Summer League Play Wraps Up for 20 Cal Poly Baseball Players
8/22/2023 4:56:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — About 20 Cal Poly baseball players have wrapped up summer league play with Alejandro Garza and Ryan Stafford finishing above the .300 mark at the plate and Charlie Royle, Cam Hoiland and Freddy Rodriguez posting winning records on the mound.
Six Mustangs competed in playoff games — Stafford in the Cape Cod League, Royal, Garza, Tate Shimao and Evan Cloyd in the West Coast League and Freddy Rodriguez in the Northwoods League.
Stafford, who played for USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team earlier this summer, compiled a .312 batting average in 22 regular season games for Yarmouth-Dennis on the Cape, including three doubles, a home run and seven RBIs. He also stole six of nine bases and earned nine multiple-hit games.
Stafford also competed in five playoff games for the Red Sox with a pair of singles and two RBIs.
Stafford was 4-for-5 with two doubles against Orleans on August 1 and 3-for-5, all singles, versus Falmouth on June 18.
Stafford recorded 10 hits over three weeks with Team USA, including three hits in six games against Chinese Taipei and Japan. His other seven hits were in intrasquad games in late June.
In the pair of five-game series versus Chinese Taipei and Japan, all three of Stafford's hits were singles and he drove in one run and scored twice. The Folsom High School graduate also drew four walks, finishing with a .389 on-base percentage, and handled 52 fielding chances without an error.
He started all six games in which he played, picked off one base runner and threw out four others trying to steal. Stafford earned a spot on the 31-man Team USA roster by going 7-for-15 (.467) at the plate with a double and two RBIs in the four-game intrasquad series.
Royle earned All-West Coast League honorable mention praise while pitching for the Ridgefield Raptors this summer. He compiled a 3-1 record and 1.57 ERA with one save, striking out 29 batters over 28 2/3 innings in eight regular season games (six starts).
In a 10-6 playoff loss to the Portland Pickles, Royle allowed two runs and four hits over five innings with one walk and five strikeouts, leaving the game with a 4-2 lead. The bullpen, however, couldn't hold it as the Raptors fell 10-6, and Royle finished with a no-decision.
Garza, who will be a freshman this fall at Cal Poly after graduating from Highland High School in Bakersfield, posted a .323 average for the Portland Pickles, collecting 21 hits in 26 games, including three doubles, and driving in five runs. He also stole three bases and produced six multiple-hit contests.
Garza was 4-for-10 in three playoff games for the Pickles with four RBIs and three steals.
Like Royle, Rodriguez also was 3-1 this summer, pitching for the Eau Claire Express. In eight games (five starts), Rodriguez compiled a 4.22 ERA and struck out 37 batters over 32 innings. Rodriguez also made one start in the Northwoods League playoffs, allowing six runs and six hits in 2 2/3 innings in a 6-2 loss to La Crosse.
Hoiland, who is a transfer from Bellevue College and a graduate of Kentridge High School in Washington state, struck out nine batters over six innings in a win over Victoria in June, finishing his summer season with a 2-0 record and 0.60 ERA for the Wenatchee AppleSox. He struck out 13 batters over 15 innings and also collected five hits with four RBIs at the plate.
Shimao played this summer for the Corvallis Knights, who claimed their seventh straight West Coast League championship and 10th overall with a 5-0 win over Victoria last week.
Shimao was 4-for-8 in the playoffs with three walks. During the regular season, the Honolulu native hit .247 in 27 games with three doubles, a home run and 14 RBIs.
Cloyd played for Portland and hit .263 in 38 games with 11 doubles, four home runs and 27 RBIs. He also singled twice in three playoff games with three runs scored.
Other top Mustang performers this summer …
• Tanner Sagouspe posted a 3-0 record and 6.60 ERA for Eau Claire, striking out 24 batters over 15 innings in seven appearances on the mound. Sagouspe also hit .216 with four doubles, a pair of triples and four home runs, driving in 23 runs. He produced six multiple-hit games.
• Incoming freshman Chris Downs was 1-0 with an 8.00 ERA for the Portland Pickles. He pitched nine innings in eight relief appearances, notching 11 strikeouts. Downs is from Santa Clarita, Calif., and a graduate of Hart High School.
• Pitcher Noah Larkin was 2-0 with a 12.15 ERA at Waterloo, earning seven strikeouts over 13 1/3 innings.
• Another pitcher, Evan Tomlinson, was 3-1 with a 4.58 ERA for the Bay Area Admirals. He struck out 21 batters over 17 2/3 innings and earned a pair of four-inning wins against Solano and Lincoln along with another victory over Solano in 3 2/3 innings of work.
• Also pitching for the Admirals, Ethan Marmie had no decisions and a 5.68 ERA in three mound stints.
• Holden Garcia pitched in six games with four starts for Rochester, earning a win against Thunder Bay on July 7 with six strikeouts, two walks and two hits allowed over 5 1/3 innings.
• Southpaw Jakob Wright was 2-1 with a 3.43 ERA for Corvallis in June and July, notching 17 strikeouts over 18 1/3 innings. He appeared in five games (four starts) with wins against Springfield on June 28 (five scoreless innings, three hits, three strikeouts) and Kelowna on July 19 (one run, one hit, six strikeouts in five innings).
• Luke Kovach had no decisions but a 1.35 ERA for Corvallis, striking out 18 batters over 13 1/3 innings (nine appearances, one start). He pitched four scoreless innings versus Kamloops on June 11 with one hit and four strikeouts in the no-decision (a 2-0 loss).
• Griffin Naess was 2-1 with a 1.68 ERA in seven games (one start) for Kelowna. Both of his wins were against Edmonton on July 7 (two scoreless innings) and July 14 (three scoreless frames).
• Ryan Baum started three games for the San Luis Obispo Blues, going 0-1 with a 5.54 ERA and 12 strikeouts over 13 innings.
