June 1, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Highlighted by Taylor Lehman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Willie Burger (Lancaster, Pa.) in the Cape Cod Baseball League, 17 Penn State baseball players will participate in collegiate summer leagues.
The Nittany Lions will be playing in nine different leagues on 11 different teams. Play has either already begun or will commence soon in early June. Fans can follow each using the links to leagues and teams to the right.
Lehman, a rising junior left-handed pitcher, will play for the Cotuit Keetlers in Cotuit, Massachusetts, in the Cape League, the same team recent graduate Jack Anderson (Evanston, Ill.) pitched for in 2015. Lehman has been a starter in Penn State's rotation in each of his first two seasons. Burger, a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten Freshman team at first base this past season, will play for the Falmouth Commodores in Falmouth, Mass. The Cape League is recognized as the premier amateur summer league, with over a 1,000 major leaguers amongst its alumni.
Rising senior Christian Helsel (Altoona, Pa.) is slated to return to the Battle Creek Bombers of the Northwoods League in Battle Creek, Michigan for the second consecutive season. He will be joined in the league by classmate Tom Mullin (Springfield, Pa,), who will head north of the border to Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, to play for the Thunder Bay Border Cats. Since debuting in 1994, the Northwoods League has produced 150 Major Leaguers.
RHP Sal Biasi (Hazleton Township, Pa.) is expected to join a team in either the Cape League or the Northwoods League. Biasi struck out a team-high 66 batters in his first season as a starter, posting a 3.74 ERA and 5-6 record.
Another Lion slated to make a summer return is infielder Jim Haley (Upper Darby, Pa.) with the North Adams SteepleCats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League in North Adams, Mass. The rising senior led the Nittany Lions in batting for much of the season before finishing second on the team with a .315 average. He will be joined this season by classmate Nick Riotto (Washington, Pa.), who was named first-team All-Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League last summer playing for the Galion Graders in Ohio. He finished third in the league with a .385 batting average and then led Penn State with a .405 on-base percentage last season.
Three rising sophomore Lions will play for the Baltimore Redbirds of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League: Connor Klemann (Royersford, Pa.), Eli Nabholz (Pottsville, Pa.) and Ryan Sloniger (Punxsutawney, Pa.) The trio will be looking to help the Redbirds to their fifth consecutive league title after rising senior RHP Dakota Forsyth (Bethel Park, Pa.) helped the Redbirds to their fourth last season, starting the first game of the championship series.
Two other teams will include multiple Lions. Catcher Nick Graham (Chambersburg, Pa.) and outfielder Austin Riggins (Greer, S.C.) will head to New York's southern tier to play for the Elmira Pioneers of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, while Florida residents and rising sophomores Jordan Bowersox (Winter Springs, Fla.) and Blake Hodgens (Tampa, Fla.) will play for the Winter Park Diamond Dogs in the Sunshine State.
Additional Lions playing near home for the summer include Conlin Hughes (Holly Springs, N.C.) playing for the hometown Holly Springs Salamanders of the Coastal Plain League in North Carolina, Keith Leavitt (Manchester, Mass.) playing for the North Shore Navigators of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League of New England in Lynn, Massachusetts and Schuyler Bates (Ossining, N.Y.) playing for the New Rochelle Dirtbags of the Westchester Rockland Wood Bat League in New York.