Tennessee Athletics
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Capping a wildly successful summer of baseball for Tennessee Volunteers across the country, members of the Vols claimed five different championships nationwide and took home a number of postseason honors.
As the team returns to Rocky Top with classes set to begin next week, five different Vols finished on a high-note as Kyle Booker and the Kingsport Axmen claimed the 2022 Appalachian League Championship while Blake Burke and the Heraldsburg Prune Packers were victorious out west, taking the California Collegiate League 2022 Championship.
Logan Chambers hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning to push the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks to a New England Collegiate Baseball League Crown while Zander Sechrist turned in a six-inning start where he allowed just one baserunner and held Atlanta scoreless to propel his Gainesville Gol’Diggers to a Sunbelt League Championship.
Hunter Ensley, the top left fielder in the California Collegiate League, as voted on by coaches, was a member of the Santa Barbara Foresters squad that won the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kansas on August 11.
The final summer ball update of the season can be found below.
Appalachian League
OF Kyle Booker – Kingsport Axmen
Season Stats: 29 GP, .310 AVG, 27 R, 31 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 24 RBI, 19 BB, 8 SB, .425 OBP, .430 SLG
Helped the Kingsport Axmen to an 2022 Appalachian League Championship, playing as the designated hitter in the championship game against Burlington. Booker finished the summer with an impressive slash line and nine extra-base hits.
INF/OF Ethan Payne – Johnson City Doughboys
Season Stats: 30 GP, .207 AVG, 21 R, 19 H, 4 2B, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 23 BB, 2 SB, .398 OBP, .283 SLG
Scored 10 runs and collected seven hits in his last six ballgames, two going for extra bases, while pushing his on-base percentage just under .400. He finished the summer tied for fifth on Johnson City in walks drawn.
Cape Cod League
LHP Wyatt Evans – Chatham Anglers
Season Stats: 6 APP, 4 GS, 1-3, 0 SV, 5.89 ERA, 18.1 IP, 12 R, 12 ER, 19 H, 10 BB, 20 K, 1.58 WHIP
Did not pitch again after being named the Cape Cod League Pitcher of the Week on July 26. Ended his summer with 7.1 scoreless innings where he allowed just three hits and punched out 12 across two outings.
INF Christian Moore – Hyannis Harbor Hawks
Season Stats: 22 GP, .176 AVG, 6 R, 13 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 8 RBI, 10 BB, 1 SB, .267 OBP, .230 SLG
Drove in two runs in his final game of the summer with a first-inning base hit. Helped lead the Harbor Hawks to a 7-5 victory over Yarmouth-Dennis. Moore’s Hyannis team finished 22-16-6 and was just two games out of winning the division. They made the playoffs and advanced to the semifinals before falling to the eventual champion Bourne Braves.
California Collegiate League
1B Blake Burke – Heraldsburg Prune Packers
Season Stats: 34 GP, .308 AVG, 27 R, 33 H, 6 2B, 6 HR, 37 RBI, 14 BB, 1 SB, .407 OBP, .523 SLG
Won the California Collegiate League 2022 Championship with Heraldsburg after sweeping the Conejo Oaks in blowout fashion, winning Game 1, 13-4, and Game 2, 14-1. Burke tallied a base hit in the deciding second game, driving in one of the Prune Packers’ runs.
Finished the summer tied for fifth in the league in RBIs, he also was tied for third on the team in homers.
OF Hunter Ensley – Santa Barbara Foresters
Season Stats: 25 GP, .395 AVG, 16 R, 34 H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 8 BB, 11 SB, .535 SLG, .465 OBP
Finished the summer with the highest batting average on the Foresters and had the fourth-most runs driven in on the team.
Named the top left fielder on the CCL 2022 All-League Team and helped the Foresters win the National Baseball Congress World Series.
RHP Hollis Fanning – Walnut Creek Crawdads
Season Stats: 10 APP, 7 GS, 2-4, 0 SV, 3.42 ERA, 52.2 IP, 24 R, 17 ER, 44 H, 4 BB, 33 K, 1.18 WHIP
Capped the summer with a pair of solid starts where he accumulated 12 innings, allowing three earned runs and 10 hits while striking out eight. Fanning was one of the Crawdad’s most steady starters by the end of the season.
Named as a starting pitcher to the CCL 2022 All-League Team.
OF Kavares Tears – Walnut Creek Crawdads
Season Stats: 33 GP, .244 AVG, 18 R, 29 H, 5 2B, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 14 BB, 5 SB, .387 SLG, .326 OBP
Finished the summer with an on-base percentage of .500 in his last three games, scoring five runs and collecting a double. Alongside Fanning, the Crawdads qualified for the playoffs, but fell to the San Luis Obispo Blues, 4-3, on August 5.
Coastal Plain League
INF Angus Pence – Forest City Owls
Season Stats: 31 GP, .245 AVG, 15 R, 26 H, 5 2B, 15 RBI, 7 BB, 3 SB, .303 OBP, .287 SLG
Had a multi-hit contest in his third-to-last game of the summer against the HiToms (7/28) and drove in a run. Followed that with a double and a run scored the next day at Macon (7/29).
New England Collegiate League
UTL Logan Chambers – Martha’s Vineyard Sharks
Season Stats: 32 GP, .378 AVG, 33 R, 45 H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 27 RBI, 24 BB, 3 SB, .497 OBP, .534 SLG
Was unstoppable in the NECBL playoffs, going 10-for-23 with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBIs and 11 runs scored. His final homer of the postseason was as heroic as it gets, a two-run blast in the eighth inning, trailing by a run, that put the Sharks in the driver’s seat for the first Fay Vincent Cup in club history.
Chambers finished tied for the team-lead in home runs and ranked second on the squad in RBIs. Following the season, he was named to the 2022 All-NECBL First Team.
C Charlie Taylor – North Shore Navigators
Season Stats: 21 GP, .197 AVG, 5 R, 12 H, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 7 BB, 2 SB .300 OBP, .246 SLG
Finished the season strong, collecting hits in six of his last seven games. Hit his only home run of the season, a solo shot at Danbury (7/31) in the final game he played in during the summer.
Ohio Valley League
C Ryan Miller – Full Count Rhythm
Season Stats: 30 GP, .252 AVG, 29 R, 28 H, 5 2B, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 25 BB, .459 SLG, .418 OBP
Did not play a game after July 17.
Prospect League
RHP/C Andrew Kribbs – Johnstown Mill Rats
Season Stats: 44 GP, .165 AVG, 16 R, 16 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 15 BB, .277 OBP, .278 SLG
11 APP, 4 GS, 2-2, 0 SV, 9.22 ERA, 27.1 IP, 34 R, 28 ER, 36 H, 25 BB, 26 K
Was terrific in getting on base late in the season at the plate, reaching nine times in his last eight games and scoring five runs. He collected a double at West Virginia on August 1 and finished the season strong on the mound, earning a win in his final appearance of the summer, also at West Virginia, on August 6 where he went three innings.
LHP Drew Patterson – Alton River Dragons
Season Stats: 2 APP, 0 GS, 1-1, 0 SV, 10.38 ERA, 4.1 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Did not play a game after June 8.
Rocky Mountain Baseball League
LHP Jake Fitzgibbons – Hays Larks
No stats available
INF Austen Jaslove – Hays Larks
No stats available
LHP Kaleb Meredith – Hays Larks
No stats available
Advanced to the finals of the National Baseball Congress World Series before falling to Hunter Ensley’s Santa Barbara Foresters, 12-1.
Sunbelt Baseball League
LHP Zander Sechrist – Gainesville Gol’Diggers
Season Stats: 5 APP, 5 GS, 2-0, 0 SV, 1.02 ERA, 26.1 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 17 H, 1 BB, 28 K, 0.68 WHIP
Finished a wildly successful summer where he allowed no more than one run in any start. He also recorded at least five strikeouts in every appearance. Sechrist ended the summer ranked second in the league in ERA among qualifying pitchers, he also allowed just three total runs, the lowest in the league.
Sechrist got the ball to start the Sunbelt Baseball League championship game and was incredible, firing six-innings against Atlanta, punching out five and allowed just one baserunner as the Gol’Diggers claimed the league title.