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Events and Announcements

All Star Game Announcement

25 July 2006

Cape League All-Star Game
Red Wilson Field, South Yarmouth, July 29th 
Gates open at 11:00 a.m. 

Broadcasts on: WCAI (90.1 FM), WNAN (91.1 FM) and WZAI (94.3 FM),
The Cape and Islands NPR Stations, and streamed at www.capeandislands.org.

CAPE COD, Mass. – Fifty of the nation’s best college baseball stars will take the field Saturday at Red Wilson Field in South Yarmouth for the Cape Cod Baseball League’s 44th annual All-Star Game. 

     For the fourth straight year, the CCBL All-Star Game is presented by the leading banks of Cape Cod: Bank of America, TD Banknorth, Cape Cod Five Charitable Foundation and Sovereign Bank. Also sponsoring the game are Cape Cod Cooperative Bank, The Community Bank and Citizens Bank.

     Merrill Lynch will present the Starting Lineups, while The Baseball Factory will present the Home Run Hitting Contest. Smith Barney is also a supporter of the contest. 

     Fans will be admitted to Red Wilson Field at 11:00 a.m. Players will be available to the media at 12:00 p.m. The East Division team will take batting practice from 12:30 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. and the West Division team will be available for autographs at that time. The teams will reverse at 1:15 p.m., with the West Division team taking batting practice and the East Division team signing autographs. Each team will then take infield, the East from 2:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. and the West from 2:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

     The game will be preceded by the Baseball Factory Home Run Hitting Contest at 2:30 p.m. Last season, Brewster Whitecaps slugger Aaron Bates (North Carolina State) captured last year’s 18th annual competition after ripping 11 bombs, including six in the final round, before the CCBL’s mid-summer classic in Hyannis. 

     For the second straight All-Star Game, the national anthem will feature Hyannis Sound, a renowned group of 10 collegiate men singing a cappella. The national anthem will begin at 3:50 p.m. CCBL Deputy Commissioner Dick Sullivan will once again serve as master of ceremonies, while Gary Ellis of the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and league VP Phil Edwards are event co-chairs. The first pitch ceremony will be held at 4:00 p.m. with official play beginning at 4:05 p.m.

     The game will be will be broadcasted live on WCAI (90.1 FM), WNAN (91.1 FM) and WZAI (94.3 FM), the Cape and Islands NPR stations, and streamed at www.capeandislands.org. Fans can also tune into the Cape Cod Baseball League Network powered by Cape.Com, available online at www.capecodbaseball.org, which includes instructions for listening both online and by phone.

     The first modern-era Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game took place in 1963 with a game between the best of the Cape League and the best of the Cranberry League. Cape League All-Stars took on the stars of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League from 1970-1987 in Cape League parks as well as at Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium and Veterans Park. 

     The Cape Cod Baseball League changed to an East versus West game in 1988, and the divisional battle has been ongoing ever since. Last year at McKeon Park in Hyannis, the East squad squeaked out a 1-0 victory in the ninth inning to earn their third straight All-Star game victory over the West, highlighted by a Colin Curtis (Orleans) leadoff double and eventual winning run. Curtis (Arizona State) and Daniel Bard (North Carolina) were named the game’s most valuable players. 

     A record total of 198 Cape League players were on Major League Baseball rosters last year, including Boston Red Sox catcher and team captain Jason Varitek (Hyannis '91 & '93), slugging infielders Brian Roberts (Chatham '98) of the Baltimore Orioles and Nomar Garciaparra (Orleans '93) of the Los Angeles Dodgers, outfielders Lance Berkman (Wareham ‘96) of the Houston Astros and Jason Bay (Chatham ’99) of the Pittsburgh Pirates, pitchers Mark Mulder (Bourne '97) of the St. Louis Cardinals and Barry Zito (Wareham '97-'98) of the Oakland A's. 

     The West-leading Cotuit Kettleers placed eight players on the All-Star team. The East-leading Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox also had eight selections, while the Falmouth Commodores and Brewster Whitecaps each had six. The CCBL All-Stars were selected today by the league’s 10 field managers. 

     Shaun Seibert (4-0, 0.00 ERA, 30 SO) of the Brewster Whitecaps has been selected as the starting pitcher for the East, while Charlie Furbush (2-1, 1.85 ERA, 31 SO) of the Hyannis Mets is the starting hurler for the West. 

     The starting lineup for the West includes first baseman Justin Smoak (.288, 6 HR, 19 RBI) of Cotuit, second baseman Eric Farris (.330, 0 HR, 12 RBI) of Cotuit, shortstop Reese Havens (.286, 2 HR, 12 RBI) of Cotuit, third baseman Matt Mangini (.310, 1 HR, 13 RBI) of Hyannis, catcher Mitch Canham (.344, 2 HR, 8 RBI) of Falmouth, DH Brett Wallace (.270, 4 HR, 13 RBI) of Falmouth, left fielder Jeffrey Rea (.291, 0 HR, 18 RBI) of Cotuit, center fielder Brad Chalk (.296, 0 HR, 7 RBI) of Falmouth and right fielder David Cash (.300, 0 HR, 5 RBI) of Bourne. 

     West reserves include catchers Joel Collins (.258, 1 HR, 3 RBI) of Wareham and Sean Gaston (252, 2 HR, 14 RBI) of Cotuit, infielder Brett Bartles (.279, 1 HR, 16 RBI) of Bourne and outfielder Warren McFadden (.263, 6 HR, 15 RBI) of Falmouth. Reserve pitchers include Jeremy Bleich (1-1, 1.60 ERA, 26 SO) of Wareham, Travis Banwart (2-1, 0.90 ERA, 16 SO) of Wareham, Connor Graham (2-0, 2.81 ERA, 20 SO) of Wareham, Andrew Carignan (3 SV, 0.00 ERA, 14 SO) of Bourne, Tom Farmer (1-2, 1.56 ERA, 26 SO) of Bourne, Daniel Latham (7 SV, 1.69 ERA, 15 SO) of Hyannis, James Simmons (4-1, 1.24 ERA, 33 SO) of Cotuit, Jay Brown (3-0, 0.00 ERA, 17 SO) of Cotuit, Cory Gearrin (6 SV, 1.80 ERA, 27 SO) of Cotuit, David Kopp (2-2, 0.66 ERA, 16 SO) of Falmouth and Sam Demel (8 SV, 1.56 ERA, 25 SO) of Falmouth. 

     Starters for the East squad include first baseman Matt LaPorta (.273, 4 HR, 15 RBI) of Brewster, second baseman Chris Carrara (.282, 0 HR, 3 RBI) of Chatham, shortstop Buster Posey (.299, 2 HR, 15 RBI) of Y-D, third baseman Reid Fronk (.319, 0 HR, 8 RBI) of Chatham, catcher Josh Donaldson (.324, 4 HR, 18 RBI) of Harwich, designated hitter Matt Wieters (.330, 5 HR, 15 RBI) of Orleans, left fielder Luke Sommer (.276, 2 HR, 13 RBI) of Y-D, center fielder Justin Snyder (.248, 2 HR, 10 RBI) of Brewster and right fielder Antone DeJesus (.242, 0 HR, 3 RBI) of Harwich. 

     East reserves include infielders Josh Satin (.266, 0 HR, 17 RBI) of Orleans, Brad Emaus (.230, 3 HR, 20 RBI) of Y-D and Matt Cusick (283, 1 HR, 9 RBI) of Brewster and catcher Danny Lehmann (.254, 1 HR, 5 RBI) of Y-D. Joining Seibert on the mound are Ricky Hargrove (2-0, 0.76 ERA, 27 SO) of Chatham, Brett Cecil (8 SV, 1.52 ERA, 31 SO) of Orleans, Joshua Fields (9 SV, 1.98 ERA, 20 SO) of Y-D, Terry Doyle (4-1, 3.32 ERA, 43 SO) of Y-D, Tony Watson (4-1, 2.25 ERA, 40 SO) of Harwich, Dan Merklinger (3-0, 1.04 ERA, 38 SO) of Harwich, Clayton Shunick (4-3, 1.37 ERA, 30 SO) of Orleans, Nate Boman (2-1, 1.54 ERA, 27 SO) of Y-D, Will Atwood (2-0, 1.61 ERA, 20 SO) of Brewster, Donnie Hume (3-0, 2.52 ERA, 34 SO) of Y-D and Scott Maine (3-1, 1.80 ERA, 19 SO) of Brewster. (Note – all statistics are through 24 July 2006.)

     Managing the West Division All-Stars this year will be Field Manager Harvey Shapiro (Bourne), assisted by Mike Roberts (Cotuit), Jeff Trundy (Falmouth), Greg King (Hyannis) and Cooper Farris (Wareham). 

     Managing the East Division All-Stars will be Field Manager Kelly Nicholson (Orleans), assisted by Bob Macaluso (Brewster), John Schiffner (Chatham), Steve Englert (Harwich) and Scott Pickler (Y-D).

     Taking part in the 2006 Home Run Hitting Contest for the West Division will be Steffan Wilson (Harvard) of Wareham, Mitch Moreland (Mississippi St.) of Bourne and Justin Smoak (South Carolina) of Cotuit. For the East Division, Matt Rizzotti (Manhattan) of Chatham, Matt LaPorta (Florida) of Brewster and Josh Donaldson (Auburn) of Harwich will aim for the fences at Red Wilson Field. 

By Michael Kydd, CCBL Intern, [email protected]

 

John Garner, Jr.
Director of Public Relations & Broadcasting
(508) 790-0394 [email protected] 

Will Bussiere
Web Editor
[email protected]