Four ballplayers representing Purple Knights in summer college baseball leagues
COLCHESTER, Vt. - Four baseball players are representing Saint Michael's College in competitive leagues this summer, with rising juniors Nick Nelson (Spofford, N.H./Keene) and Alec Tice (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) remaining in New England, and rising senior Collin Fishman (Bethesda, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) and upcoming junior Nick Myers (Canton, Conn./The Master's School) playing out of region.
A right-handed pitcher, Myers is a member of the Geneva (N.Y.) Red Wings of the 12-team New York Collegiate Baseball League (NYCBL), a summer wooden bat league established in 1978. Each squad in the league, whose budget is partially funded by Major League Baseball, plays 40 contests during its season. Myers has appeared in 11 innings during six relief outings, striking out 10 while posting an 0-1 record. In three of his appearances, Myers did not allow an earned run for the 10-15 Red Wings. Geneva is located an hour west of Syracuse.
Fishman, who has played the infield and pitched during his collegiate career, is being used solely on the mound for the Southern Maryland Nationals of the 10-team Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. In his second straight summer pitching for the 8-18 Nationals, who are based a little more than an hour southeast of Washington, D.C., in Saint Leonard, Md., the righty has struck out nine and walked only three in six innings over five games. Each of his appearances has come in relief after he started all seven of his games in 2011. The wooden bat league, whose squads play 42 contests, consists of teams in the Baltimore-Washington metro area and began play in 2005.
Nelson and Tice are both playing in the Central New England Baseball Association (CNEBA), with the league's rosters a mixture of current and recent college baseball players. Nelson, an outfielder playing for his hometown Keene (N.H.) Blue Jays, has a team-best 11 RBIs to go along with three doubles. The Blue Jays stand 7-18. Tice is a member of the Westford (Mass.) Willows, located one town west of his hometown of Chelmsford. A first baseman for the Purple Knights, Tice's Willows are 14-11. The CNEBA's regular season ends next week, with the postseason running through the end of July.