2012 Roster Announced

by Dan D'Uva, 02-06-2012

With 129 days until Opening Day, Chatham manager John Schiffner has announced his next class of Anglers.

The first edition of Chatham's 2012 roster features 29 players from 18 NCAA programs, including 7 freshmen, 21 sophomores and 1 junior. Four players from the 2011 squad are back for a sophomore summer on the Cape: Kris Bryant (San Diego), Alex Calbick (Maine), Dace Kime (Louisville) and Matt Roberts (North Carolina).

Schiffner returns for his 20th season as Chatham's field manager, his 28th summer with the franchise overall. The entire 2011 supporting staff returns for 2012 including assistant coaches Patrick McGee, Scott Winterburn, Derek Sullivan, Jay Grenier and Michael McMenamin, plus trainers Colleen Nolan and Dan O'Keefe along with assistant trainer Kim Ayer.

Recent changes to Cape League rules allow Schiffner to build a deep pitching staff, one currently stacked with 15 arms -- nine right-handers and six southpaws. Led by the returning Kime, the 2012 staff includes righties Mark Bordonaro (Fairfield), Nick Burdi (Louisville), Scott Frazier (Pepperdine), Stephen Janas (Kennesaw State), Austin Robichaux (LA-Lafayette), Eric Stevens (Boston College), Michael Wagner (San Diego) and Chris Willson (Wake Forest).

The lefties are Aaron Brown (Pepperdine), Kent Emanuel (North Carolina), Michael Fagan (Princeton), Louie Lechich (San Diego), Jimmy Litchfield (UC-Irvine) and Tate Parrish (North Carolina).

The roster boasts four catchers: freshman Alex DeBellis (Connecticut), sophomores Roberts and the only switch hitter on the team Andrew Knapp (California), and red-shirt sophomore Chad Morgan (Virginia Tech).

The outfield core features freshman Stephen Tarpley (Southern California) and sophomores Tom Bourdon (Boston College), Dale Carey (Miami) and Adam Engel (Louisville).

On the infield, Bryant is expected to play at both corner positions as he did last summer. Patrick Valaika (UCLA) played 50 of his 53 games at shortstop for the Bruins freshman year, and Alex Chittenden (Louisville) was the NECBL's top defensive player as a freshman shortstop last summer. Dante Flores (Southern California), one of two freshman Trojans coming to Chatham, played shortstop at St. John Bosco high school, the same program that produced 2005 Chatham and CCBL MVP Evan Longoria.

Chad Pinder (Virginia Tech) played shortstop in high school, but spent most of his freshman season with the Hokies as an outfielder. Calbick can also play both the infield and the outfield, though he spent much of the 2011 summer with the Anglers at third base and designated hitter.

Pitchers who may also see time in the lineup include Willson at first base, plus Brown and Lechich in the outfield.

Though CCBL teams are limited to four active players per school, the 2012 Anglers are diverse. The number of players by school are: Louisville, 4; North Carolina, 3; San Diego, 3; Boston College, 2; Pepperdine, 2; Southern California, 2; Virginia Tech, 2; and one each from California, Connecticut, Fairfield, Louisiana-Lafayette, Maine, Miami, Kennesaw State, Princeton, UC-Irvine, UCLA and Wake Forest.

Chatham plays its first regular season contest June 14 at Wareham with the first home game June 15 against Cotuit. | 2012 Schedule |

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