June 14, 2007

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Fourteen Demon Deacon baseball players will participate in six different summer collegiate leagues across the country in 2007.

Four Deacons are set to open the summer season this weekend in the prestigious Cape Cod League. Since 1998, 42 Demon Deacons have played on the Cape, which is widely regarded as the premier summer collegiate league in the country.

Allan Dykstra will play for the Chatham A's for the second straight year, after leading the league in RBIs in 2006. Chatham has been a summer haven for some of the most successful players in Wake Forest baseball history, including Jon Palmieri and Mike MacDougal in 1998, Ryan Braun and Dave Bush in 2000 and Jamie D'Antona in 2002.

Evan Ocheltree also returns to the Cape for his second year. Ocheltree will once again suit up for the Falmouth Commodores, marking the seventh straight summer that a Deacon has played for Falmouth.

Willy Fox and Brad Kledzik will make their respective debuts in the Cape League with the Brewster Whitecaps.

Wake Forest will send three players to the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Eric Williams and Weldon Woodall will play for the Danbury Westerners. Williams and Woodall were teammates last summer with Lake Havasu Heat in the Pacific Southwest League. Phil Negus, a New England native from Milford, Mass., will play for the Sanford Mainers.

Dustin Hood and Joel Ernst also return to their native regions for the summer. Hood is going to his home state to play in the Texas Collegiate League for the McKinney Marshalls, located just north of Dallas.

Ernst also returns to his home state, playing in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League in Ohio. Ernst will suit up for the Stark County Terriers.

Ryan Bouton and Austin Jones will remain in-state to play for the nearby Thomasville Hi-Toms of the Coastal Plain League. Jones is entering his second summer with the Hi-Toms.

Three Deacons will head to the state of Virginia to play in the Valley Baseball League. Nathan Frazier will play for the Woodstock River Bandits, Michael Murray will suit up for the Waynesboro Generals, while Ryan Semeniuk will be with the Winchester Royals.

Cape Cod Baseball League:
Allan Dykstra - Chatham A's
Willy Fox - Brewster Whitecaps
Brad Kledzik - Brewster Whitecaps
Evan Ocheltree - Falmouth Commodores

Coastal Plain League:
Ryan Bouton - Thomasville Hi-Toms
Austin Jones - Thomasville Hi-Toms

Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League:
Joel Ernst - Stark County Terriers

New England Collegiate Baseball League:
Phil Negus - Sanford Mainers
Eric Williams - Danbury Westerners
Weldon Woodall - Danbury Westerners

Texas Collegiate League:
Dustin Hood - McKinney Marshals

Valley Baseball League:
Nathan Frazier - Woodstock River Bandits
Michael Murray - Waynesboro Generals
Ryan Semeniuk - Winchester Royals