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Tryout In Wareham attracts Quality Players

06/05/2005 10:43 AM

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for immediate release: 5 June, 2005

CCBL tryout in Wareham attracts Quality Players

WAREHAM - College players from all around the country were given one last chance Saturday to display their talent to the Cape Cod Baseball League’s 10 teams. 

     The 2005 CCBL Tryout was held at Spillane Field in Wareham, where over 60 field players were split into three teams and the 30-plus pitchers were all awarded two innings of work. With the large amount of pitchers at Saturday’s tryout, all the field position players had the opportunity to compile five or six at bats. 

     Pitching was the strong point of the day and many hurlers recorded multiple strikeouts in their two innings of work. 

     Notables included Mike Lore (Villanova), whose fastball impressed many, Wes Osbourn (West Virginia), who recorded three strikeouts and no hits and Rob Berzinskis who also struck out three batters. Big lefty hurler Rich Sirios (Connecticut) lived up to his advance billing. Rich participated in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball League last season and had the lowest ERA in the league.

     The beautiful day brought a crowd full of spectators, scouts, and family members, some making a longer journey than others. Many came to see local products on display. 

     Jeremy Schilling (Keene State) of Centerville was just one of the local players trying out. Schilling hit an impressive .352 for the Owls, but doesn’t have professional aspirations. He merely wants to finish his career with something memorable, like a shot at playing in the Cape League. 

     “This is an opportunity I can’t turn down,” Schilling said, “Next year is my last year and to end my playing career with memories of the Cape League would be great. It would be something to talk about, something I could look back on.”

     Jeremy grew up watching the Hyannis Mets and Cotuit Kettleers, but claims he has no favorite team. 

     Hailing from Brewster, Jake Yagjain, a freshman at Wheaton College, received a lot of playing time for a team that reached the NCAA Division III New England Regional in Harwich. Jake recorded a couple of hits Saturday, including a double. 

     Yagjian and fellow teammate and shortstop Brandon Leonard impressed many people in attendance. Only 5’10’’ Leonard displayed strong throws from deep in the hole at short during warm-up drills and also in the scrimmage. 

     Trying out Saturday from Cotuit was Rod Ames, who currently plays for Colby College. Ames is currently on Cotuit’s temporary roster and played for the Kettleers during the 2004 season. Rod is a finalist for the Cape League Pre-Season squad playing against the traveling Military All-Star squad next Saturday at McKeon Park in Hyannis at 2 p.m.

     The roster of Cape players performing in the Military Game will be announced Monday. The military squad has posted a 12-0 record and this game is an opportunity for people to get out and pay respect to the active military, as well as to witness some great baseball. 

     There was a short list of players not able to attend Saturday’s tryout, due to their teams’ advancement into the NCAA tournament. Southern Connecticut, which is currently in the NCAA Division II World Series, has two solid right-handed pitchers in Jared Rohrig and freshman Justin Cox were not able to attend the tryout. Freshman 6-7 lefty hurler Matt Erwood (Miami of Ohio) is a big-time pitcher. Jared Incinelli (North Florida) is a solid prospect and his brother Matt pitched for Orleans in 2004. 

     Other notables include Billy Siddich, who played for Wareham and Chatham last season and will be pitching in an All-Star game at Fenway Park on Sunday, Brendan Bosh, a star at California-Berkeley and Joe Hough, who had a great second half of the season for the Maine Black Bears. 

     Many players hoped to follow the success Dan Krines had during the 2000 season. Krines, who pitched for Fairfield, signed with Chatham. He went on to have a great year, posting a 7-1 record with a 2.01 ERA, which led him to become the co-pitcher of the year for the league. 

     Saturday gave many players from smaller schools an opportunity to showcase their talent, not only in front of many of the Cape League’s representatives, but also in front of other summer leagues. 

     John Wylde, coordinator of the tryout and general manager for Wareham, welcomes other league representatives. 

     “This is not just an opportunity for the kids to play in the Cape League but also in other summer leagues,” said Wylde. “Our goal is to get as many players as we can involved in some type of summer baseball.” Many of the players trying out on Saturday are from Division III schools and are often overlooked by the Cape League, since the league recruits the best players in the country to play every summer. 

     Wylde loves to see these smaller school players get their shot. “It’s so much fun when a boy emerges from the tryout and gets people excited about him.” We will soon see who will step up to the plate this year and surprise the coaches and general managers. 

     All of the 10 CCBL teams were active Saturday, many of who signed up to four or five players to either temporary or permanent contracts. Major concerns for general managers is the upcoming MLB draft on Tuesday and the tryout for Team USA. 

     Since the season starts on June 16, many GM’s are worried about their signed players who may still be in the College World Series. For those teams who are fortunate enough to reach Omaha, their players may not make it to Cape Cod until the end of June. 

     For this reason, temporary players will play a major role for teams affected by the College World Series. For instance, the defending champion Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox have 20 roster players in the CWS. Many of the league’s other teams are in similar circumstances. 
Unfortunately for temporary players, once the roster players arrive on the Cape after their team is ousted from the tournament, someone must be sent home.

     Cotuit’s GM Bruce Murphy, who signed two players Saturday, feels for the temporary players. 

     “It’s hard to receive a player put him up in a house and then tell him he has to go home after a game or two,” said Murphy. Cotuit signed Brown switch-hitting catcher Devin Thomas and infielder Tom Davison (Delaware). 

     Y-D’s GM Jim Martin was one of the busiest, adding five temporary players to protect his team since many of his players' college teams (especially their pitchers) could be lost to team USA or the College World Series. 

     The Falmouth Commodores were also busy Saturday adding three temporary players. Falmouth GM Chuck Sturtevant believes that as long as a team can play .500 until the final rosters are set, they should be in good shape. 

     “Sometimes you have to wait for some of your CWS players to return,” he said, “but if you can play well with your temporary players, you have a shot at a division title.”

Nicholas Mucci, Cape League Intern
[email protected]

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