Paying summer time dues

BY BARRY FAULKNER

A 2009 baseball season the produced a considerable bang, was followed by a veritable whimper with the recently completed summer leagues for collegiate players.

Just after helping UC Irvine with the program’s first Big West Conference championship and earn the No. 1 national ranking for six weeks before bowing out of the NCAA tournament in its own regional, several Anteaters produced modest individual success.

In addition, members of the Orange Coast College unit that claimed the program’s first state title since 1980, were less than noteworthy in their respective summer assignments.

Christian Bergman, a UCI pitcher who had hoped to use the summer following his junior season to generate a free-agent professional contract, was 2-2 with a 3.06 earned-run average in 12 games with the Anchorage Bucs of the Alaska League.

Bergman, however, then joined the Anchorage Glacier Pilots for the National Baseball Congress World Series.

Bergman pitched in four games for the Glacier Pilots, including a start in the NBC title game Saturday in Wichita, Kan. He allowed one earned run in 6 2/3 innings of a 2-1 loss to the El Dorado (Kan.) Broncos, who won the game with an unearned run in the 11th inning.

Bergman was 1-1 in four games, including two starts, for the Glacier Pilots. He worked 13 1/3 innings, allowing 10 hits and striking out eight. He did not walk a batter and finished the tournament with a 3.95 ERA.

Bergman, who was not drafted in June, to the surprise of many, worked 47 innings, allowing 38 hits, striking out 39 and yielding just six walks in the Alaska League regular season with the Anchorage Bucs. He appeared in 12 games and made seven starts.

Ryan Fisher, who will be a junior at UCI, hit .296 in 88 at-bats with the Kenai Peninsula Oilers in Alaska. He had one home run and 10 runs batted in and added five doubles and a triple. He also stole seven bases in 10 attempts, though he did strike out 20 times.

Crosby Slaught, 8-0 as a sophomore starting pitcher for UCI last spring, went 1-4 with Kenai Peninsula, though he fashioned a 2.70 ERA. Slaught threw 40 innings, allowing 36 hits and 12 walks, while striking out 20.

In the prestigious Cape Cod League, UCI utility man Brian Hernandez rallied from a slow start to hit .244 in 131 at-bats, spanning 40 games, for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. Hernandez, who redshirted in 2009 and will be a junior next season, had three home runs and 16 RBIs over the summer. He also had seven doubles in the Cape, after being drafted in the 39th round in June by the Cleveland Indians.

Drew Hillman, a two-time All-American at OCC who is bound for UCI, saw his Cape Cod assignment halted prematurely due to a sore arm, UCI Coach Mike Gillespie said. Hillman was hitless in 10 at-bats in four games with the Cotuit Kettleers. Hillman, drafted in the 38th round in June by the Tampa Bay Rays, did not sign and will compete for the Anteaters in 2010.

Also in the Cape, Jake Lemmerman, a former Corona del Mar High standout who has started at shortstop the last two seasons at Duke, hit .172 with one homer and 10 RBIs for the Wareham Gatemen. In 122 at-bats, Lemmerman stole four bases in five attempts. He also committed eight errors.

Competing in the Northwoods League, Matt Summers, a two-way player who Gillespie praised as a potential star during his freshman season at UCI last spring, hit .273 competing for the St. Cloud (Minn.) River Bats. Summers had one homer and 10 RBIs in 128 at-bats, spanning 37 games.

On the mound, Summers was 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA. In 32 innings, he fanned 31, walked 22 and allowed 27 hits.

In summer leagues regarded less highly, some Anteaters experienced greater success.

Stephen Malcolm, who redshirted as a true freshman in 2009, earned first-team all-league recognition as a shortstop in the Air Horizon Summer Series, a 15-team circuit. Playing for the Lodi franchise, Malcolm hit .379 in 87 at-bats and was 2-1 with a 1.04 ERA in 8 2/3 innings on the bump.

Malcolm drove in 15 runs, scored 30 and stole 12 bases in 15 attempts.

Jordan Leyland, a first baseman who hit .310 in 42 at-bats as a true freshman at UCI last season, hit .331 with two homers and 20 RBIs for the Bend (Ore.) Elks en route to second-team all-league honors in the Air Horizon circuit. He had 10 doubles and a triple in 31 games.

In the same league, Nick Hoover, who saw limited duty as a sophomore last season at UCI, pitched 12 2/3 innings, allowing 11 hits, eight walks and striking out seven. He was 0-1 with a 4.97 ERA.

Also in Bend, OCC product Ryan Dunn hit .270 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 89 at-bats. He had seven doubles, one triple and four steals in six attempts. He also committed nine errors to post a .929 fielding percentage.

Ronnie Shaeffer, DJ Crumlich and Tommy Reyes, who all had noteworthy campaigns as true freshmen for the Anteaters last season, played for the Wenatchee (Wash.) Apple Sox in the West Coast League.

Shaeffer hit .277 with three homers, 20 RBIs and seven doubles in 130 at-bats, spanning 35 games.

Crumlich hit .261 with 22 RBIs, seven doubles and a triple in 41 games, all starts.

Reyes hit .203 in 79 at-bats with seven RBIs and one extra-base hit (a double).

Scott Gottschling, who redshirted as a true freshman in 2009, represented UCI in the Hawaii Collegiate League. Playing for the Oahu Paddlers, he hit .319 with 11 RBIs, seven doubles and four triples in 113 at-bats. The outfielder also stole seven bases in nine tries.

Also in Hawaii was pitcher Brian Murphy, who redshirted as a true freshman in 2009. Murphy, a member of the Waikiki Surfers, was 2-0 with a 3.82 ERA in 33 innings. His seven appearances included four starts. He allowed 37 hits, walked 12 and struck out 14.