Taylor Starr is a sophomore pitcher for the Oregon State Beavers. Starr is a 6-3, 185 pound right hander from Longview, WA. He played high school baseball at Kelso High. Taylor is quickly becoming one of the most dominant relievers in college baseball.

For the Beavers this past year, he went 3-1, with a 1.61 era in 22.1 innings of work. He gave up 17 hits, 13 walks and struck out 16 batters. He saved 1 game and held opponents to a .205 batting average.

This past summer, Taylor pitched for the Corvallis Knights of the West Coast League. He was simply outstanding this summer. I was told that his fastball regular was clocked in the 91-94 mph range this summer. Taylor went 1-2, with a 2.49 era in 25.1 innings of work. He gave up 15 hits, 15 walks and struck out 28 batters. He saved 10 games and held opponents to a .175 batting average. His 10 saves and 21 appearances led the team.

Taylor was named to the All-WCL First Team, and was named the Top Prospect in the WCL All-Star Game. In that game, he pitched 2 hitless, scoreless innings. The award was voted on by the MLB scouts that were in attendance. Perfect Game Crosschecker also ranked Taylor as the 3rd best prospect in the league this past summer.

Daniel Barnes is the next player that we should be watching for in 09. The sophomore pitcher for Princeton had solid freshman year, and a great summer in 2008. Barnes is a 6-1, 190 pound right-hander from Manhasset, NY.

As a true freshman, Daniel had a pretty good season. He went 2-4, with a 4.58 era in 37.1 innings pitched. 4 of his 12 appearances were starts, and he also saved 2 games for the Tigers. He only walked 11 batters and he struck out 37 last season.

Daniel played for the Petersburg Generals of the Coastal Plain League this past summer. He went 5-2, with a 3.03 era in 59.1 innings of work. He gave up 48 hits, walked 27 and fanned 59. His 59 k's were good enough to place him 5th overall in the league for strikeouts. 10 of his 12 appearances were starts and he also saved 2 games for the Generals.

Josh Meagher is a 6-0/185 pound senior c/1b from Santa Maria, CA. Josh played high school baseball at St. Josephs High School in Santa Maria. He also played college baseball at Cal State Northridge.

For Chico State in 2008, he hit .379/.542/.421 in 190 at bats. He hit 15 doubles and 5 home runs. He scored 34 runs and his 55 rbi's led the team.

Josh played for the Santa Maria Indians this past summer. He hit .360/.552/.471 in 172 at bats. He lead the team with 38 rbi's and 62 hits. Josh has scored 35 runs and hit 7 homers. He also walked 19 times and struck out 32 times.

Tyler Townsend is a 6-2/215 pound junior infielder/first baseman from Florida International. The Lewes, DE native is quickly making a name for himself in college baseball. In 2007, Tyler was named to the Perfect Game Freshman All-American Team. He hit .338/.515/.477 in 135 at-bats. He smacked 5 homers and drove in 32 as well. 2008 was more of the same for Tyler. He hit .323/.515/.419 in 192 at-bats. He lead the team with 14 home runs, and drove in 55 runners. Read the rest of this entry here http://collegesummerball.blogspot.com/2008/11/player-to-watch-for-in-2009_04.htm l

Summer Ball will be counting down to the start of the 2009 season by profiling players to watch for.

Brennan Dobbins is a 6/3-205 lb sophomore pitcher from Longwood, FL. He currently pitches for the University of Central Florida Knights. He starred in both football and baseball at Lake Brantley High School. In 2005, Brennan was ranked as the no. 114 prospect in the country by Perfect Game USA. Read the rest at http://collegesummerball.blogspot.com/2008/11/player-to-watch-for-in-2009.html

A wise baseball fan once told me, "If you have great pitching and just a little offense, you will be a winning manager." Well, the Leesburg Lightning were a winning team, they just didn't win it all.

The Lightning finished the 2008 Florida Collegiate Summer League in third place with a 22-18 record. Pitching was the name of the game in Leesburg. The team had a league best 3.19 era and help opponents to a .232 batting average. Hitting was a whole different story this past summer. The Lightning hit .231/.320/.309 overall. Read the rest of this article here http://collegesummerball.blogspot.com/2008/10/looking-back-2008-leesburg-lightni ng.html

Doug Gibson (GM of the Martinsville Mustangs) recently sat down for an interview with Summer Ball.

(SB) This is your fifth year as GM of the Martinsville Mustangs, and your ninth year of being involved with summer league baseball? What lead you to summer league baseball?

(DG) I was very fortunate to have a new Valley League team starting near my hometown of Clifton Forge, VA as the Covington Lumberjacks joined the league in 2001. I had the opportunity to do an internship there during my senior year at Ferrum College and was named the General Manager just before the season started. I learned a lot spending four years in Covington before moving on to the expansion Mustangs in 2005, so I've been involved with two teams that were started from the ground up.

I am a big fan of the statistical side of baseball. I love pouring over the numbers. Throughout the fall and winter, I will post my Statistical Quick Hits from this past summer league action. Read the rest at http://collegesummerball.blogspot.com/

My Pitcher of the Night in the Great Lakes League is Matt Bischoff (Purdue). Matt currently pitches for the Lima Locos. He pitched 6 shut out innings to earn the win. He scattered 3 hits along the way. He didn't walk a batter and fanned 5 on the night. (Photo courtesy of Purdue athletics)

My Hitter of the Night in the Coastal Plain League is Cory Lyda (Presbyterian) from the Wilmington Sharks. Cory went a combined 4 for 6 in the Sharks DH with the Wilson Tobs. Cory had 2 doubles, scored 2 runs and stole a base on the night. (Stop by my site for the honorable mention lists as well)

My Hitter of the Night in the Northwoods League is James Jones (Long Island) from the Waterloo Bucks. James went 3 for 4, with a homer and double. He also scored twice and knocked in three runs for the Bucks.

My Pitcher of the Night in the Coastal Plain League is David Kaye (Pitt). David currently pitches for the Outer Banks Daredevils. David picked up the win yesterday by throwing 7 shutout innings. He only scattered 2 hits and walked 1, while striking out 6 batters.

Going into the final week of the season, Brad Agustin (Univ of Buffalo) of the Morganton Aggies is shooting for the triple crown in the SCBL. Agustin, who missed all of UB's 2008 season due to injury, has been stellar for the Aggies this summer batting .415 with 5 HR and 33 RBI, all stats in the top 3 for the SCBL. A starter at SS in 2006 for Buffalo, Agustin has played 3B, SS, and even some 1B for the Aggies, making only 1 error in the field in 115 chances. A SCBL All-Star, Agustin also placed 3rd in the league's HR Derby at the All-Star event.

Darren Gorski (Kutztown University) upped his record this summer to 5-0, with a stellar 7-inning pitching performance last night. The current Kutztown Rockie didn't allow any runs, while scattering 3 hits. He walked 3, and fanned 13 last night. Darren leads the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League with 56 strikeouts this season.

The Danville Dans may only be 8-11 on the season, but where would they be without their star infielder, Dan Kaczrowski. Dan is a senior from Hamline University. The St. Anthony, MN native currently leads the Central Illinois Collegiate League with a .434 batting average, 33 hits and 11 stolen bases. He is also near the league lead with 15 rbi's and 14 runs scored. Dan simply had an outstanding 2008 for Hamline. He hit .477, with 5 homers and 40 rbi's. He also stole 21 bases this past year. Kaczrowski's fine 2008 season was capped off by his selection to the D3Baseball.com All-American Team.