Bladel, Baldwin, Visnic take home weekly awards
Herndon Braves outfielder Johnny Bladel (James Madison/Ashburn, Va.) and Baltimore Redbirds outfielder Seth Baldwin (North Carolina/Forest City, N.C.) have been named the Co-Players of the Week in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League for the week of June 21 through June 27. Bladel collected 12 hits in 32 at-bats for the Braves, including a double, a triple, and a home run. He drove in seven runs and scored eight. Bladel was held hitless in just one of nine games for the week, and even then he reached base on a walk and scored a run. He put together a streak of four consecutive games with two hits each from June 24 to June 27, going 8-for-19 over that stretch. He is still riding a hitting streak of nine games, which began on June 23. The speedy Bladel also stole six bases in seven attempts, including two in one game against the Redbirds on June 22.
Baldwin went 10-for-27 with four doubles and a home run for the Redbirds from June 21 to June 27. He scored four times and drove in eight runs for the week. Baldwin also walked four times (including three times in one game on June 24) and was successful in his only stolen base attempt. The toolsy outfielder began the week with a single, double, and three RBI versus the Bethesda Big Train on June 21 and finished with a four-hit performance, including a home run, three RBI, and two runs scored against the Alexandria Aces on June 27.
Also considered: Nick Allen (Alexandria Aces/George Mason), Mike August (Southern Maryland Nationals/Anne Arundel (Md.) CC), Connor Bernatz (Bethesda Big Train/San Francisco), Kasey Culverson (Rockville Express/Nicholls State), Zach Leach (Herndon Braves/UNC-Greensboro), Jeremy Maas (Herndon Braves/Pennsylvania), Mark Melgosa (Bethesda Big Train/St. Mary’s (Ca.)), Chris Murphy (Alexandria Aces/St. Mary’s (Ca.)), Rand Ravnaas (Alexandria Aces/Georgetown), and Chris Taladay (Herndon Braves/Central Florida).
Redbirds reliever Steve Visnic (Temple/Glenwood, Md.) has been named the Pitcher-of-the-Week in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League for the week of June 21 through June 27. Visnic made the most of his three opportunities out of the bullpen for the week, as he picked up the victory for the Redbirds in each of those appearances. He did not allow a hit or a walk in his first appearance, shutting out the Big Train on June 21 for 2.2 innings. He allowed a pair of hits but did not walk a batter in his three-inning win against Youse’s Orioles on June 23, striking out one batter along the way. Finally, Visnic allowed an unearned run on just one hit (and no walks again) in 3.2 innings against the Aces on June 27. The righthander struck out two batters in that game. The stretch of 9.1 innings without allowing an earned run lowered Visnic’s season ERA to 1.04 in seven total appearances. Opponents are hitting just .196 off of him.
Also considered: Tyler Austin (Baltimore Redbirds/Towson), Ben McKinney (Youse’s Orioles/Georgia Tech), Jonathan Hauser (Youse’s Orioles/Virginia Commonwealth), Joe Haase (Rockville Express/Purdue), Max Knowles (Alexandria Aces/NC Wesleyan), Zach Livingston (Rockville/Express/Glendale (Ariz.) CC), and Patrick Scoggin (Baltimore Redbirds/Virginia Tech).
