Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League

Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2015 Perfect Game Baseball season
Sport Baseball
Founded 2010
CEO Jeff Kunion
No. of teams 13
Country United States
Continent North America
Most recent
champion(s)
Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs
Most titles Amsterdam Mohawks (3 Titles)
Official website pgcbl.com

The Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer baseball league founded in 2010. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. Players are not paid so as to maintain their college eligibility. Each team plays an eight-week, 50 game schedule from June to August with playoffs in early August. The league's level of play, while amateur, is considered to be comparable to the professional short season leagues.[1]

History

The Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League was founded in the fall of 2010 when seven New York Collegiate Baseball League teams left that league. For an even number a new team was placed in Newark, New York. The league is in conjunction with Perfect Game USA, baseball's largest scouting service. The eight founding members of the PGCBL were the Albany Dutchmen, Amsterdam Mohawks, Cooperstown Hawkeyes, Elmira Pioneers, Glens Falls Dragons Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs, Newark Pilots and Watertown Wizards. The league's first season was completed in the summer of 2011.

2011 season

The eight teams were broken down into two divisions, PGCBL East and PGCBL West. The East comprised Albany, Amsterdam, Glens Falls and Mohawk Valley. The West was made up of Cooperstown, Elmira, Newark and Watertown. Glens Falls and Cooperstown were the regular season division champions in the PGCBL East and West respectively. Glens Falls, Cooperstown, Amsterdam and Newark qualified for the league playoffs. Newark defeated Amsterdam, two games to one, to win the very first PGCBL championship.

2012 season

In 2012, the league expanded to nine teams with the addition of the Oneonta Outlaws. The two-division format was replaced by a single nine-team division with the top four teams in the league regular season standings qualifying for the playoffs. Amsterdam won 35 of 47 regular season games and captured the regular season championship. Amsterdam, Glens Falls, Newark and Mohawk Valley qualified for the postseason. Amsterdam swept Glens Falls to win its first league title. The Mohawks finished the summer ranked third nationally in Perfect Game's Summer Top 30 poll.

2013 season

The 2013 season saw a return of the two-division format as 10 teams were broken into East and West divisions. Albany, Cooperstown, Glens Falls, Mohawk Valley and defending champion Amsterdam constituted the East while newcomers Adirondack and Utica joined Elmira, Newark and Watertown in the West. A new playoff format featuring six teams was instituted as the first and second-place finishers in each division were joined for the first time by the third-place finishing team - this led to a down-to-wire playoff chase where the sixth and final playoff spot was not decided until the final night of the regular season. Amsterdam and Watertown overcame slow starts to win division titles; each team captured its first division title in the PGCBL. Albany, Mohawk Valley, Elmira and Newark rounded out the playoff field. Three seeds Albany and Elmira each won opening round playoff games over second-seeded Mohawk Valley and Newark respectively to advance to the divisional finals against Amsterdam and Watertown. Amsterdam edged out Albany and Elmira in back-to-back Game 3's to become the first repeat champion in league history.

Past Champions

2011- Newark Pilots

2012- Amsterdam Mohawks

2013- Amsterdam Mohawks

2014- Amsterdam Mohawks

2015-Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs

Player of the Year

2011- Erick Gaylord, Watertown

2012- Ross Kivett, Glens Falls

2013- John Nogowski, Amsterdam

2014- Josh Gardiner, Amsterdam

Pitcher of the Year

2011- Dominick Ruscitti, Newark

2012- Chandler Shepherd, Amsterdam

2013- Eann Cox, Cooperstown

2014- Jayson Yano, Newark

Coach of the Year

2011- Eric Coleman, Cooperstown

2012- Keith Griffin, Amsterdam

2013- Nick Davey, Albany

2014- Mike Armstrong, Newark

Top Professional Prospect

2011- Erick Gaylord, Watertown (Perfect Game USA)

2011- Josh Anderson, Glens Falls (Baseball America)

2012- Rocky McCord, Amsterdam (Perfect Game USA)

2012- Chandler Shepherd, Amsterdam (Baseball America)

2013- Mike Urbanski, Amsterdam (Perfect Game USA)

2013- Trey Wingenter, Amsterdam (Baseball America)

2014- Jon Escobar, Watertown (Perfect Game USA)

All-Star Game MVP

2011- Cullen Wacker, Mohawk Valley

2012- Giuseppe Papaccio, Amsterdam

2013- Mike Fisher, Mohawk Valley

2014- Kevin Cowan, Glens Falls

All-Star Game Results

2011- East 7 West 4 (July 18, Elmira, N.Y., Dunn Field)

2012- Team Griffin 4 Team Ebright 0 (July 24, Amsterdam, N.Y., Shuttleworth Park)

2013- East 7 West 3 (July 24, Newark, N.Y., Colburn Park)

2014- East 3 West 1 (July 15, Elmira, N.Y. Dunn Field)

Current teams

Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League
Team First Season City Stadium
Adirondack Trail Blazers 2010 Boonville, New York Robert Smith Sports Complex
Albany Dutchmen 2009 Albany, New York Bellizzi Field
Amsterdam Mohawks 1978 Amsterdam, New York Shuttleworth Park
Geneva Red Wings 2016 Geneva, New York McDonough Park
Elmira Pioneers 2005 Elmira, New York Dunn Field
Glens Falls Dragons 2003 Glens Falls, New York East Field
Jamestown Jammers 2016 Jamestown, New York Russell Diethrick Park
Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs 2006 Little Falls, New York Veterans Memorial Park
Newark Pilots 2011 Newark, New York Colburn Park
Oneonta Outlaws 2016 Oneonta, New York Damaschke Field
Saugerties Stallions 2015 Saugerties, New York Cantine Field
Utica Blue Sox 2008 Utica, New York Murnane Field at Donovan Stadium
Victor RailRiders 2015 Victor, New York Victor High School

Alumni

PGCBL Alumni
Player PGCBL Team PGCBL Season MLB Team
Cody Eppley*** Elmira Pioneers 2006 New York Yankees
Michael Fiers*** Saratoga Phillies* 2007 &2008 Milwaukee Brewers
J.D. Martinez*** Saratoga Phillies* 2008 Detroit Tigers
Darin Mastroianni*** Saratoga Phillies* 2006 Minnesota Twins
Hunter Pence*** Schenectady Mohawks** 2002 San Francisco Giants
Cord Phelps*** Amsterdam Mohawks 2006 Cleveland Indians
Caleb Thielbar*** Little Falls Miners** 2007 Minnesota Twins
Casper Wells*** Saratoga Phillies* 2004 Seattle Mariners

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.