Futures Collegiate Baseball League News & Notes

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It was a busy week for the Futures Collegiate Baseball League over the last seven days. Not only did teams play their schedule of games, but MLB scouts were given the chance to run “camp days” during the beginning of the week. The good news was the weather was in the favor of the scouts. And they got the opportunity to get a first-hand look at the players who have spent the latter part of summer playing ball. For the players, it was a busy week for sure. But it’s a week that can go a long way toward a possible career in baseball. Here is some other news from the week that was in the Futures League.

As the season begins to wind down, it does appear that the two teams that could play for the Futures Collegiate Baseball League Championship are Nashua and Worcester. That because as was the case last week, they are the only two teams that are playing above .500 ball. Brockton did try to make this a three-team race for the championship series but a less than stellar week, as well as a 4-6 mark over their last ten games has them falling back in the standings. The Rox are still one game under .500 at 15-16 and more importantly, are four games back in the loss column of second-place Silver Knights who are at 18-12. Time is running out for Brockton to make up the ground that is necessary to qualify for the championship series. As for the Bravehearts. they have a two-game lead over Nashua in that all-important loss column. That is despite playing just .500 baseball over their last ten games (5-5). At 18-10 overall, things are looking pretty good for Worcester to be playing for a championship in the near future.

For those that may be interested, Nashua and Worcester have only one regular-season meeting left. It takes place on Monday, Aug. 10 in Nashua, The two teams have met seven times during the regular season with Worcester winning four, Nashua taking two, and one game ending up in a 10-10 tie. For Brockton to have any chance of catching Nashua for second place in the league they must win the final two meetings they have with the Silver Knights. The dates of those games are Aug.14 and 16.

Some league leaders to give some attention to include Jared Dupere of Nashua. He leads the league in hitting at .400, is tied for second in home runs with five, and is third in runs batted in with 21. The Northeastern outfielder has hit in nine of his last ten games. His last four games have been multiple-hit games. He has six extra-base hit during that time with 12 RBI,12 runs scored, and three home runs. Ben Rice, of Worcester, is hitting .333 which is third in the league. Rice has gone yard nine times so far and that number has him leading the circuit His twenty RBI places him third. Rice has gone deep five times in his last ten games.The left-handed hitting catcher out of Dartmouth has shown power going the other way.

On the pitching side of thing, there is Nick Sinacola of Brockton who leads the league in strikeouts with 47. He is second in ERA at 1.06. The Maine Black Bear product has made six starts for the Rox and has gone at least four innings in all of them. In two of those outings, he has totaled double digits in strikeouts. His best start came on July 16 vs Nashua when he went seven shutouts innings of two-hit baseball with twelve strikeouts. In his six turns on the hill, Sinacola has pitched seven frames three times.

Next week, we will have another look at the Futures League.