Florida Collegiate Summer League

Florida Collegiate Summer League
Sport Baseball
Founded 2003
Motto Pure Baseball
No. of teams 6
Country  United States
Most recent champion(s) Sanford River Rats
Most titles Winter Park Diamond Dawgs (4)
Official website www.floridaleague.com

The Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL) is a six-team[1] wood bat collegiate summer baseball league located in the central Florida region of the southeastern United States. The league was founded in the fall of 2003[2] and began play in the summer of 2004. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to "advance college players toward their futures in professional baseball."[3] The league has experienced success in having players appear in Minor League Baseball. 240 players have been drafted in the first ten seasons including 27 in the 2013 MLB Draft. Major League Baseball alumni include Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy, Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Dee Gordon, Colorado Rockies pitcher Mike McClendon, Washington Nationals outfielder Corey Brown, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson, and Baltimore Orioles catcher Johnny Monell Jr. The FCSL is one of eleven leagues in the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball.

Florida League Teams

Team City Stadium[4] Head Coach[5]
Altamonte Springs Boom[6] Altamonte Springs, Florida Lake Brantley High School Stadium Kevin Davidson
DeLand Suns DeLand, Florida Melching Field at Conrad Park (Stetson University) Rick Hall
Leesburg Lightning[7] Leesburg, Florida Pat Thomas Stadium Rich Billings
Sanford River Rats Sanford, Florida Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium Ken Kelly
Winter Garden Squeeze Winter Garden, Florida West Orange High School Ruben Felix
Winter Park Diamond Dawgs Winter Park, Florida Alfond Stadium (Rollins College) Scotty Makarewicz

The Florida League added the Altamonte Springs Boom for 2015[6] and the College Park Freedom ceased operations.[8]

Timeline of Teams
Altamonte Springs Boom Winter Garden Squeeze DeLand Suns Orlando Suns Orlando Mavericks Clermont Mavericks Belleview Bulldogs Leesburg Lightning Winter Park Diamond Dawgs Sanford River Rats

League members Future members

Florida League Alumni - Top 5 Round Picks & Notables

Player FCSL Team Years Played Year Drafted Round MLB Team
Mike McClendon* Winter Park 2006 2006 10th Milwaukee Brewers
Corey Brown* Orlando Shockers 2006 2007 1st Oakland Athletics
Jonathan Lucroy* Sanford 200506 2007 3rd Milwaukee Brewers
Alan Farina Orlando Shockers 2005 2007 3rd Toronto Blue Jays
Jonathan Holt Leesburg 2006-2007 2007 5th Cleveland Indians
Johnny Monell* Winter Park 2006 2007 30th San Francisco Giants
Dee Gordon* Belleview 2008 2008 4th Los Angeles Dodgers
Mycal Jones Leesburg 2007 - 2008 2009 4th Atlanta Braves
Kent Matthes Winter Pines 2008 2009 4th Colorado Rockies
Thomas Berryhill DeLand 2008 2009 5th Atlanta Braves
Jimmy Nelson* DeLand 2009 2010 2nd Milwaukee Brewers
Dante Bichette, Jr. Winter Park 2011 2011 1st New York Yankees
Peter O'Brien DeLand 2010 2012 2nd New York Yankees
Brandon Thomas Sanford 2010 2012 4th Pittsburgh Pirates
Tucker Donahue Winter Park 2010 2012 4th Toronto Blue Jays
Myles Smith DeLand 2011 2013 4th Boston Red Sox
Zane Evans Leesburg 2011 2013 4th Kansas City Royals
Aaron Slegers Orlando 2012 2013 5th Minnesota Twins
Ian McKinney Winter Park 2013 2013 5th St. Louis Cardinals

(*) = Reached the Major Leagues

Florida League Champions

Year Winning Team Runs Losing Team Runs
2004 Sanford River Rats 10 Daytona Beach Barracudas 0
2005 Zephyrhills Snappers 2 Sanford River Rats 1
2006 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 4 Altamonte Springs Snappers 3
2007 Leesburg Lightning[9] 6 Altamonte Springs Snappers 0
2008 Clermont Mavericks[9] 9 Belleview Bulldogs 1
2009 Leesburg Lightning[10] 5 Clermont Mavericks 1
2010 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 1 Leesburg Lightning 0
2011 Sanford River Rats 7 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 5
2012 DeLand Suns 10 Leesburg Lightning 7
2013 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 3 Leesburg Lightning 0
2014 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 6 Sanford River Rats 4
2015 Sanford River Rats 1 Leesburg Lightning 0

Florida League Award Winners

Year MVP Cy Young Best Pro Prospect
2004 Kyle Patrick, Sanford Drew Shetrone, Sanford N/A
2005 Lee Cruz, Zephyrhills Ty Pryor, Winter Park N/A
2006 Anthony Ottrando, Altamonte Springs Ryan Horton, Winter Park Jonathan Lucroy, Winter Park
2007 Tyler McCarty, Winter Springs John Durahm, Altamonte Springs Aaron Tullo, Winter Park
2008 Andy Mee, Belleview Bo O'Dell, Belleview Jeff Walters, Winter Park
2009 Anthony Figliolia, Winter Park Trey Ferrano, Sanford Jabari Blash, DeLand
2010 LB Dantzler, Winter Park Bobby Bolling, Winter Park Brandon Thomas, Sanford
2011 Ted Blackman, Winter Park Ben Brown, Winter Park Garrett Nuss, Orlando
2012 Michael Danner, Winter Park Evan Incinelli, Winter Park David Lee, Orlando
2013 Tyler Palmer, Sanford Emilio Ogando, Winter Park Tyler Palmer, Sanford

Florida League Celebrity Golf Tournament

Every November, the Florida League hosts a celebrity golf tournament at Interlachen Country Club in Winter Park, FL. Money raised from the event helps fund the League throughout the year. The weekend-long event includes a hitting & pitching clinic for kids, a catered pairings dinner, a meet-and-greet with the celebrities, a silent auction and the round of golf. Celebrity appearances have been made by dozens of current and former MLB players including: Davey Johnson, Frank Viola, Hunter Pence, Jose Bautista, Ray Lankford, Gary Carter, Fred McGriff, Jeff Bagwell, B.J. Upton, Tim Wakefield, Zack Greinke, Andrew McCutchen, Tim Raines, Vince Coleman and many others.

Florida League High School Invitational

In an effort to reach out to baseball players of all levels, the FCSL also hosts multiple spring break tournaments during the month of March. All games are held at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium in Sanford, FL. These tournaments, known as the Florida High School Invitational, bring in teams from all over the United States. The 2013 tournament featured twenty-three teams from across the country. Notable prospects who have participated in the FHSI include Albert Almora (#6 overall pick, 2012, Chicago Cubs), Dante Bichette, Jr. (1st round pick, 2011, New York Yankees), Francisco Lindor (#8 overall pick, 2011, Cleveland Indians), Javier Baez (#9 overall pick, 2011, Chicago Cubs), Greg Bird (5th round, 2011, New York Yankees), Tomas Nido (8th round, 2012, New York Mets), Chris Okey (All-American), and Touki Toussaint (All-American).

Year Champion Location
2008 St. Cloud Bulldogs St. Cloud, FL
2009 All Saints Academy Saints Winter Haven, FL
2010 Timber Creek Wolves Orlando, FL
2011 (Week 1) Timber Creek Wolves Orlando, FL
2011 (Week 2) Bryant Hornets Bryant, AR
2012 Palm Beach Gardens Gators Palm Beach Gardens, FL
2013 (Classic) Lake Brantley Patriots Altamonte Springs, FL
2013 (Showcase) Seminole Seminoles Sanford, FL

External links

References

  1. Ping, Dan (August 15, 2008). "Going for a home run: Locals learn starting a real baseball league requires business acumen". Orlando Business Journal. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  2. "LE MOYNE'S ROBBY PEREZ NAMED FLORIDA COLLEGIATE SUMMER LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK, FINISHES REGULAR SEASON WITH LEAGUE-BEST 41 HITS". LeMoyne Athletics. July 31, 2006. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  3. "About The Florida Collegiate Summer League" at floridaleague.com URL accessed January 2, 2009
  4. FCSL Fields at floridaleague.com; URL accessed June 28, 2009
  5. PhilChinnery (February 10, 2015). "Familiar Faces in New Places: 2015 Head Coaches Announced"..
  6. 1 2 PhilChinnery (February 2, 2015). "League Announces New Team in Altamonte Springs".
  7. Williams, Joe (September 29, 2006). "Leesburg's new team promises local flair: Former star Josh Holt will coach the Lightning this summer in a baseball league for college players.". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  8. PhilChinnery (February 5, 2015). "Six Teams Will Compete in 2015". College Park was not included in the team list for 2015.
  9. 1 2 Jolley, Frank (March 27, 2009). "FCSL rivals Leesburg, Clermont to face each other 11 times". The Daily Commercial. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  10. LEE v. CLE Boxscore 8/3/09 at floridaleague.com, URL accessed August 4, 2009
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 07, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.