By Dan Greenberg
The Gazette
www.gazette.net

May 28, 2008

Now in its fourth year of existence, the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball
League is now viewed in a different light than when its first pitches were
thrown in 2005. Once upon a time, some perceived it as a novelty wooden-bat
experiment, with rosters featuring large contingents of raw players who
hoped summer ball could earn them more playing time upon returning to
school.

But the CRSCBL is much bigger than that, nowadays.

Presently, the Ripken League is a haven for some of the top college talent
in the nation. Those aren't empty words, either. The proof is exhibited in
numbers — in the 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, 17
CRSCBL alums were selected, with another selected in the draft's first
supplemental round. Another milestone was set last year when Joe Smith, who
pitched for the Rockville Express in the Ripken League's inaugural season,
became the first of its players to reach the Majors. Drafted in the third
round of the 2006 MLB Draft by the New York Mets, Smith made the team's
active roster in 2007, appearing in 54 games and finishing with a 3.45
earned-run average.

Subsequently, Ripken League teams — there are now eight, with the addition
of the Alexandria Aces this year — have seen a gradual ascension in talent
on their summer rosters. No longer are college coaches merely sending
inexperienced players to the area — they're now sending their very best
players, assuming they'll come back ready to not only contribute, but star.

'''Last year, we had a kid Bart Pettus who was a redshirt at Troy [Ala.],
went back and started,'' said Rockville Express Director of Baseball
Operations Tom Shaffer, who managed the team for its first three years.
''The coaches there were so impressed with his improvement that they gave us
their starting shortstop [Adam Bryant] this year. We have another situation
where we had a young player out of Maine coming in who had maybe 14 or 15
at-bats this year — he decides he's not coming anymore, so the head coach
gave us their starting center fielder [Joey Martin].''

''It's a situation where the talent has gone up for every team.''

Copyright The Gazette Newspapers, 2008.