MOBILE, Ala. – Following the conclusion of the 2010 season, seven University of South Alabama baseball student-athletes opted to spend the summer sharpening their skills in collegiate wooden bat summer leagues.
Four of those seven student-athletes, Phillip Byrd, Nolan Earley, Brad Hook and Chad Reeves, are competing in the Prospect League, a wooden bat league comprised of 15 teams in seven states (Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia).
Earley and Reeves joined the Terre Haute Rex, based in Terre Haute, Ind., while Byrd and Hook teamed up with the Dubois County Bombers of Huntingburg, Ind.
Earley leads Terre Haute in batting average (.330), hits (30), doubles (7), triples (3) and runs scored (17). Earley has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, and is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak. He has recorded multiple hits in five of his last 10 games, and has 10 multiple-hit games this season.
Reeves, a right-handed pitcher from Mobile, ranks third in strikeouts for Terre Haute, and boasts an ERA of 3.00 in 27 innings pitched. He has appeared in six games so far this season with three starts, and has allowed just one run in each of his last two starts. In his most recent start which came June 24 against Dubois County, Reeves allowed one run on five hits in five innings to earn his first win of the season. Reeves has also collected two hits and drove in two runs in five at-bats.
Hook has hit safely in six of his last seven games, and has recorded five multiple-hit games this summer. Hook leads the Bombers in at-bats (74), and is tied for the team lead in hits with 19. The Franklin, Ind., native ranks second on the team in runs scored (12), doubles (5) and base on balls (10). Hook ranks third in RBI (11) among the Bombers.
Byrd holds a 3.29 ERA in seven appearances and has recorded one save this summer. The Hurley, Miss., native has not allowed a run in four of his seven appearances this season, and has recorded 17 strikeouts over seven walks.
Jaguar right-hander Shane LeBlanc is competing for the Carolina Chaos, located in Clemson, S.C., of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League (SCBL). The league is composed of eight teams across North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. LeBlanc is 1-2 in four appearances this summer, with a 7.27 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched. He earned his first win of the season June 26 against Ashville, in a seven-inning effort in which the Biloxi, Miss., native allowed just one run on two hits. LeBlanc recorded four strikeouts and issued just one walk in the contest.
Outfielder Nathaniel Lami is competing in the Coastal Plain League (CPL) as a member of the Fayetteville SwampDogs, based in Fayetteville, N.C. The CPL is made up of 15 teams across three states (North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia). Lami is batting .259 in 12 games, with four RBI and five runs scored. The Fairhope, Ala., native went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run scored in a 10-7 win last week against Columbia.
Jaguar catcher Brent Mitchell returned to his native Canada this summer to compete for the Kitchener Panthers, located in Kitchener, Ontario, of the Intercounty Baseball League. Mitchell is batting .333 with two home runs, three doubles and seven RBI for the Panthers, and has scored 13 runs while posting a .433 on-base percentage.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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