College baseball players who saw their seasons get canceled this past spring have been getting the chance to compete over the summer.
The College Summer League is winding up at Grand Park, and it has been a success. Over 260 players are listed among the 12 teams that have been participating in the league. Games began on June 15, with the regular season finishing this week.
The teams feature mostly college-age players from Indiana, with several of them from Hamilton County schools. Matt Bowles, the operations manager of the league, said things have “been really good” over the summer. Players get some game action, and scouts have the opportunity to see players that may be draft-eligible next year.
While most of the games have been at Grand Park, a couple of other sites will be hosting the final regular-season games later in the week. The A-Team and Snapping Turtles will play at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Victory Field, while the Turf Monsters and the Park Rangers travel up to Kokomo Municipal Stadium on Friday for a 7 p.m. game, the last one of the season.
Division play starts on Monday at Grand Park. The top four finishers receive first-round byes, with the fifth through 12th place teams playing off in games at 11 a.m. Quarter-finals start at 2 p.m. Admission is free.
The semi-finals take place at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Grand Park, with the winners playing for the league championship at 6:30 p.m. July 30 at Victory Field.
16 AMATEUR BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS BEGIN TODAY
While the College Summer League is headed out of town, there will still be plenty of baseball action at Grand Park the remainder of the week.
The 16 Amateur Baseball Championships begins today. The first games in pool play start at 8 a.m., and continue throughout the day. There are two divisions, 16u and 16u Reserved, with levels of Bronze, Gold and Silver. Each level is divided into D1 and D2 categories.
Pool play continues through Friday, then placement games begin with the championships on Monday.
Matthew Meyer (left), a Westfield graduate, and Garrett Manous are members of Tropics, one of the College Summer League teams. (Richie Hall)