The Chatham Anglers have released their roster for 2020, the 58th season in the Cape Cod Baseball League’s modern era and 98th year for the Anglers at Veterans Field. Led by manager Tom Holliday in his third season, Chatham returns six players from last year’s team — Kolby Kubichek, Ty Madden, Dawson Merryman, Luke Bartnicki, Kendrick Calilao and Aaron Palensky — that compiled 24 wins and finished first in the East Division.

The 2020 season begins on Saturday, June 13 at Falmouth, one day before Chatham’s home-opener against Orleans. 

Anglers Roster | Schedule Breakdown

When the NCAA canceled the College World Series on March 12 amid the coronavirus outbreak and conferences subsequently suspended competitions, Florida and Louisville were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the country, respectively. Representatives from both those programs will join the Anglers in 2020. Pitcher David Luethje went 2-0 with a 5.19 ERA in 8.2 innings for Florida, while Calilao started 11 of the Gators’ 13 games at right field and first base — hitting .262 over that span. And first baseman Ben Bianco started all 17 games for the Cardinals, hitting .268 in 41 at-bats.

Five other players from ranked NCAA programs will also play for Chatham: Jared Thomas and Jordan Lala (Miami), Dusty Garcia (Arizona State), Matt Willadsen (NC State) and Cooper Chandler (Pepperdine). Chandler finished 48th nationally in ERA, logging a 1.00 over 18 innings for the Waves.

Joining the Anglers' pitching staff is Ryan Miller (NC Central), who was tied for 36th in the country with 36 strikeouts in 23.1 innings pitched when the season was suspended. At the plate, Sonny DiChiara (Samford) tallied 21 RBIs in 15 games — tied for 15th nationally, and ended in a tie for second with five sacrifice flies.

Second baseman Jake Boone, the nephew of current New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, hit .107 over seven games for Princeton and is on the Anglers' temporary roster 27 years after Aaron won the CCBL championship with Orleans in 1993.

Included in the Anglers’ six returners from 2019 are four pitching staff members. Kubichek, who started Chatham’s final game of the season in the East Division Series, went 2-2 with a 0.90 ERA over 30 innings pitched in the Cape League’s regular season. He’s joined by Madden (1-1 over eight games), Merryman, (2-0 through 15 appearances out of the bullpen) and Bartnicki, who went 3-1 in eight regular season games. 

Admission to all Chatham games at Veterans Field are free, and donations are always welcome.