July 16, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Numerous UAB baseball players continue summer league play all around the country in preparation for the 2009 college baseball season. Senior outfielder Brint Hardy has put up outstanding numbers playing with the Athletes in Action Alaska Fire as he is batting .411 with four home runs, 15 RBI and 19 stolen bases.

"We are pleased once again to have many of our young men playing in collegiate leagues around the country," said UAB head coach Brian Shoop. "Our experience is that we have seen great improvements made by playing summer baseball at a high level and we are hoping that will be the case again."

Hardy is one of three Blazers on the Fire roster as junior shortstop Jonathan Merritt has upped his batting average to .299 with 12 RBI and eight stolen bases with the Fire. Sophomore second baseman Nick Crawford is batting .264 with eight steals.

Two Blazers are competing in the Florida Collegiate League with redshirt freshman Devin Hamilton batting .253 with two homers and 12 RBI for the Sanford River Cats, while sophomore infielder Andrew Manning is hitting .256 with two home runs and eight RBI for the Orlando Suns.

Junior third baseman Luke Stewart is competing with the Madison Mallards of the Northwoods League and has hit four home runs and driven in a club-best 29 runs.

Junior catcher Kevin Cope was selected to play in the New York Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game this summer and is currently batting a team-best .327 with 19 RBI and six doubles for the Bolivar A's.

"Summer ball is also a great life experience for our players," Shoop said. "They see different parts of the country and many live with host families where they make new life-long friendships. Kevin made his All Star team and Andrew and Devin earned player of the week honors and Brint is leading his team in hitting, so our kids are representing UAB well again this summer. Coach (Perry) Roth did a great job securing summer baseball opportunities for our kids."

In the pro ranks, former Blazer All-American first baseman Ryan Keedy is batting .302 with a home run and 14 RBI for the Boise Hawks, the Single-A Short-Season affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

Former All-Conference USA catcher Danny Sawyer is batting .263 with three home runs and 15 RBI with the Windy City Thunderbolts of the Independent Frontier League.