WESTFIELD, Ind. – A big summer for Purdue baseball's Jack Firestone earned the rising redshirt sophomore Player of the Year honors in the College Summer League at Grand Park, joining teammate Jake Stadler on the 10-man all-league team of position players.
Firestone batted .342 with seven home runs and 26 RBI for the Local Legends, leading the eight-team wood bat league in home runs. He was a unanimous all-league selection in the outfield. Stadler, who redshirted in the spring during his first year with the program, was the all-league selection at catcher for the Moon Shots after he batted .291 with three home runs and 13 RBI.
Firestone and Stadler were also among the 10 Boilermakers selected for the Grand Park League's All-Star Game on Independence Day. Ryan Howe, Jackson Smeltz, Griffin Lohman, Pat Clohisy, Khal Stephen, Ben Nisle, Calvin Starnes and Jeremy Schork were also picked for and/or played in the league showcase. Firestone and Nisle were all-stars in the league for the second year in a row.
Firestone delivered a two-run double in Tuesday's 6-5 quarterfinal win for the Local Legends as the league's single-elimination playoffs got underway. In another quarterfinal game, Clohisy (Bag Bandits) and Stadler (Moon Shots) were both in the lineup for a back-and-forth affair that Clohisy's team won in walk-off fashion 7-6 thanks to a three-run ninth inning. Weston Gingerich (Park Rangers) and Will Allen (Turf Monsters) were also in the lineup for playoff games Tuesday. Semifinals are Wednesday and the championship game Friday at 7 p.m.
Firestone was named the CSL's Hitter of the Week on July 22 after a hot stretch in which he went 7-for-11 with eight RBI. The left-handed hitting outfielder was one of 13 Boilermakers to make their team debuts this spring, playing in 24 of the team's 42 games.
INCOMING BOILERMAKERS SWINGING HOT BATS IN SUMMER BALL
Three incoming players have enjoyed some notable big games or hot stretches at the plate in late July
• Troy Viola, a graduate transfer from San Jose State, is 11-for-23 with two home runs, five RBI, four stolen bases and seven runs scored over his last six games in the Texas Collegiate League dating back to July 16. Viola was a two-year starter at SJSU, making all 70 of his starts at third base and earning All-Mountain West Conference honors for a flawless defensive season during the abbreviated 2020 campaign. He did not play in the spring of this year before joining the Brazos Valley Bombers for the summer.
• Curtis Washington Jr.'s return to the Cape Catfish of the Prospect League has provided a late-summer spark. The switch-hitting outfielder is 12-for-38 with five extra-base hits since his first game with Cape Girardeau on July 18, helping the Catfish go 7-1 when he's in the lineup. The junior college All-American at Wabash Valley played the first six weeks of the summer with the State College Spikes of the new MLB Draft League. The Arkansas native had 20 walks and a .369 on-base percentage in 24 games for State College.
• Robby Mannino posted a rare two-triple, 10-total base game in the Atlantic Confederation League. In a July 22 win, the New Jersey native drove in four of his team's six runs while finishing the seven-inning affair 3-for-3 with a home run and a walk to go along with his two triples and four RBI.
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• Kevin Plawecki (2010-12) delivered the game-tying RBI as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning of the Boston Red Sox's July 25 rubber game win vs. the rival New York Yankees. New York's Domingo Germán carried a no-hitter into the frame but the Red Sox rallied for a five-run inning to steal the game 5-4 at Fenway Park. Plawecki was 2-for-4 with an RBI double in the middle game of the series.
• In four July starts for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds (Milwaukee Brewers affiliate), Josh Lindblom (2007-08) has racked up 25 strikeouts vs. six walks in 22 2/3 innings while compiling a 1.59 ERA and .124 WHIP. His season numbers for Nashville – 1.14 ERA, 1.12 WHIP – are even better.
• Nick Dalesandro (2016-18) is third in the High-A West League with 23 stolen bases for the Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate). He's done it as a catcher, just like he did during Purdue's 2018 NCAA Regional season when he swiped a team-high 27 bases to rank No. 1 among catchers nationally. In the MiLB.com stats database, his 23 steals are easily the most for any player designated as a catcher across all four levels of Minor League Baseball.
• Jacson McGowan (2016-18) has hit 12 home runs, including three grand slams, in 151 at-bats for the High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (Tampa Bay Rays affiliate).
• Patrick J. Smith (2018-19) earned his first save of the season for the Low-A Columbia Fireflies (Kansas City Royals affiliate) with two innings of hitless relief July 21. Smith has worked at least two innings in each of his last five appearances, registering a 1.54 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in July.
Firestone batted .342 with seven home runs and 26 RBI for the Local Legends, leading the eight-team wood bat league in home runs. He was a unanimous all-league selection in the outfield. Stadler, who redshirted in the spring during his first year with the program, was the all-league selection at catcher for the Moon Shots after he batted .291 with three home runs and 13 RBI.
Firestone and Stadler were also among the 10 Boilermakers selected for the Grand Park League's All-Star Game on Independence Day. Ryan Howe, Jackson Smeltz, Griffin Lohman, Pat Clohisy, Khal Stephen, Ben Nisle, Calvin Starnes and Jeremy Schork were also picked for and/or played in the league showcase. Firestone and Nisle were all-stars in the league for the second year in a row.
Firestone delivered a two-run double in Tuesday's 6-5 quarterfinal win for the Local Legends as the league's single-elimination playoffs got underway. In another quarterfinal game, Clohisy (Bag Bandits) and Stadler (Moon Shots) were both in the lineup for a back-and-forth affair that Clohisy's team won in walk-off fashion 7-6 thanks to a three-run ninth inning. Weston Gingerich (Park Rangers) and Will Allen (Turf Monsters) were also in the lineup for playoff games Tuesday. Semifinals are Wednesday and the championship game Friday at 7 p.m.
Firestone was named the CSL's Hitter of the Week on July 22 after a hot stretch in which he went 7-for-11 with eight RBI. The left-handed hitting outfielder was one of 13 Boilermakers to make their team debuts this spring, playing in 24 of the team's 42 games.
INCOMING BOILERMAKERS SWINGING HOT BATS IN SUMMER BALL
Three incoming players have enjoyed some notable big games or hot stretches at the plate in late July
• Troy Viola, a graduate transfer from San Jose State, is 11-for-23 with two home runs, five RBI, four stolen bases and seven runs scored over his last six games in the Texas Collegiate League dating back to July 16. Viola was a two-year starter at SJSU, making all 70 of his starts at third base and earning All-Mountain West Conference honors for a flawless defensive season during the abbreviated 2020 campaign. He did not play in the spring of this year before joining the Brazos Valley Bombers for the summer.
• Curtis Washington Jr.'s return to the Cape Catfish of the Prospect League has provided a late-summer spark. The switch-hitting outfielder is 12-for-38 with five extra-base hits since his first game with Cape Girardeau on July 18, helping the Catfish go 7-1 when he's in the lineup. The junior college All-American at Wabash Valley played the first six weeks of the summer with the State College Spikes of the new MLB Draft League. The Arkansas native had 20 walks and a .369 on-base percentage in 24 games for State College.
• Robby Mannino posted a rare two-triple, 10-total base game in the Atlantic Confederation League. In a July 22 win, the New Jersey native drove in four of his team's six runs while finishing the seven-inning affair 3-for-3 with a home run and a walk to go along with his two triples and four RBI.
ALUMNI NEWS
• Kevin Plawecki (2010-12) delivered the game-tying RBI as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning of the Boston Red Sox's July 25 rubber game win vs. the rival New York Yankees. New York's Domingo Germán carried a no-hitter into the frame but the Red Sox rallied for a five-run inning to steal the game 5-4 at Fenway Park. Plawecki was 2-for-4 with an RBI double in the middle game of the series.
• In four July starts for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds (Milwaukee Brewers affiliate), Josh Lindblom (2007-08) has racked up 25 strikeouts vs. six walks in 22 2/3 innings while compiling a 1.59 ERA and .124 WHIP. His season numbers for Nashville – 1.14 ERA, 1.12 WHIP – are even better.
• Nick Dalesandro (2016-18) is third in the High-A West League with 23 stolen bases for the Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate). He's done it as a catcher, just like he did during Purdue's 2018 NCAA Regional season when he swiped a team-high 27 bases to rank No. 1 among catchers nationally. In the MiLB.com stats database, his 23 steals are easily the most for any player designated as a catcher across all four levels of Minor League Baseball.
• Jacson McGowan (2016-18) has hit 12 home runs, including three grand slams, in 151 at-bats for the High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (Tampa Bay Rays affiliate).
• Patrick J. Smith (2018-19) earned his first save of the season for the Low-A Columbia Fireflies (Kansas City Royals affiliate) with two innings of hitless relief July 21. Smith has worked at least two innings in each of his last five appearances, registering a 1.54 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in July.