Stevens Baseball Well-Represented in Summer Ball Leagues; Brierley Playing in MLB Draft League

HOBOKEN, N.J. (June 28, 2021) – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball program has 21 returning student-athletes participating in summer leagues across the country in 2021, including a pair of student-athletes, rising junior Ryan Shea and rising senior Tom James, who are competing in two of the top collegiate baseball leagues in the country in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League and the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, respectively.

Additionally, alumnus Chandler Brierley is pitching in the highly-competitive MLB Draft League, designed to give top prospects the opportunity to showcase their skills and boost their draft stock while receiving unprecedented visibility to MLB club scouts.

Brierley, who toes the rubber for the Trenton (N.J.) Thunder,, is currently tied for the second-most appearances in the league (8), while posting a 5.68 ERA with 12 strikeouts over 12 2/3 innings on the hill this summer. The recent master’s degree recipient hopes to join Charlie Ruegger in July as the third Duck to hear his name called in the Major League Baseball Draft.

As for the current student-athletes, Shea currently pitches for the Westfield Starfires and has posted a 1-0 record with a 4.42 ERA, striking out 21 batters in 20 1/3 innings over five appearances. James, meanwhile, is hitting .263 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI in six games as a member of the Geneva Red Wings.

Elsewhere, the Ducks have student-athletes participating in the Atlantic Baseball Confederation Collegiate League, the Metropolitan Collegiate Baseball League, the Houston Collegiate Summer League, the Kentuckiana Baseball Association, the Premier Collegiate League, the East Shore Twilight Baseball League, the West Chester Adult Baseball League, the Hudson River Collegiate Baseball League, the TriCounty Baseball League, the Collegiate League of the Palm Beaches, the Florida Gulf Coast League, the Pacific International League and the Blue Chip Collegiate Baseball League. See below for a full list of Stevens baseball’s summer league placements.

The involvement in the summer leagues does not stop with student-athletes, however, as two current Duck baseball coaches are currently serving on the same coaching staff in the Northwoods League. Assistant coach Charles Theilmann is honing his craft out in Wisconsin as the head coach of the Fon Du Lac Dock Spiders and has current volunteer assistant, and Stevens alumnus, Jayson Yano alongside him as an assistant coach.

In years past, the Ducks have sent several of its student-athletes to some of the top professional development leagues in the country including the Cape Cod League, Northwoods, Coastal Plain, Perfect Game, Texas Collegiate, South Florida Collegiate, New York Collegiate, and Futures Collegiate amongst others.

“Summer baseball is such an important part of our program’s culture” head coach Kristaps Aldins said. “In addition to our three most notable summer collegiate league placements, we are equally excited that several of our student-athletes and alumni will be competing together in leagues all around the country, such as the nearby New Jersey-based Metropolitan League and the Atlantic Baseball Confederation Collegiate League. The innings and at-bats that our student-athletes receive playing for these teams as well as the camaraderie that they develop during this summer environment has proven, over time, to be a key element to our team’s success and overall chemistry.”

Aldins is equally excited that two of his coaches are getting a chance to develop their coaching abilities out in the Northwoods League.

“Coach T and Yano going out to Northwoods is unprecedented for us,” Aldins said. “At first it was a bit daunting to think about having your top two assistants somewhat off the recruiting trail. But ultimately, we put the professional development of our coaches and certainly the overall development of our current student-athletes at the forefront within our Ducks baseball program. This is a special and unique opportunity for Charles and Jayson that couldn’t be passed up and I think the experience will make a huge positive impact on our team upon their return to Castle Point in the fall.”

Stevens completed the 2021 campaign with a 24-12 record and reached the MAC Freedom championship game for the first time in program history before falling one game short of advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

The Ducks placed eight student-athletes on the All-MAC Freedom team while also excelling off the field, posting a 3.80 team GPA in the spring 2021 semester. Stevens currently maintains an all-time high 3.73 cumulative team-GPA.

Currently, the Ducks have one active alumnus competing in professional baseball. Charlie Ruegger was recently promoted to the Hudson Valley Renegades, the High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.

Ruegger was selected by the Yankees in the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft in the 33rd round following his junior year. The Morris Plains, New Jersey native chose to forgo his final year of collegiate eligibility to begin his professional baseball career.

Ruegger, Robert Robbins, and David Garcia mark the three former Stevens Ducks who reached affiliated professional baseball. Robbins joined the Chicago Cubs organization in February 2019 as a free agent signee after two stints out at Driveline in Kent, Washington. Garcia, meanwhile, enjoyed a nine-year professional career with the Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Pittsburg Pirates, and Detroit Tigers minor league affiliates, reaching as high as AAA, only one step away from the Major Leagues.

Both Ruegger and Robbins played competitive summer baseball during their time in Hoboken. Ruegger spent time for the Forest City Owls of the Coastal Plain League, as well as the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters of the Northwoods League. Robbins competed for the Pompano Beach Clippers of South Florida Collegiate, the Newark Pilots of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League and the Forest City Owls.

COMPLETE LIST OF THE 2021 STEVENS BASEBALL SUMMER PLACEMENTS

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