tough competition this summer. Top players are chosen every year from colleges and universities across the country to compete in summer league baseball. There are no aluminum bats, varsity letters or for that matter final exams. The players concerns are more about earned runs, on-base percentage, and ultimately winning. “The game play is intense and the players are better.” said Lehigh head baseball coach
Sean Leary about summer league baseball. “You see a number one or two pitcher everyday.”
Ten of the eleven Lehigh players selected for summer ball in 2005 earned an invitation to play in the Atlantic Coast Baseball League (A.C.B.L.). Matt Geiger, Joel Hockman and Liam O’Conner accepted invites to the Lehigh Valley Catz (Easton, Pa.). Quakertown Blazers (Quakertown, Pa.) picked up four Lehigh players; Kyle Collina, Joe Matteo, Joe Ercolano and Andrew Smith. Nick Bet and John Zaszewski play ball for the Kutztown Rockies (Kutztown, Pa.). Adam Marr is playing summer ball in his home state for the Stamford Robins (Stamford, Conn.). The tenth player Matt McBride accepted an invitation to play for the Mat-Su Miners (Palmer, Alaska).
Lehigh players are not just participating but excelling with Collina, Smith, Geiger and Bet all being selected as Atlantic Coast Baseball League All-Stars. Collina a Bethlehem native has responded exceptionally well to the intense competition with an impressive 1.93 ERA and 2-0 record along with one save. He leads the Blazers with 25 strike outs and only 2 walks. Andrew Smith has also been dominant for the Blazers this summer. His .442 batting average leads the team while his 23 hits are third best on the Blazers. He is also second on the team in stolen bases even after missing a large chunk of the season due to a hamstring injury.
Lehigh infielder Matt Geiger and outfielder Nick Bet are also making noise in summer ball. To go along with his selection to the A.C.B.L. All-Star game Geiger, who plays for the Lehigh Valley Catz, is batting .365. Bet an A.C.B.L. All-Star player for the Kutztown Rockies leads the team in batting average and hits.
Lehigh catcher Matt McBride went in a different direction this summer than his Mountain Hawk counterparts, literally. Mc Bride accepted an invitation to play for the Mat-Su Miners of the Alaska Baseball League. Located 40 miles northeast of Anchorage and more than 4,000 miles northwest of his hometown of Bethlehem is the Matanuska-Susitna Valley where the name Mat-Su and the Miners originated.
McBride is making the best of his opportunity in Alaska. While starting all 28 games for the 19-9 Miners this season, he is batting .286 with 16 RBI’s the second highest on the team. Along with his steady hitting he is making a name for himself as one of Mat-Su’s clutch hitters. While in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth recently vs. the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, McBride hit a three-run walk-off homer on a 0-2 pitch with 2 outs. Not only has McBride been great at the plate he has been stellar behind it. He was involved in the first triple play of his young career on a 9-2-6 gem. “I wasn’t thinking that would happen,” McBride told the Anchorage Daily News. “Then all of a sudden we were out of the inning,” McBride said.
All of the eleven players who participated in summer league baseball in 2005 are returning to Lehigh in the fall. They will look to improve on their 26-21-1 record the team posted in 2005.
