UCI players getting summer seasoning

Barry Faulkner

While UC Irvine freshman All-American closer Blair Erickson is giving

it his best shot to make the national team in the USA Baseball team

trials, several other Anteaters are honing their skills in collegiate

summer leagues.

UCI pitcher Glen Swanson, who will be a senior next season, is

among seven Anteaters playing in the famed Cape Cod League.

Swanson, playing for the second straight summer with the Chatham

A’s, is among three UCI pitchers on the team. Justin Cassel and David

Huff, both of whom will be sophomores next season, are also with

Chatham.

Swanson was drafted in the 37th round by the Red Sox earlier this

month.

Matt Anderson, who hit .336 with six homers and a team-leading 42

RBIs for the Anteaters in the spring, represents the Orleans

Cardinals.

Chris Nicoll, whose seven victories trailed only Brett Smith in

2004, is also with Orleans, where Smith was slated to perform, before

he was drafted with the 42nd overall pick by the New York Yankees

earlier this month.

UCI catcher Mark Wagner, who as a sophomore was the lone Anteater

named to the all-regional team in South Bend, Ind., where UCI was

eliminated with two losses in its first appearance in a Division I

regional, is playing in the Cape for the Brewster Whitecaps.

Michael Koehler, a relief pitcher who will be a senior next

season, is also in the Cape Cod League as a member of the Cotuit

Kettleers.

The Cape Cod League began June 17 and continues through Aug. 8.

The Northwoods League, with teams based in Minnesota, Wisconsin

and Iowa, features 10 UCI players, sprinkled among four teams.

The Duluth (Minn.) Huskies and Waterloo (Iowa) Bucks have three

Anteaters on their rosters.

R.J. Brown, a designated hitter, first baseman and catcher who

will be a junior next season, is joined on the Huskies’ roster by

Steve Schroer, a reliever who will be a senior, and Chad Lundahl, a

shortstop who will be a sophomore.

Outfielder Gary Dudrey, whose 11 stolen bases as a sophomore led

UCI, is joined on the Bucks’ roster by Gregg Wallis, who will be a

senior infielder, and reliever Kevin Fox, who will be a sophomore.

The Alexandra (Minn.) Beetles include Brett Dalton, a first

baseman who will be a senior, and Tim Stewart, a first baseman and

designated hitter who hit .302 his freshman campaign.

The Madison (Wis.) Moon Dogs are benefiting from the contributions

of Anteaters Brady Dolan and Matt Falk. Dolan will be a sophomore

outfielder next season, while Falk, also an outfielder, will be a

junior.

The Northwoods league began June 2 and is scheduled to wrap up its

postseason Aug. 15.

Elsewhere, the Central Illinois Collegiate League includes a pair

of Anteaters, both on the roster of the Danville Dans.

Outfielder Danny McCarthy, who will be a junior, and relief

pitcher Nash Robertson, who will be a senior, are competing over a

schedule that began June 11 and continues through Aug. 12.

The inaugural season of the Texas Collegiate League features a

trio of UCI players. The schedule began June 9 and concludes Aug. 13.

Outfielder Cody Cipriano, who hit .341 in 41 at-bats as a

freshman, is joined on the Granbury Generals by catcher Aaron

Lowenstein, who redshirted as a freshman in 2004.

The league’s Weatherford Wranglers include Andy Amara, an

outfielder preparing for his senior season in 2005.

The New England Collegiate Baseball League, which began June 11

and continues through Aug. 10, includes UCI outfielder David Kennedy,

who will prepare for his senior season with the Vermont Mountaineers.

UCI outfielders Danny Miramontes and Herman Reddick, who will be a

senior and junior, respectively, next season, are playing with the

independent Hawaii Island Movers.

Newport Beach resident Robert Della Grotta, a Mater Dei High

product who was a freshman pitcher at Pepperdine in 2004, is playing

this summer in the Pacific International League as a member of the

Bellingham (Wash.) Bells.