Mississippi State baseball players take talents to top summer leagues
Mississippi State pitchers Cam Schuelke and Luke Dotson and shortstop Dylan Cupp are off to Massachusetts this summer to play in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League after helping the Bulldogs reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years.
Schuelke will be spending his third summer with the Cotuit Kettleers under manager Mike Roberts, who helped him develop a submarine delivery in addition to overhand and sidearm. He was named the CCBL’s most outstanding relief pitcher in 2022 with a 0.81 ERA in 22 1/3 innings, then posted a 3.16 mark in 37 innings with Cotuit last year.
He is coming off his first season at MSU, having previously been at Florida Gulf Coast, Northwood University and the College of Central Florida. Schuelke made 32 appearances for the Bulldogs this spring and pitched 47 innings, going 5-3 with a 4.21 ERA.
Cupp, a freshman this past season, opened the year as MSU’s starting shortstop while David Mershon was making his way back from an injury. He will play for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox this summer after starting the first 19 games of the college season. Cupp appeared in just two games after March 21, though, and finished the year with a .258 batting average. He was successful on all four of his stolen base attempts.
Dotson will play for the Chatham Anglers following his freshman year with the Bulldogs, in which he posted an 8.25 ERA in 12 innings of work. The left-hander appeared in just five games in Southeastern Conference play and did not pitch in the SEC or NCAA Tournaments.
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Five MSU players will be joining the New England Collegiate Baseball League, also one of the more highly-regarded summer wood bat leagues. Lefty Cole Cheatham — who has entered the transfer portal — will play for the Newport
(Rhode Island) Gulls, the defending NECBL champions, along with infielder Jackson McKenzie and outfielder Nolan Stevens.
McKenzie appeared in 11 games as a freshman this spring with three starts, his last appearance coming on April 16. He tallied three hits, all singles, in 16 at-bats. Stevens, a two-way player, hit .269 with a double and a home run in 26 at-bats and pitched to a 4.72 ERA in 26 2/3 innings on the mound with 28 strikeouts.
Outfielder Brett House and infielder Jace Norton did not see any playing time as freshmen with MSU, but they will have a chance to further their skills in the NECBL with the Keene (New Hampshire) Swamp Bats. House hit a go-ahead three-run home run to help Keene grab its first win of the season Wednesday night.
Three other Bulldogs — plus pitcher Logan Forsythe, who is in the portal along with Cheatham — have joined the Amsterdam (New York) Mohawks of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.
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