Five players from Pittston Area and three from Wyoming Area were selected June 7 when the Baseball U PA Collegiate Summer League held its first player draft.
The new league will serve as an outlet for college players, primarily those from northeastern Pennsylvania or playing at local colleges, after many of their other options were taken away by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tyler Jackson and Hunter Ralston, pitchers from Pittston Area, will be teammates on the Gray team. Catcher Joe Stella is the other Pittston Area graduate, who was picked.
High school players from the graduating class of 2020 are also eligible, provided that they are committed to play at college programs. Joe Cencetti and Gino Mariggi are the Pittston Area seniors who were drafted into the six-team league.
Toby Hallman and Cole Coolbaugh, both from Wyoming Area, are on the Vegas team. Coolbaugh is another player who missed out on his senior year.
Steve Homza is on the Black roster, along with Cencetti and Old Forge graduate Lorenzo Febbo.
Mike Guy from Baseball U, the sponsoring organization, joined local college coaches in creating the wooden-bat league, which is still finalizing some other details in anticipation of starting later this month.
Misericordia University’s Pete Egbert, Marywood University’s Matt Fidati, University of Scranton’s Mike Bartoletti and Keystone College’s Jamie Shevchik are college head coaches who will serve as managers.
Player safety rules, regarding controlling the spread of the coronavirus, will be built into the operating rules as the league prepares to launch.
College players lost most of their season when action was shut down early. They were in danger of also losing summer action when many existing leagues were canceled.
The Steel and Orange teams will complete the six-team league.
Hallman, Coolbaugh and Mariggi are all part of the Vegas pitching staff.
The left-handed Hallman, a freshman, had not yet made his college debut when the remainder of Widener University’s season was called off following a 6-5 start.
Coolbaugh, primarily a reliever at Wyoming Area, is committed to play at National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Fairleigh Dickinson University as a walk-on. He can also play catcher.
Mariggi is headed to play at Ursinus College.
Homza was part of the first Central Connecticut State University team to win an NCAA Division I Tournament game last season as a redshirt freshman outfielder. He played in six games and went 1-for-2 with three walks and a run scored for the Northeast Conference champions.
Febbo posted a 1.35 earned run average in five games as a freshman relief pitcher this spring at Division II Mansfield University.
Cencetti, a third baseman for Pittston Area’s 2019 District 2 champions and state Class 5A quarterfinalists, is headed to play at Division II Thomas Jefferson University. He can also play second base.
Jackson pitches at Penn State Harrisburg.
Ralston, another member of last season’s Pittston Area district championship team, had a strong start as a freshman at the University of Scranton. He had allowed just three hits in 10 scoreless innings to begin his college career.
Stella was a part-time starter at catcher this spring at Division I University of Maine.
