NORFOLK, Va. – Several members of the Norfolk State baseball team had impressive showings on the wooden-bat collegiate baseball summer circuit.
Rising senior outfielder John Lynch (Newport News, Va.) and rising sophomore pitcher Jordan Egan (Virginia Beach, Va.) helped their respective teams make deep runs into their league playoffs. Lynch, playing for the Coastal Plain League's Peninsula Pilots, served as a spark on offense and defense. A three-time All-MEAC outfielder, Lynch batted .255 with 24 RBI. His 27 steals led the team and ranked fifth in the Coastal Plain League. He also tripled three times, which led the Pilots and tied for second in the CPL, and was second on the team with 46 hits. Lynch and the Pilots advanced to the Petitt Club semifinals.
In addition, rising junior Ryan Shook (Virginia Beach, Va.), senior Cameron Parsons (Chesapeake, Va.) and sophomore Sammy Serafine (Chesapeake, Va.) had brief stints along with Lynch and the Pilots. Shook was 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA in five relief appearances for Peninsula. He struck out 11 hitters in just 7.1 innings pitched before taking the summer off.
Egan was a standout relief pitcher for the Elmira Pioneers of the New York Collegiate Baseball League (NYCBL). Between the regular season and playoffs, Egan made 14 appearances out of the bullpen, posting a 1-0 record with a 1.56 ERA and one save. He struck out 17 batters in 17.1 innings pitched. He helped the Pioneers advance to the NYBCL championship series, where they lost, two games to none. Rising senior Chris Joyce (Chesapeake, Va.) was also selected to play for Elmira, but left the team after four games to take the rest of the summer off.
Rising senior pitcher Ryan Davis (Gilbert, Ariz.) also played in the NYCBL. He tallied a 1-3 record with a 4.50 ERA for the Allegany County Nitros. Davis made 15 appearances, second-most on the team, and tied for team-high honors with three saves while fanning 20 hitters in 22.2 innings pitched. His Nitros lost to Egan's Elmira team in the semifinals of the NYCBL playoffs.
Elsewhere, rising sophomore pitcher Raymond Morton (Chesapeake, Va.) had a good summer pitching for the Carolina Hurricanes of the Carolina-Virginia Summer Collegiate League. Morton, who saw some action starting and as a reliever, was 3-0 with a 2.61 ERA. He struck out 20 batters in 18 innings pitched.
Those eight Spartans comprise more than a third of NSU's 23 returning letterwinners for the 2011 season. The Spartans lost just five players from last season's squad.
