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Photo courtesy Elmira Pioneers |
Photo, right: The Elmira Pioneers spill out of the dugout to congratulate teammate Zac Bellinger (VCU-2011) on hitting a home run in his first PGCBL at-bat on Wed., June 29, against the Glens Falls Golden Eagles at Dunn Field.
The Glens Falls Golden Eagles and the Elmira Pioneers of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League are listed in the latest Summer Top 25 poll. The rankings, compiled by PG Crosschecker and the web site, CollegeSummerBaseball.net, were released on Wed., July 6. The entire list of teams can be
here.
The Glens Falls Golden Eagles are ranked in the top 25 for the third week in a row. The Golden Eagles are slotted 22nd in the nation. Heading into Thursday's games, the Golden Eagles lead the eight-team PGCBL with a 13-7 (.650) record. Glens Falls has held first place in the PGCBL East for over three weeks.
Three Golden Eagle pitchers have won the PGCBL Pitcher of the Week prize. Nick Gonzalez (South Florida) and Neil Fryer (Siena) were co-Pitchers of the Week for the first "week" of the season. Derek Mazzio (Saint Louis) earned the honor in week two. Mazzio has struck out 33 batters over his first five appearances and he stands 1-0 with an ERA under 2.00. Josh Anderson (Yavapai) is among the league leaders in home runs (five) and runs batted in (21). Two-way players Kyle Ruchim (Northwestern) and David Olson (Tacoma CC) have combined for seven saves and each is batting over .300. Manager John Mayotte is also closing in on 200 career victories as the skipper of the Golden Eagles.
The Elmira Pioneers are one of several teams mentioned in the "Also Under Consideration" category. The Pioneers have been the most offensively-dominant team through the first three weeks of the PGCBL season. Elmira has tallied 153 runs over 22 games for an average of seven scores per contest.Seven times Elmira has reached double digits in scoring and the Pios put up a league-high 21 scores in one game. Even more impressive are Elmira's 10 double-digit hit performances. The Southern Tier squad has been held to fewer than five hits just once and the team has seven double-digit hit games in its' last nine contests.
Four Elmira players have received weekly accolades from the PGCBL in the first three weeks of the season. David Bishop (Miss. State), Justin Lacy (Longwood) and Aaron Hopper (Marietta) have each earned a PGCBL Player of the Week nod (Lacy and Hopper were co-Players of the Week) and most recently, Jordan Carter (Saint Joseph's, Pa.) was recognized as the PGCBL Pitcher of the Week.
Perfect Game USA, baseball's largest scouting service, partnered with eight teams located in upstate New York to form the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League in the fall of 2010. In addition to naming rights, Perfect Game actively assists the league and its' teams in identifying and recruiting top college and junior college prospects.