Wildcat Summer Baseball Update
Jul 23, 2002 | Baseball
July 23, 2002
Manhattan, Kan. - A number of current Kansas State baseball players are having solid summer campaigns in wood-bat leagues around the nation, while several former Wildcats are excelling at the professional level.
Rising senior Gabe Luttrell recently was named to the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) All-Star team that was held July 20 in Williamantac, Conn. A member of the first-place Newport (R.I.) Gulls, Luttrell was one of 26 players named to the American team that lost a close 4-3 decision to the National team.
Luttrell currently boasts a .264 batting average in 30 games played with 20 runs scored, 20 RBIs and two home runs. His 20 RBIs ties for third-best in the league. He is also 9-for-10 in stolen base attempts and has just 15 strikeouts in 110 at-bats. He was named the NECBL Offensive Player of the Week on June 29 after posting a .409 average with eight RBIs and four runs scored.
Luttrell is joined on the Newport Gulls by Wildcat teammate Mitch Walter. Walter currently posts a 0-1 record and 6.06 ERA in five appearances and two starts. He has a terrific walk-to-strikeout ratio in his 16.1 innings pitched with 16 strikeouts to zero walks.
Two of the Wildcats' biggest offensive weapons in 2002 - Pat Maloney and Ty Soto - are gaining valuable experience in the prestigious Cape Cod League. Maloney is hitting just .203 in 33 games for the Brewster (Mass.) Whitecaps, but paces the team in home runs (three), RBIs (19) and doubles (six) and is third in runs scored (14) and hits (24). Soto has a .221 average in 25 games for the Wareham (Mass.) Gatemen with seven RBIs and six runs scored. He is second on the team with 11 walks and has the fewest strikeouts (11) of any player with more than 10 games of experience.
The Wildcats' top pitcher in 2002, Kevin Melcher, is playing for the Rochester (Minn.) Honkers of the Northwoods League. He currently posts a 2-2 record and 6.53 ERA from the hill with 17 strikeouts and nine walks in 30.1 innings pitched.
Junior-to-be Brad Anzman is playing for the Kearney (Neb.) River Bandits of the Minnesota-Iowa-Nebraska-Kansas (M.I.N.K.) League, where he has helped the team to a 24-18 record, including a 21-17 mark in league play. He ranks second on the team with a .353 batting average in 21 games played, including 20 starts, with 15 runs scored and seven RBIs. He is also 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts.
Two Wildcats pitchers - Sean Clancy and Andrew Ehling - are having solid campaigns for the El Dorado Broncos of the Jayhawk League where they play for former K-State volunteer assistant coach Jeff McCannon. Ehling, who sat out the 2002 season after transferring from Butler County Community College, leads the team in both ERA (1.06) and innings pitched (34.0), while he is second in strikeouts (27). Overall, he boasts a perfect 3-0 record in six starts with a paltry .208 opponent batting average. Junior-to-be Sean Clancy leads the team with a 4-0 record and 2.15 ERA in five games, including four starts.
In other news, two former Wildcats - Osmar Castillo and Ross Hawley - recently were elevated from the Rookie League to Single A teams in the South Atlantic League. Hawley is a set-up/middle relief pitcher for the South Georgia Waves of Albany, Ga., while Castillo is a second baseman for the Augusta Greenjackets of Augusta, Ga. Hawley has a 0-2 record and 6.30 ERA in six appearances with seven strikeouts and four walks. He earned his first professional start in emergency duty last Wednesday in a 6-2 loss to the Capital City Bombers in Columbia, S.C. Castillo is currently batting .200 with eight runs scored and two RBIs for the Greenjackets. Hawley was drafted in the 31st round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, while Castillo was a free agent signee of the Boston Red Sox.
Another former Wildcat - Luke Robertson- also has progressed well since leaving Kansas State after the 2001 season. The former ace pitcher for the Wildcats, Robertson is currently playing for the Oakland Athletics' top Single A affiliate, the Modesto A's of the California League. He currently boasts a 4-3 record and 4.02 ERA in 21 appearances with one save. He has pitched 71 2/3 innings for the A's with 81 strikeouts and 27 walks. He signed with Oakland last fall after spending the previous two years at Kansas State.
