UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team is back reunited on campus after several Nittany Lions played all across the country in collegiate baseball leagues. Additionally, five alums are continuing to compete in Minor League Baseball.
Summer Ball
Two Nittany Lions earned All-Star nods, as Curtis Robison (Dillsburg, Pa.) and Kris Kremer (Hershey, Pa.) did so in the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League and Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, respectively.
Robison, playing for the West Hampton Aviators was among the league leaders in multiple categories, as he batted .374 (fourth), with 52 hits (fifth), nine home runs (third), 29 RBIs (fifth) and 27 walks (fifth). Kremer hit five home runs, good to tie for fourth in the Ripken League, and also batted .276 with 10 doubles and 19 RBIs.
LHP Jeff Taylor (Lancaster, Pa.) helped the Baltimore Redbirds to a Cal Ripken League Co-Championship with a critical late-inning performance to protect a one-run lead in the second game of the best-of-three championship series. Taylor worked through the middle of the lineup in the eighth inning and got the first out of the ninth, allowing Baltimore to tie Bethesda in the series at 1-1. Unfortunately, the decisive Game 3 was rained out and the teams were declared co-champions. During the regular season, Taylor worked 19.0 innings over five relief appearances and two starts, and posted a 2.36 ERA and 20 strikeouts.
RHP Conor Larkin (Royersford, Pa.) worked 29 1/3 innings over five starts and one relief appearance for the Rockville Express in the Ripken League, posting a 1-2 record, one save and a 4.60 ERA with 42 strikeouts to just 14 walks. His lone save came in his final appearance of the season, holding the eventual co-champion Redbirds to just a run while striking out 11 over the final five innings.
Also winning a league championship was OF Mason Nadeau (Lansdale, Pa.), who helped the Southern Ohio Copperheads of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. He batted .300 with a pair of doubles and RBIs in the playoffs, and during the regular season he batted .276 with a home run, seven doubles and 21 RBIs in 21 games.
In the Northwoods League, for the Kalamazoo Growlers, RHP Kyle Virbitsky (Media, Pa.) and OF Jordan Bowersox (Winter Springs, Pa.) helped the team to its first playoff appearance. Virbitsky started the Growlers' first playoff game and received a no-decision after allowing just three runs in six innings while striking out six. It capped an impressive regular season in which he limited opponents to a 2.48 ERA over 12 starts, working 69.0 innings with 42 strikeouts and a 4-1 record. Bowersox batted .333 in with a double, home run and 16 RBIs in 26 games.
Additionally, RHP Bailey Dees (Charlotte, N.C.) totaled a 3.52 ERA, 1-2 record and 23 strikeouts in 23.0 innings three relief appearances and three starts for the Holly Springs Salamanders in the Coastal Plains League. Derek Orndorff (Mill Run, Pa.) enjoyed a strong season for the Oneonta Outlaws in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, batting .270 with four home runs and 21 RBIs over 41 games. Parker Hendershot (Barton, N.Y.) chipped in a pair of home runs in limited action for the same team.
Pro Lions
Penn State now has five alums active in MLB organizations - its most since 2010 – as 2018 team members Justin Hagenman and Taylor Lehman joined former teammates Jack Anderson, Sal Biasi and Jim Haley in the pro ranks.
After getting drafted in the 23rd round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in June, Hagenman made his professional debut on July 1 and has appeared in 11 games between the Ogden (Utah) Raptors (Rookie) and Great Lakes (Mich.) Loons (A-Full). He owns a 2-0 record and 4.91 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 22.0 innings pitched.
Lehman signed a free agent contract with the Phillies and has spent the summer with the team's Gulf Coast League team (Rookie). He has made 12 appearances so far, the highlight of which was a near perfect two innings with six strikeouts earlier this month.
Sal Biasi is in his second pro season and first full one. An 11th round draft pick of the Kansas City Royals organization, he was traded to the Brewers on August 7. Biasi has spent the entire season pitching in relief at the Class-A full season level, pitching for the Lexington Legends while with the Royals and now with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in the Brewers system. Between the two teams, he owns a 3-3 record and 5.13 ERA with three saves and 49 strikeouts in 47.1 innings.
Playing in their third pro seasons, Anderson and Haley have enjoyed solid campaigns. Anderson owns a 2.74 ERA in 37 appearances (46.0 innings) with 51 strikeouts and a 1-4 record, all for the Class-A advanced Modesto Nuts in the Seattle Mariners organization. Haley has spent his entire season with the Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods of the Tampa Bay Rays system, and is batting .313 with six home runs and 36 RBIs in 66 games. He recently had a 16-game hitting streak snapped.
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