2010 Diamond Notes

Anthony Varvaro, former Metro NY Cadets RHP, made his MLB debut on September 24 when he hurled a shutout inning with two strikeouts against Tampa Bay. The former St.John's pitcher made four appearances since his promotion from Tacoma and took the loss against Oakland on Sunday when he allowed five runs in four innings. Varvaro was a 12th round pick of Seattle in 2005 and was named to the Southern League All-Star team in 2009 and 2010. The ACBL has now produced at least one new Major League Baseball player every year going back to 1980.

For the second year in their 2 year existence a Hampton's team has captured the ACBL championship. North Fork wrapped up a 31-15 campaign with a 5-4 nail biter at Cochran Park over the Quakertown Blazers 5-4. The Blazer's drew first blood in the top of the third inning on a solo home run by Robbie Zinsmeister. That lead was short lived however as North Fork put 4 runs on the board with apower display in the bottom of the inning. Kurt Schlangen, who collected 2 hits on the night, reached first with a one out single to start the rally. Schlangen then stole second and advanced to third on a sacrafice fly. Robert Kelly then walked to put runners at first and third. Rocco Gondek promptly smacked a three run homer to put the Osprey's up 3-1. David Jacob followed up with a solo shot to make it 4-1, North Fork. Quakertown cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth when Dan Johnson stroked a lead off single. Adam Kammler singled and Johnson moved up to second. Matt Albaugh foolowed with an RBI single to score Johnson. North Fork right fielderDavid Jacob singled with 2 outs and stole second. Andrew Harris double home Jacob for a 5-2 Osprey lead in the bottom of the 5th. The score would stay 5-2 until the top of the 9th. With the Blazers down to their last out, Scott Kalamar walked and moved to second on catcher's indifference. James Quigley drilled a double to score Kalamar. The next batter, Eric Kammler, singled home Quigley to bring the Blazers within 1 run. The rally would end there as North Fork closer Lee Weld got Johnson to ground out to third. Aaron Snyder picked up the win and Weld got the save. Quakertown starter Chris Nichols took the loss.

The West All-Stars broke open a scoreless game in the top of the 4th inning, taking a 3-0 lead. 3 runs would be all the West needed to take the 2010 All-Star game and take a 4-1 decision over the East All-Stars. The West collected 6 of their 12 hits in the top of the 4th inning. Nick Nolan (Staten Island Tide) led off the 4th with a single. Sean Gusrang (Staten Island Tide) followed with a single through the right side of the infield advancing Nolan to third. Zach Graczyk (Torrington Titans) smacked an RBI single to right field bringing in Nolan and placing runners at first and third. Lehigh Valley Catz catcher Tyler Jones then drilled a 2 run double to left field putting the West up 3-0. The West added a run in the top of the 7th with Matt Grosso (Torrington Titans) scoring on a fielders choice by Ken Gregory (Jersey Pilots). The East finally got on the board in the bottom of the 8th when Billy Ferriter (North Fork Osprey) singled and stole second base and advanced to third on an error. Ferriter scored an unearned run on a strike out and throw to first to get the second out of the inning. Billy Ferriter (North Fork Osprey) was named the ACBL All-Star MVP going 4-4 with four stolen bases and a run scored. Brandon Smith (Torrington Titans) picked up the win with David Drinks (Quakertown Blazers) credited with a save. The losing pitcher was Brian Sundberg (Long Island Collegians).

Click here for the complete box score

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- ACBL West All-Stars. 000 300 100 - 4 12 1 (1-0) ACBL East All-Stars. 000 000 010 - 1 6 0 (0-1) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: ACBL West All-Stars - MONTEAGUDO; GONZALES(2); SMITH(3); WHITE(4); RUSSO(5); REED(6); BARTUSKA(7); PROSINSKI(8); DRINKS(9). ACBL East All-Stars - SOREN; BUDKEVICS(2); HART(3); SUNDBERG(4); COX(5); ZACCARDO(6); CARDONA(7); GOTTLIEB(8); NOVAK(9). Win-SMITH(1-0) Save-DRINKS(1) Loss-SUNDBERG(0-1) T-2:05 A-420 Weather: mostly cloudy

Click here for the 2010 All-Star rosters

TORRINGTON, CT (June 29, 2010) - As a premium game on the Torrington Titans' schedule, the choice was made in overwhelming fashion (94 percent) by The Our Baseball Haven membership to bring in Team Canada for an exhibition game. On Tuesday, July 13, at Fuessenich Park, the Torrington Titans will host Team Canada, which has 11 MLB Draft picks on their roster. "Bringing in Team Canada is another way this inaugural season keeps getting better in Torrington," OBH Partner David Klineberg said. "It's a good decision on our membership's part to bring in this quality brand of baseball with so much talent. It should be a great night." Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Please go to www.torringtontitans.com for more details. The Torrington Titans are a baseball franchise in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League. The Torrington Titans are the team controlled by Our Baseball Haven members. Members receive voting rights in team operations and also a season ticket to all regular-season home games. The team manager, name, logo, and team colors have all been voted on by the members. Members participate in several votes throughout the season. The mission of the Torrington Titans and Our Baseball Haven is to involve our fanbase with the team through a democratic voting process while giving back to the community through partnerships with non-profits. At each home game, a designated non-profit receives all net proceeds from all gate receipts. It is this model that we believe will provide a deeper level of engagement with the fan base while giving back to the community. For more information, please contact the partners at Our Baseball Haven at [email protected] or call Brett Orzechowski at 203.889.8074.

Once again the ACBL has several players who are related to current and former Major League players. Logan Gallagher (Louisburg, Jersey Pilots) is the son of Dave Gallagher (MLB,1987-95) who played for the Indians, White Sox, Angels, Mets and Braves. Chris Nichols (Sioux Falls, Quakertown Blazers) is the son of Rod Nichols (MLB, 1988-1995) who pitched for the Indians and Braves and is currently the pitching coach for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the AAA Phillies team. Colby Pacillo (DeSales, North Jersey Eagles) is the son of Pat Pacillo who pitched for the Reds in 1987 and 1988. Glen Johnson (Jacksonville, Westhampton Aviators) is the son of Howard "Hojo" Johnson (MLB, 1982-1995) who had a spectacular career with the Mets and is currently their batting coach. Kevin Stenhouse (Rhode Island, Southampton Breakers) is the son of Mike Stenhouse, who played with the Expos, Twins and Red Sox from 1982-86, and the grandson of Dave Stenhouse, who pitched for the Washington Senators from 1962-64. In addition Jake Porcello (NJIT, Jersey Pilots) is the brother of Ric Porcello of the Tigers while Mike Schneider, Field Manager of the Blazers, is the cousin of current Phillie catcher Brian Schneider.

Today's Quakertown Blazers at Long Island Collegians double header, originally scheduled to be played at New York Institute of Technology beginning at 1pm has been moved to Houlihan Park at Fordham University with a 4:15pm start for game 1. For directions to Houlihan Park at Fordham University, click here.

The following games have been postponed due to the weather: North Jersey at Torrington Lackawanna at Lehigh Valley Staten Island at Long Island Check back often as we will be updating the site when we know about the other games.

Drew Sutton (Catz) hit his first Major League grand slam in the bottom of the sixth when he pinch hit for Sam LeCure who won his MLB debut for the Reds. Sutton drilled one high off the foul pole in left field while hitting from the right side. In the eighth inning Sutton lined a single through the middle from the left side off catcher Kevin Cash (Colonels) who pitched the eighth inning in the 15-6 win over Sutton's former team, the Astros.

Mike Aviles (New York Generals) went two -for -four as the Royals won their first series under their new manager with a 5-3 win over the White Sox on Sunday. Aviles is hitting .388 with a .531 slugging average since his recall from Omaha two weeks ago.

Several former ACBL players rank among the national leaders in the recent NCAA statistics. Sean Allaire (Peekskill Robins) is second in D-1 hitting with a .473 average while Effrey Valdez (Long Island Mustangs) is third at .472. Valdez has a .561 On Base Percentage which is 5th nationally. Tom Zebroski (Long Island Mustangs) ranks 6th in hits with 74. At the D-2 level Shayne Houck (Kutztown Rockies) is second with a slugging average of 1.007 including 16 home runs. His .493 average is good for fourth place nationally.

Two former ACBL players and ex-major league pitchers are in the rotation for the Lehigh Valley AAA affiliate of the Phillies. Nate Bump (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) and Ryan Vogelsong (Quakertown) both signed free agent contracts with the Phillies over the winter and hope to return to the Major Leagues. Both were drafted by the Giants in 1998 and this will be their 12th season of pro ball. Bump was a first rounder while Vogelsong went in the fifth round. Last year Bump pitched in AAA for the Tigers while Vogelsong played in Japan. Bump pitched for the Marlins from 2003 to 2005 while Vogelsong was with the Pirates from 2001 thru 2006.

Jamie Moyer (Phillies) heads up a contingent of former ACBL players who will be in MLB spring training within the next few weeks. The ageless wonder hopes to add a few more wins to his 258 career victories which place him 41st on the all time career win list. Jason Bergmann (Nationals), John Lannan (Nationals), Joe Martinez (Giants) and Anthony Varvaro (Mariners) are young pitchers looking to contribute. Mike Aviles (Royals) and Drew Sutton (Reds) hope to land infield positions with the big league club. Six former ACBL players with MLB experience have resurfaced as non roster invitees to big league camps. Vinnie Chulk (Pirates), John Halama (Brewers), Craig Hansen (Pirates) and Ryan Vogelsong (Phillies) hope to gain a pitching slot while Kevin Cash (Astros) and Reid Gorecki (Yankees) are position players. Craig Clark topped the Giants organization with 16 wins at San Jose and is a non roster invitee to the Giants camp.

Peter Greskoff (Riverhead Tomcats) was named the SummerCollegeLeagues.com Co-player of the Year along with Drew Heid (Alaska Glacier Pilots). Ken Gregory (Jersey Pilots) was one of the seventeen finalists for the SCL Player of the Year Award. Greskoff,a 6'3" 222 pound junior first baseman at Brown University, led all college summer leagues in slugging percentage (.760). He was also in the top ten for batting average (7th), on-base percentage (4th), and home runs (tied for 9th).