May 26, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Highlighted by Jack Anderson (Evanston, Ill.) in the Cape Cod Baseball League and Christian Helsel (Altoona, Pa.) in the Northwoods League, eight Penn State baseball players will participate in collegiate summer leagues. Games begin in early June.
Anderson, a rising senior, is scheduled to pitch for the Cotuit Keetlers in Cotuit, Mass. in the Cape League. The league is recognized as the premier amateur summer league, with over a 1,000 major leaguers amongst its alumni. The Keetlers have won the Cape League championship a record 16 times. This past season, Anderson led the Nittany Lions with a 2.98 ERA, five saves and 29 appearances. The reliever also ranked third on the team with 54 1/3 innings pitched and tied for third with 31 strikeouts.
Helsel, a rising redshirt junior, is slated to play for the Battle Creek Bombers in Battle Creek, Mich. The Northwoods League has 36 alums currently playing on MLB rosters. Helsel batted .258 with a home run and 12 RBIs in his first season with the Blue and White, which was limited to 38 games due to injury. He led the team with 21 walks and made 36 starts between third base, first base, second base and designated hitter.
Joining Anderson in the New England region will be shortstop Jim Haley (Upper Darby, Pa.), who will play for the North Adams SteepleCats in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. The rising junior ranked second on the Lions with a .301 batting average and 25 RBIs.
Rising junior Dakota Forsyth (Bethel Park, Pa.), who worked his way into the weekend starting rotation late in the season, will play for the Baltimore Redbirds of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. Catcher Alex Malinsky (Apex, N.C.) and outfielder Nick Riotto (Washington, Pa.), both rising juniors, will be teammates on the inaugural Galion Graders roster in Galion, Ohio, which will play in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. Additionally, rising redshirt sophomore Jake Pilewicz (Sewickley, Pa.) will pitch in the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League for the Riverhead Tomcats on Long Island, while rising sophomore catcher Nick Graham (Chambersburg, Pa.) will play in the southern tier of New York for the Elmira Pioneers in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.