Updated June 23 2017
The Coastal Plain League is proud to announce the 2017 CPL Select Team, set to take on the USA Collegiate National Team on Monday, June 26 at 3:00 p.m. at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, N.C.
A committee comprised of league coaches, league officials and Major League scouts selected the team. The roster is broken down as follows: catchers (2), first basemen (2), second basemen (2), shortstops (2), third basemen (2), outfielders (6), designated hitters/utility (3) and pitchers (9).
The CPL rotation is bolstered by Will Hartsell of the Morehead City Marlins who earns the start on the mound. The junior out of Charleston Southern currently holds a 3-0 record with a perfect 0.00 ERA and 28 strikeouts to go along with only three walks for a .186 batting average against and 0.80 WHIP.
On the offensive side, the CPL Select will be led by multiple category leaders including Austin Edgette (Bloomsburg) of Fayetteville and Carson Jones (Lander) of Forest City who are tied for the lead in batting average at .423. In total 10 of the league’s category leaders, many of which lead in multiple areas, made the team.
While the CPL has welcomed the USA Collegiate National Team into its ballparks since 2006, this will be the third year a CPL Select Team will have the chance to face off against the best collegiate players in the nation.
Reigning 2016 Coastal Plain League Champion head coach Sean West of the Savannah Bananas will be the head coach of the CPL Select Team with Travis Graves of the Florence RedWolves assisting. Graves was the pitching coach for the Bananas last season before taking the head coaching position with the RedWolves in 2017.
The Collegiate National Team has yet to name a starting lineup for the game but their full roster, as well as more information on the team can be found at the website here.
The full 2017 CPL Select Team roster can be found below. Starters are denoted with an asterisk (*).
| Position | Name | Team | Ht. | Wt. | School | Yr. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | *Harris Yett | Gastonia | 6-0 | 205 | Charlotte | RS-Soph. |
| C | Matthew Beaird | Florence | 6-0 | 195 | Coastal Carolina | Jr. |
| 1B | *Seth Hoagland | Forest City | 6-1 | 205 | Iona | Jr. |
| 1B | LJ Talley | Savannah | 6-3 | 210 | Georgia | So. |
| 2B | *Christian Hollie | Savannah | 6-0 | 190 | UT-Arlington | Jr. |
| 2B | Connor Kopach | Edenton | 6-0 | 170 | Southern Illinois | Jr. |
| SS | *Mason Hibbeler | Florence | 6-0 | 185 | Texas | So. |
| SS | Keaton Weisz | Martinsville | 5-9 | 160 | Coastal Carolina | Fr. |
| SS | #Ike Freeman | HP-Thomasville | 5-10 | 180 | North Carolina | So. |
| 3B | *Davis Sims | Martinsville | 6-5 | 220 | Murray State | Soph. |
| 3B | Johnathan Embry | Peninsula | 5-11 | 185 | Liberty | RS-Fr. |
| DH/UTL | *Carson Jones | Forest City | 5-11 | 195 | Lander | So. |
| DH/UTL | Derek Perry | Asheboro | 5-8 | 200 | Pfeiffer | Jr. |
| DH/UTL | Nick Podkul | Morehead City | 6-2 | 195 | Notre Dame | Soph. |
| OF | *Billy Wilson | Edenton | 6-0 | 200 | Loyola Marymount | Jr. |
| OF | *Austin Edgette | Fayetteville | 6-2 | 180 | Bloomsburg | Jr. |
| OF | *Tyler Webb | Florence | 6-1 | 195 | Memphis | Jr. |
| OF | Luke Setzer | Gastonia | 6-0 | 185 | Catawba | Jr. |
| OF | Cory Wood | Holly Springs | 5-9 | 170 | Coastal Carolina | Fr. |
| OF | Josh Ladowski | Wilson | 5-10 | 195 | North Carolina | RS-Fr. |
| OF | #Connor Grant | Forest City | 6-3 | 185 | North Greenville | Soph. |
| RHP | *Will Hartsell | Morehead City | 5-11 | 185 | Charleston Southern | RS-Jr.. |
| RHP | Griffin McLarty | Fayetteville | 6-3 | 185 | Charleston | Fr. |
| LHP | John Micheal Stephens | Florence | 6-8 | 205 | New Orleans | Jr. |
| LHP | Matt Cronin | Holly Springs | 6-2 | 190 | Arkansas | So. |
| RHP | Avery Greer | Lexington County | 6-4 | 215 | North Greenville | So. |
| RHP | Tad Ratliff | Peninsula | 6-2 | 235 | Lenoir-Rhyne | Jr. |
| RHP | Will Mathiessen | Morehead City | 6-6 | 210 | Stanford | Fr. |
| RHP | Graham Lawson | Wilmington | 6-1 | 215 | South Carolina | So. |
| RHP | Evan Braband | Wilmington | 6-3 | 205 | NC State | Jr. |
#Unable to play.
Contact:Shelby Hilliard
Phone:919-852-1960