BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Several Lehigh baseball players are excelling against some tough competition this summer throughout the United States. 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. “I am excited that our Lehigh baseball program is given the opportunities to represent our program in these prestigous NCAA summer leagues," head coach Sean Leary explained. “The overall emphasis of the summer is for our players to challenge themselves against elite competition. The side benefits are the exposure they receive from the professional scouts and the exposure our program receives across the country.”
Rising seniors Joe Ercolano and Joe Matteo are both playing their summer ball in Alaska for the Mat-Su Miners. Matteo recently threw a three-hit shutout versus the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks as he struck out six batters over seven innings, earning his third victory in the process. For the season Matteo has struck out 21 batters in 35 innings of work, while allowing only 13 runs, good for an ERA of 3.09. In 18 games, Ercolano has 11 hits, including two doubles and one triple, and he has driven in 11 runs to along with 12 runs scored.
"Having Matteo and Ercolano in the Alaskan league marks the third year in a row we've had players playing for the Mat-Su Miners,” Leary said. “This summer the Mat-Su team was ranked the number-five summer league team in the entire nation. I am proud that Ercolano and Matteo are representing Lehigh so well on such an outstanding team.”
Four Mountain Hawks are currently playing in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League (ACBL), including Billy Alec (Kutztown), Phil Gunther (Lehigh Valley), Greg Angelo (Quakertown) and Billy Swenson (Quakertown). Alec is 2-0 in ten appearances for Kutztown, having struck out ten batters in 15 innings of work, while Gunther has made eight appearances for the Lehigh Valley Catz, striking out 19 in 24 innings of work. Angelo is sporting a perfect 4-0 record for Quakertown to go along with a 2.02 ERA in 35.2 innings of work, while his teammate Swenson has scored two runs and walked six times in seven games.
Geoff Campbell and Christian Valeriano are teammates for the Southern Ohio Copperheads of the Great Lakes League. Campbell is batting .278 in 25 games, with 20 hits, including three doubles and a home run and he has driven in 12 runs, while Valeriano has appeared in 23 games, scored ten runs, driven in six and walked ten times. Campbell is also pitching for the Copperheads and in nine appearances he has a 2.38 ERA and two saves, having struck out 14 batters in that time.
A trio of Mountain Hawks are playing summer ball in sunny California, as Dan Clauson, Michael Laychur and Andrew Berger are all members of the Monterey Bay Sox in the California Collegiate League. Clauson has appeared in 11 games, collecting five hits, including a pair of homers, to go along with six runs and five RBI in that time, while Laychur is batting .276 in 13 games, totaling eight hits, seven runs, four RBI and a fielding percentage of .986. Berger, who is a perfect one-for-one at the plate, has been getting the majority of his work on the mound, sporting a 2-2 record to go along with a 3.49 ERA in 28.1 innings of work, which includes 26 strikeouts and an opponents batting average of just .221.
Other Mountain Hawks playing summer ball are Liam O’Connor and Bill Hezel (Limeport Bulls of the Tri-County League), Andrew Grim and Greg Mortka (Limeport Dodgers of the Blue Mountain League), Mark Bernhard (Lehigh Valley Clippers of the Blue Mountain League), Ken Longernecker and Josh Harakal (Bethleon Blue Jays of the Blue Mountain League) and Jason Leo (Souderton of the Perkiomen League).
All 30 Mountain Hawks are participating in summer league baseball and will be returning to Lehigh in the fall as the Brown and White vies for its sixth Patriot League Tournament berth in the last seven years.
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