FROM CCBL RELEASE
HYANNIS, Mass. – The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox have a league-leading seven All-Stars in the 47th Under Armour Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game to be held on Thursday, July 23 at Boston’s Fenway Park.
Each 21-player team was selected in a meeting of the team’s 10 managers in Hyannis Thursday morning. The rosters are comprised of 10 starters, 11 reserves, and four alternate players.
Cotuit skipper Mike Roberts, coach of the defending West Division regular season champions, will lead the West All-Stars. Hyannis’ Chad Gassman, Wareham’s Cooper Farris, Bourne’s Harvey Shapiro, and Cotuit assistant Noah Scott round out the rest of the West coaching staff. The head coach of the East is Harwich’s Steve Englert after Kelly Nicholson, coach of defending East regular season champion Orleans Firebirds, deferred the head coaching role to Englert, coach of the defending league champion Mariners. Nicholson, Brewster’s Tom Myers, Y-D’s Scott Pickler, and Harwich assistant Peter Pasquarosa fill out the remainder of the East staff.
Y-D, which sits in a tie for second in the East Division, lead the way with seven All-Stars, including three starters: Micky Wiswall (Boston College), who is tied for the league lead with 18 RBI, shortstop Blake Kelso (Houston), and outfielder Austin Wates (Virginia Tech), who leads the league in hitting at .385. Infielder Tyler Hanover (LSU), and pitchers Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast), John Leonard (Boston College), and closer Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) are also headed to Fenway Park for Y-D next Thursday.
The other East starters include Orleans speedster Gary Brown (Cal State Fullerton), Brewster’s power-hitting third baseman Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia), second basemen Colin Walsh (Stanford), and designated hitter John Barr (Virginia), along with Harwich outfielder Daniel Grovatt (Virginia).
The starting pitcher for the East is Orlean’s Rob Rasmussen (UCLA) who comes into Thursday with a 0.96 ERA and 26 strikeouts in just 18.2 innings pitched. Rasmussen is joined by a stellar pitching staff that includes Orleans teammates Casey Gaynor (Rutgers) and Elliot Glynn (Connecticut), Brewster’s Kyle Blair (San Diego), Harwich’s Aaron Meade (Missouri State) and Chatham closer Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt), who is tied with Y-D’s Burgoon for the league lead in saves with seven.
Falmouth and Cotuit lead the way for West All-Stars, each providing five players on the 21-man squad. Falmouth’s outfield duo of Brian Fletcher (Auburn) and Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State), who is second in the league in hitting at .368, get the start in left and center fields. Joining them from Falmouth is shortstop B.A. Vollmuth (Southern Miss) and pitchers Patrick Cooper (Des Moines CC) and Taylor Wall (Rice).
Cotuit, also with five players on the roster, will send three starters: third basemen Zach Cox (Arkansas), outfielder Zach Cone (Georgia), and catcher Cody Stanley (UNC Wilmington). Another Cotuit catcher, Cameron Rupp (Texas), will back up Stanley on the All-Star roster. Pitcher Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern) gets the nod as a reserve.
Joining the Falmouth and Cotuit players in the West starting lineup are Bourne first basemen Kyle Roller (East Carolina), Hyannis second basemen Nick Crawford (UAB), and Hyannis designated hitter Ryan Cuneo (Delaware), who is tied with the aforementioned Mickey Wiswall for the league lead in RBI. Starting for the West is Wareham’s Brandon Workman (Texas).
Two more of Workman’s teammates are on the West pitching staff: Jack Armstrong (Vanderbilt), son of the former major leaguer of the same name, and Eric Pfisterer (Duke). Hyannis’ Dallas Gallant (Sam Houston), Bourne’s Stephen Harrold (UNC Wilmington) and Kevin Munson (James Madison) are also on the West staff.
Prior to the game, six players will partake in the Home Run Hitting Contest. Starting third basemen Jedd Gyorko (3 HR), Harwich’s Connor Powers (1 HR), and Brewster infielder Harold Martinez (1 HR) will represent the East Division. The West will be represented by Falmouth’s Hunter Morris (4 HR), Wareham’s Brett Eibner (2 HR), and Cotuit’s Kevin Patterson (3 HR).
Fenway Park gates open for the All-Star Game at 3 p.m. on July 23. Batting practice and autograph sessions will take place until the Home Run Hitting Contest at 5:15 p.m. The 47th Under Armour All-Star Game gets underway at 7 p.m.
The New England Sports Network (NESN) will provide a live telecast of the game. Local NPR affiliate WCAI (90.1 fm) will provide radio coverage. NPR’s Neal Conan will do play-by-play and the Cape League’s John Garner will handle the color commentary.
For tickets, visit any one of the 10 league parks, as the teams are competing to see who can sell the most tickets. Or call 617-REDSOX9 to order tickets. There is also a promotion to bid on being the “batboy/girl ” for the game on www.capecodbaseball.org through Monday.
