By Ryan Gallant
CCBL Release
SOUTH YARMOUTH, Mass. ? Five members of the Y-D Red Sox have been named to the 2015 East Division All-Star team, as announced by the Cape Cod Baseball League Saturday.
Ricky Thomas was named to the squad as a reserve pitcher, while four other Red Sox will start. Tommy Edman will get the nod at second base, Gio Brusa will start at DH, and Donnie Walton and Cole Billingsley will play shortstop and centerfield, respectively.
The switch-hitting Edman started every game for the Stanford Cardinal in 2015 and has reached base in 24 of his 26 games played on the Cape. The San Diego native homered in his first Y-D start, a 5-0 win at Bourne on June 13. Spending the majority of his time with the Red Sox at second base, he has also spent one game at first. Edman?s .326 batting average stands at the top of his team.
Brusa has maintained a batting average of .264 since making his Y-D debut on June 22, clubbing five home runs in the process. The Lodi, Calif. native plays his school baseball at the University of the Pacific and is in the midst of his second summer in the Cape League. Additionally, Brusa compiled an 11-game hitting streak earlier this month, posting a hit in each contest from July 1 through July 14. His breakout game came on July 11 at Chatham, a 3-for-4 night in which he homered twice and finished with five RBI.
Similarly, Billingsley has been swinging a hot bat of late, stringing together an active 13-game hitting streak since July 1. After sitting out the 2014 season at South Alabama as a medical redshirt, the Cropwell, Ala. product started all but two games at school in 2015, posting a .345 average en route to the Jaguars? runner up finish in the Sun Belt Championship. He has appeared in every contest with Y-D this summer, batting primarily in the leadoff spot. Billingsley?s defensive play has been stellar as well?he has not committed an error in 2015 at either South Alabama or on the Cape.
A member of the 2014 Y-D Red Sox, Walton (Oklahoma State) returned to South Yarmouth this summer and has played a key role in the middle infield, getting the call at shortstop in all of his 29 games. A switch hitter, like Tommy Edman, he has displayed tremendous improvement in 2015, raising his batting average above .300 and driving in 15 runs. Walton is no stranger to Cape League awards, either, earning Coca Cola Player of the Week honors in late June.
Thomas (Fresno State) became the Cape League?s second five-game winner after tossing 5.2 innings of one-run ball at Chatham on July 11. Sharing the league lead in that category with Orleans? Mitchell Jordan (Stetson), he has been a key component to the Y-D starting rotation. Allowing one earned run over his first 11.2 innings pitched, Thomas also stands among the league?s best in ERA (0.89).
Wareham?s Clem Spillane Field will be the site of the 2015 Friendly?s Cape League All-Star Game on Saturday, July 25. Fans can purchase tickets for $5 in advance at any Cape League ballpark or at Spillane Field on the day of the game. The game will also be televised nationwide on Fox College Sports Atlantic.
