Summer Ball Links / Boilermakers in Pro Ball
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Skyler Hunter's Wareham Gatemen summer ball team swept through the playoffs to win the Cape Cod League title, capping a big year of team success for Purdue baseball's rising junior.
Hunter also helped Wareham win the Cape Cod League's West Division title. After he started all 59 games in center field for the Boilermakers this spring, Hunter's teams were a combined 69-38-2 (.642) in 2018.
Elsewhere, alumnus Jacson McGowan (2016-18) has been named an all-star in his first season of pro ball. He'll represent the Hudson Valley Renegades (Tampa Bay Rays) on the North team at the New York-Penn League All-Star Game, which is set for Aug. 14 at Penn State's Medlar Field (also home to the State College Spikes). In Purdue's sweep at Penn State in March, McGowan homered and recorded a team-high five RBI.
Hayden Wyjna was also part of a summer league championship team in the Ohio Valley League. His Owensboro Riverdogs won the East Division with a league-best 28-14 record and then went 6-1 in the playoffs. Wynja redshirted during his freshman season at Purdue this past spring after being selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 2017 MLB Draft. He pitched 21 1/3 innings over nine appearances for Owensboro this summer.
Hunter's team went 6-0 in the Cape Cod League playoffs. He hit safely and scored a run in all three playoff games in which he played, finishing the postseason 6-for-12 with three RBI. Wareham won the championship in a game had to be finished Monday afternoon after fog led to game 2 of the best-of-three series being suspended with Wareham up 4-1 in the middle of the sixth inning of a game being played in Chatham, Massachusetts.
Hunter finished the summer having played in 38 games for Wareham. He also got a chance to take part in the annual Cape Cod League scout day at Fenway Park in mid-July. The Cape Cod League is traditionally regarded as the most prestigious summer wood bat league in the country.
MORE SUMMER LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
• Owen Jansen and Ben Nisle also played for summer ball teams that advanced to the playoffs.
• Jansen's Dodge City A's qualified for the National Baseball Congress World Series, an annual summer event in Wichita, Kansas. Jansen batted .347 with 14 extra-base hits and 19 RBI in 32 regular-season game for Dodge City. His team went 2-1 in pool play at the NBC World Series, but lost a run differential tiebreaker to a Seattle team it defeated on the opening night of the pool. Jansen hit safely in all three games of the event, finishing the tournament 3-for-9 with two RBI.
• Nisle's Palm Springs Power had the top regular-season record (30-7, 15-7 SCCBL) in the Southern California Collegiate League, but dropped a pair of one-run games in the playoffs. Nisle batted .300 with six extra-base hits, 10 RBI and 20 runs scored in 21 games this summer.
SMITH ENJOYS PRODUCTIVE SUMMER WITH RICHMOND
• Like Wynja, Patrick W. Smith also redshirted in his first season as a Boilermaker this spring. He proved this summer with the Richmond Jazz of the Great Lakes League that he should be ready to contribute as he returns to Purdue. Smith batted .330 with 15 extra-base hits, 19 RBI, 20 walks and 36 runs scored. He started in right field and batted third for the North Team at the July 17 Great Lakes League All-Star Game. However, he only played in five more games for Richmond after the All-Star Game. A 1-for-18 slump over the last five games likely cost him a spot on the GLSCL's all-league teams. He was second in the league with a .397 batting average when he was named an all-star on July 11.
MORE ON McGOWAN AS AN ALL-STAR
• A big month of July earned Jacson McGowan his all-star honor for the Hudson Valley Renegades. He started his pro career just 5-for-40, but his adjustments proved successful. In July, he batted .342 with 13 RBI in 21 games. At one point he had raised his batting average for the MiLB season by .160 points thanks in part to a stretch in which he hit safely in 18 of 19 games from July 6 to Aug. 2. Hudson Valley leads the McNamara Division with an NYPL-best 33-22 record at the all-star break.
MORE ALUMNI NEWS
• Josh Lindblom (2007-08) worked six innings of two-run ball in an Aug. 11 win for the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization, recording his league-leading 19th quality start in 23 outings this season. At 14-3, he also remains tops in the league in ERA (2.79) and WHIP (1.07). The KBO does not feature the equivalent of MLB's Cy Young Award, but a pitcher has won league MVP in each of the last two years and three times since 2011. Foreign-born players are eligible for MVP honors. Doosan has been in first place for much of the season, sporting a 72-39 record and 10-game lead in the standings as of Aug. 13.
• Nick Dalesandro (2016-18) has been a very consistent performer in his first season of pro ball in the Arizona Diamondbacks system. He has hit safely in 26 of the 32 games in which he has batted while hitting over .300 for much of the summer with the Missoula Osprey of the Pioneer League (Rookie Ball). As of Aug. 13, he's batting .351 (13-for-37) in his last 11 games, helping Missoula post an 8-2 record in August.
• Matt Frawley (2014-16) and Kyle Johnson (2013-16) are both with new affiliates in the New York Yankees system. On Aug. 2, Frawley rejoined the Trenton Thunder of the Double-A Eastern League after also pitching for Trenton back in May. Trenton is in good position to qualify for the playoffs as a wild card. Having fully recovered from the shoulder surgery that sidelined him for all of 2017, Johnson was promoted to the Staten Island Yankees of the Class A Short Season New York-Penn League. He made his Staten Island debut Aug. 11. Johnson's new team has five games remaining against Jacson McGowan's Hudson Valley team (Aug. 15-16, 26-28).
• Cameron Perkins (2010-12) and Nick Wittgren (2011-12) faced each other in a July 29 Pacific Coast League (Triple-A) game in New Orleans. Wittgren retired Perkins on a fly ball to center field in the ninth inning, but Perkins' Tacoma Rainiers (Seattle Mariners) won the game 7-5.
• Tanner Andrews (2015-18) earned his first professional win Aug. 3 when he worked two hitless innings of relief, striking out four, for the Batavia Muckdogs (Miami Marlins) of the New York-Penn League.
• Brad Schreiber (2010-13) joined the Boise Hawks of the Northwest League during the first week of August for a rehab assignment in the Colorado Rockies system. He made his season debut Aug. 4 for Boise with a perfect 1-2-3 frame.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Skyler Hunter's Wareham Gatemen summer ball team swept through the playoffs to win the Cape Cod League title, capping a big year of team success for Purdue baseball's rising junior.
Hunter also helped Wareham win the Cape Cod League's West Division title. After he started all 59 games in center field for the Boilermakers this spring, Hunter's teams were a combined 69-38-2 (.642) in 2018.
Elsewhere, alumnus Jacson McGowan (2016-18) has been named an all-star in his first season of pro ball. He'll represent the Hudson Valley Renegades (Tampa Bay Rays) on the North team at the New York-Penn League All-Star Game, which is set for Aug. 14 at Penn State's Medlar Field (also home to the State College Spikes). In Purdue's sweep at Penn State in March, McGowan homered and recorded a team-high five RBI.
Hayden Wyjna was also part of a summer league championship team in the Ohio Valley League. His Owensboro Riverdogs won the East Division with a league-best 28-14 record and then went 6-1 in the playoffs. Wynja redshirted during his freshman season at Purdue this past spring after being selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 2017 MLB Draft. He pitched 21 1/3 innings over nine appearances for Owensboro this summer.
Hunter's team went 6-0 in the Cape Cod League playoffs. He hit safely and scored a run in all three playoff games in which he played, finishing the postseason 6-for-12 with three RBI. Wareham won the championship in a game had to be finished Monday afternoon after fog led to game 2 of the best-of-three series being suspended with Wareham up 4-1 in the middle of the sixth inning of a game being played in Chatham, Massachusetts.
Hunter finished the summer having played in 38 games for Wareham. He also got a chance to take part in the annual Cape Cod League scout day at Fenway Park in mid-July. The Cape Cod League is traditionally regarded as the most prestigious summer wood bat league in the country.
MORE SUMMER LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
• Owen Jansen and Ben Nisle also played for summer ball teams that advanced to the playoffs.
• Jansen's Dodge City A's qualified for the National Baseball Congress World Series, an annual summer event in Wichita, Kansas. Jansen batted .347 with 14 extra-base hits and 19 RBI in 32 regular-season game for Dodge City. His team went 2-1 in pool play at the NBC World Series, but lost a run differential tiebreaker to a Seattle team it defeated on the opening night of the pool. Jansen hit safely in all three games of the event, finishing the tournament 3-for-9 with two RBI.
• Nisle's Palm Springs Power had the top regular-season record (30-7, 15-7 SCCBL) in the Southern California Collegiate League, but dropped a pair of one-run games in the playoffs. Nisle batted .300 with six extra-base hits, 10 RBI and 20 runs scored in 21 games this summer.
SMITH ENJOYS PRODUCTIVE SUMMER WITH RICHMOND
• Like Wynja, Patrick W. Smith also redshirted in his first season as a Boilermaker this spring. He proved this summer with the Richmond Jazz of the Great Lakes League that he should be ready to contribute as he returns to Purdue. Smith batted .330 with 15 extra-base hits, 19 RBI, 20 walks and 36 runs scored. He started in right field and batted third for the North Team at the July 17 Great Lakes League All-Star Game. However, he only played in five more games for Richmond after the All-Star Game. A 1-for-18 slump over the last five games likely cost him a spot on the GLSCL's all-league teams. He was second in the league with a .397 batting average when he was named an all-star on July 11.
MORE ON McGOWAN AS AN ALL-STAR
• A big month of July earned Jacson McGowan his all-star honor for the Hudson Valley Renegades. He started his pro career just 5-for-40, but his adjustments proved successful. In July, he batted .342 with 13 RBI in 21 games. At one point he had raised his batting average for the MiLB season by .160 points thanks in part to a stretch in which he hit safely in 18 of 19 games from July 6 to Aug. 2. Hudson Valley leads the McNamara Division with an NYPL-best 33-22 record at the all-star break.
MORE ALUMNI NEWS
• Josh Lindblom (2007-08) worked six innings of two-run ball in an Aug. 11 win for the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization, recording his league-leading 19th quality start in 23 outings this season. At 14-3, he also remains tops in the league in ERA (2.79) and WHIP (1.07). The KBO does not feature the equivalent of MLB's Cy Young Award, but a pitcher has won league MVP in each of the last two years and three times since 2011. Foreign-born players are eligible for MVP honors. Doosan has been in first place for much of the season, sporting a 72-39 record and 10-game lead in the standings as of Aug. 13.
• Nick Dalesandro (2016-18) has been a very consistent performer in his first season of pro ball in the Arizona Diamondbacks system. He has hit safely in 26 of the 32 games in which he has batted while hitting over .300 for much of the summer with the Missoula Osprey of the Pioneer League (Rookie Ball). As of Aug. 13, he's batting .351 (13-for-37) in his last 11 games, helping Missoula post an 8-2 record in August.
• Matt Frawley (2014-16) and Kyle Johnson (2013-16) are both with new affiliates in the New York Yankees system. On Aug. 2, Frawley rejoined the Trenton Thunder of the Double-A Eastern League after also pitching for Trenton back in May. Trenton is in good position to qualify for the playoffs as a wild card. Having fully recovered from the shoulder surgery that sidelined him for all of 2017, Johnson was promoted to the Staten Island Yankees of the Class A Short Season New York-Penn League. He made his Staten Island debut Aug. 11. Johnson's new team has five games remaining against Jacson McGowan's Hudson Valley team (Aug. 15-16, 26-28).
• Cameron Perkins (2010-12) and Nick Wittgren (2011-12) faced each other in a July 29 Pacific Coast League (Triple-A) game in New Orleans. Wittgren retired Perkins on a fly ball to center field in the ninth inning, but Perkins' Tacoma Rainiers (Seattle Mariners) won the game 7-5.
• Tanner Andrews (2015-18) earned his first professional win Aug. 3 when he worked two hitless innings of relief, striking out four, for the Batavia Muckdogs (Miami Marlins) of the New York-Penn League.
• Brad Schreiber (2010-13) joined the Boise Hawks of the Northwest League during the first week of August for a rehab assignment in the Colorado Rockies system. He made his season debut Aug. 4 for Boise with a perfect 1-2-3 frame.