2007 All-League Team • 2007 MVP & MOP Awards
CGL 2007 Year in Review
Another chapter in the storied history of the Clark C. Griffith Collegiate Baseball League has come to a close, and the successes of the League’s 62nd season have added to the premier summer collegiate wooden bat league’s prestige and tradition. The League achieved additional national prominence this year, with two teams competing in premier national tournaments. The McLean Raiders played in the club’s first ever All-American Amateur Baseball Association National Tournament, finishing in second place, while the Vienna Senators competed in the National Baseball Congress World Series and went 3-2. The Clark Griffith League also stood out locally, winning the 2007 Joe Branzell All-Star Game and Home Run Derby, by a score of 10-2 against an All-Star squad from the Maryland Collegiate Baseball League. Nate Newman of the Vienna Senators won the Home Run Derby, notching eight homers in the final round to defeat Fairfax Nationals infielder Alex Gregory. The Clark Griffith League also hosted the Inaugural Jacobs Cup post-season tournament this summer as well. The Vienna Senators faced the Fairfax Nationals in the Cup Championship game, and used a five-run eighth inning to cap a dramatic come from behind victory win the Cup by a 6-2 score. Two new teams, the McLean Raiders and Bethesda Blue Caps, were welcomed to the Clark Griffith League this season, and both franchises found success. The Raiders, who began the season with a 5-0 record, finished with a 24-17 record, and went on to represent the league in the All-American Amateur Baseball Association National Tournament, of which the Clark Griffith League is a charter member. The Raiders triumphed in the Altoona Regional and went on to compete for the AAABA Championship in Johnstown, going all the way to the Championship Game, before finishing in second place in the tournament. Along the way to the Championship Game, the Raiders defeated the ultimate champions (Youse’s Maryland Orioles of Baltimore from the Cal Ripken Sr. League), along with tough teams from New Orleans and Philadelphia before losing in the final game to compile a 5-2 record for the tourney. The AAABA has held a national tournament for amateur teams consisting of players age 20 and younger since 1945. The Washington DC franchise (as the CGCBL champion is known at the AAABA tournament) has won 10 national titles, including five of six from 1997-2002, to rank third all-time behind Baltimore (22 championships) and New Orleans (12). Washington captured three straight AAABA titles from 1997-99 as the Prince William Gators won in 1997 and the Arlington Senators took the crown in 1998 and 1999, while the Senators won again in 2001 and 2002. The Raiders campaign marked the CGL's first appearance at Johnstown again after a two-year hiatus. The Vienna Senators won their second straight league championship title this summer, going 39-5 on the season, including winning streaks of 11 and 12 games. The pennant was the club’s ninth in their fourteen-year existence in the Clark Griffith League, the most in league history. The Senators broke a tie they had achieved last summer when they joined Federal Storage (1955-1962), Martz Insurance (1965-1972) and the Reston Raiders (1983-1990) as the only Clark Griffith League teams to win eight titles. The Senators, who were ranked as high as sixth in the nation by PG Crosschecker in the Summer 16 Rankings, participated this summer in the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kansas. They went 3-2 in the tournament, and eliminated the Peninsula Oilers of the Alaska Baseball League. The Seattle Studs eliminated the Vienna club from the NBC World Series on August 7. Vienna led the league in team batting with a .313 batting average, 452 hits, 40 home runs and a .474 slugging percentage. The Senators pitching staff was also lethal this summer, with starters Aaron Loup and Nate Newman, and closer Mason Griffin continually pressuring opposing batters. The Senators led the league with 39 victories, a league low 2.22 ERA and 377 strikeouts. Opposing batters hit only .215 against Vienna. The Senators also led the league in team fielding with a .965 percentage. While the Senators were the eventual winners of the Clark Griffith League, they tangoed with the Fairfax Nationals for first place the entire first half of the season. In an exciting stretch of baseball in mid-July, the Senators won three games in a row against the Nationals, which allowed them to take first place from their cross-town rivals. The Nationals, aided by the strong bat of third baseman Alex Gregory who narrowly missed winning the Triple Crown, went 33-11 on the season. The DC Grays also found plenty of success in their second season in the league. They improved greatly from last year, as they went 15-28 this summer. In 2006, the club had been 6-34. The Bethesda Blue Caps found the going a bit tough in their inaugural CGL season, although their 9-35 record was a bit better than the Grays had managed in their first season. Both teams will look to build on their experience and continue to improve in 2008. Several new CGL team records were made this season. The Vienna Senators established a new record for team home runs, with 40, easily passing the previous record of 33, held by the Reston Hawks from 2005. The Clark Griffith League totaled 118 home runs this season to set a new league record. While each of the teams found success, several individual players also had standout seasons. This summer, the Clark Griffith League managers voted Robbie Shields (McLean Raiders) the Most Valuable Player and Aaron Loup as the Most Outstanding Pitcher. Other players also had outstanding summers, some setting new individual records for the League. Vienna Senators third baseman Nick Wheeler (West Alabama/Gadsen, AL) had 46 RBI, surpassing the previous record of 42 set in 1999 by Jared Dufault of the Arlington Senators. Fairfax Nationals third baseman Alex Gregory (Radford/Fairfax, VA) set a new record for triples, hitting six this season. Three players (Marshall Bernhard, Geoff Milsom and Daniel Burton) had each had five triples in previous seasons. Gregory also had a strong campaign in the traditional triple crown categories, finishing second in RBI with 41 to Wheeler's 46, 2nd in batting average with a .353 figure only .006 behind champion Juan Mujica (Southern/Caracas, Venezuela), and tied for first in homeruns with 10, alongside MVP Robbie Shields and the Senators Sam Honeck (Tulane/Austin, TX). The rising Radford junior was the only player in the league with a medal finish (Top 3) in all three Triple Crown categories. Only the Senator's Honeck, whose 34 RBI were good for third place, had as many as 2 medal finishes in these important categories. Outside of the Triple Crown categories, in addition to triples, Gregory also led the league in slugging percentage (.673), extra base hits (24), total bases (105), OPS (1.110) and tied the DC Gray's Juan Mujica for the lead in hits with 55. All in all, Gregory led or shared the league lead in seven important statistical categories. The aforementioned Mujica also demonstrated statistical excellence across a number of key categories. In addition to the winning the batting championship with .359 average and tying Gregory for the hit crown, the speedy Mujica used that important tool to lead the league in doubles (13), runs scored (39) and stolen bases (23). In all, he led or shared the league lead in five major statistical categories. His 39 runs scored, as well as Gregory's 105 total bases, were the league's highest season totals in these categories for the last five summers. The record didn’t fall, but the league’s co-homerun champions (Gregory, Honeck & MVP Shields) individual totals of 10 homeruns each were the second best ever in league history, exceeded only by Mike Biannucci’s league record of 12 set in 2005. Although offensive output was strong in 2007, there were several impressive pitching performances as well. Vienna Senators ace and MOP award winner Aaron Loup (Tulane/Luling, LA), who's 8 wins were a league high, went undefeated on the season, tying the record with for winning percentage at 1.000. Loup, who also led the league in ERA with a 0.98 figure, just missed the pitcher's Triple Crown, as his 63 strikeouts were second only to teammate Nate Newman's (Pepperdine/Houston, TX) total of 66. Newman finished second in wins (6) and third in ERA (1.80), giving him three medal finishes in these key categories. The Fairfax Nationals Gabe Rios claimed second place in the ERA standings, and batter's hit only .200 against him, a figure bested only by the Senator's dynamic duo of Loup and Newman. Accordingly, all three were the starting pitchers named to the All-League team. Starters aren’t enough anymore, and the league showcased two outstanding closers in the Fairfax Nationals Nick Schreiber (California at PA/Greencastle, PA) and the Vienna Senator's Mason Griffin (Grayson CC / Bedford, TX). Schreiber led the league in saves with 11, only one short of the league record established last season. Griffin, another Texas hurler, did not pitch enough innings to qualify for the ERA championship, although his total of 35 certainly exceeded the level normally seen by relievers today. However, he surrendered only 1 earned run all season, to post a microscopic 0.26 ERA. In view of the many outstanding offensive feats of this past season, this performance is even more amazing. Griffin, the 2006 CGL MOP award winner, who along with Gregory were the two lone repeat selections to the all league team, may well have achieved the league’s most impressive accomplishment over the past two seasons. The Texas sidewinder, who already holds the single season ERA record of 0.83 set last summer, has thrown a total of 89 innings in the Senators last 84 league games, a figure sufficient to qualify for the ERA title for that combined two year period. He has allowed only 6 earned runs, for an ERA of 0.61 -- a figure 25% better than his single season record!
BATTING LEADERS
PITCHING LEADERS
Complete 2007 Year in Review Report (including Standings & League Leaders) |
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